The
bordermarkers of the Pyrenees : all my trips
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- friday 23 august
2013 -
Traversing beneath the borderridge
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esfr-trip-track-20120823.kml
(click to open this trip
in Google
Earth or copy link to Google Maps; click right on this
link to download gpx-version)
Summary: part of a 12-days trip to the Pyrenees with a lot of targets from the Ariège mountains to the Basque country
Day 3: third day of a 6-days hike following the Ariège borderridge from
bm418 to 425, today trying a traverse on the mountain slopes from Col
de la Pale de la Clauère to Port d’Aula to Port de Salau
Weather: sunny
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For
explanation of
the gps-coordinates and other cartographic backgrounds:
cartography-page
Start: 9.00, break: 13-14 , finish: 18.00 , net walking time: 8h
According to the gps-tripteller:
Maximum height: 2522m
other parameters unreliable because of partial failure of the gps.
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According
to visugpx
- distance : 14,7 km
- cum. elevation gain : 681m
- cum. elevation loss : 955m
- total elevation: 1636m
- altitude maxi : 2526m
- altitude mini : 1839m
- altitude average : 2153m
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First
along Étang Long to Col de la Pale de la Clauère.
The safety-cords along the lake are partly destroyed/loose which make some parts
tricky.
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There’s still snow in the valley up to Col de la Pale de la Clauère which I already noticed yesterday.
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But the first part of the climb (red/white waymarked) to Col de la Pale de la Clauère is on the green strip on the left.
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Only much higher
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the red/white waymarks disappear under the snow .
But then I can easily walk on the snow because the inclination is small
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Looking back, the Étang Long still visible.
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And so I continue on the snow until the final climb to the Col.
This picture: I've reached the Col
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And as you can see, I get a little bit sun-tanned after two days of walking in the sun.
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From the Col, a SE-route on the
mountain-slopes will lead me to Port d’Aula in ± 2h while crossing two
NS-ridges.
That divides the route to Port d'Aula in 3 parts:
1. From Col de la Pale de la Clauère on a non-waymarked trail to a ridge/cliff and climbing over it. That's fairly easy.
This picture: the trail of part 1 (approximately)
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And also on this border-pass an information panel about the refugees fleeing France in WWII.
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I'm on my way
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and look back to Col de la Pale de la Clauère
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Zoom-in of Col de la Pale de la Clauère |
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I'm approaching the first ridge to cross = the end of part 1
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Some leftover snowfields to tackle
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and a last look back to Col de la Pale de la Clauère.
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I'm allmost at the ridge and am surprised
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by these plastic drums. Why here?
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This picture: taken from the ridge. We're looking to the second part of the trail to Port d'Aula.
Part 2: the trail first descends to a ‘bottom’ - a valley floor -, then
climbs S to the second ridge. PM: I took a route too high in the
beginning (the blue line), I should have descended more directly to the bottom
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I'm on my way, I just climbed over a hill-ridge in-between.
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The trail ahead is well visible.
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The climbing gets a bit annoying: a tilted and slippery path. Pink waymarks have appeared.
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I'm approaching the second ridge and look back.
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The last stretch of the second part.
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Zoom-in
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Almost at the second ridge
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Part 3: from this second ridge the Port d’Aula is now visible
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and the pink trail brings me - now more comfortable - to it. At one
point I made a shortcut where the pink trail seemed to vanish.
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I'm getting closer to Port d'Aula
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The Estany del Port d'Aula
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And now we're allmost there
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at Port d'Aula with bm421
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Bm421
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Bm421
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Bm421
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Bm421
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Bm421
Lunchbreak at Port d’Aula
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Then from Port d’Aula to Port de Salau.
That’s proves to be easy: an abundantly white waymarked trail leads me almost
the whole way. It will take me ± 2½h.
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The trail bends on a next ridge and then
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we can see the next valley with Port d'Aula in the far distance.
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The white trail passes a source later on (the first watersource since Étang Long) and some little streams later on.
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But then the white waymarking stops
abruptly at this large painted sign.
I almost can’t believe it and return
to check it. In fact the white trail is continued by a sparsely yellow waymarked
trail.
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If you continue the path from the end of the white waymarking, you have to be attentive to see the (yellow) branch to the left.
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And that's after ± 150m, right after this a small stream crossing the path.
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The yellow trail will bring me to Port de Salau.
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Port de Salau
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Bm422
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Bm422
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Bm422
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And also here an information panel about the refugees in WWII
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The ramshack and dirty refuge built in the ruines has collapsed.
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On the hillside 75m to the SE, there's bm422bis
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Bm422bis
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Bm422bis |
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Bm422bis
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Bm422bis
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After ‘doing’ bm422 and 422bis, I descend to the nice and comfortable Cabane de la Lanne.
It's foggy in France.
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Beyond the refuge, there's this source at ± 300m, to the right of the trail.
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Back at the refuge
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where I enjoy
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the evening-views
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