Well its been a long haul but here it is, the final exciting instalment of our Pyrenees road trip (some pics to follow via flickr) ...
Lacs de
Neovielles:
With the end
of the holiday nearing, I was keen to get two more mountain days in, so despite
my legs feeling like lumps of lead we decided on a circuit of the Lacs de
Neovielle, starting and finishing at the Tourmalet mid station in the - now
returned - glorious weather. This was a long day - over 8 hrs with temps
above 30C and over 1500M of ascent, but we were rewarded again with amazing,
contrasting scenery, an array of beautiful lakes in which to cool feet, and a summit, the
Pic du Madamette. The pictures say it better than I could, see next post for flickr library.
Lac Bleu:
Thursday saw
the final walk of the holiday - a trip up the other side of the valley.
Starting from a car parking area on one of the higher switchbacks, we
shunned the popular but crowded trek to the observatory on top of Pic du Midi
du Bigorre and took a trail up and over the Col d'Aoube (high point) to the
Lacs Bleu and Vert - an unusual trek for us in that the start and destination
are at the same height with an 800m climb in the middle. Highlights of
the day were seeing sheep trying to find shade for their heads, including
improbable perches on rocks and putting them down holes ! We were also treated to the majestic sight of a
couple of huge Griffon Vultures circling high over the col, a pair of Peregrine
Falcons near the lakes and the lakes themselves. Lac Bleu was quite a large
lake, crystal clear close up but with a bright blue colour from a distance.
We spent a while relaxing and drinking in the glorious scenery for the
last time this trip and even enjoyed a few dips in the lake, but the contrast
between 30C temp out of the water and what felt like 0C in it (complete with ‘ice
cream head’ when I tried to swim) meant they were short ones :-)
We had a strong
motivation for making good time back to the car and campsite – we had been
promised a jacuzzi in the Hotel du Tourmalet by David, so we hot footed it back
to the site, showered and trekked back up the hill. We had the jacuzzi to ourselves and it did
not disappoint, just what the doctor
ordered after an active week ! This was followed by another glorious meal, copious
amounts of wine and putting the world to rights until 1am with some hotel
guests and the management… maybe there is something in this hotel malarkey
after all ;-)
The following day saw a leisurely start with sore heads, a stop off in Luz to stock up on local madiran wine - vaunted by some as the secret of the longevity of the locals (the longest lived in France despite a diet high in saturated fat), and a few presents before starting the long haul back to the Chunnel, thoughts of a possible October return keeping the worst of the 'end of trip' blues at bay.
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