Monday 14 june at estaut
Hi every one. I am currently having a days rest in Estaut. we have walked as far as Lescun but the place had no accomodation for tonight so last nights patron drove us to Estaut where we are booked into a Gite D etape for 2 nights. les was in great pain with his knee following a 1500 m descent into Lescun yesterday. He is having 2 days rest. I have arranged for a bar owner to run me back to lescun tomorrow morn and will walk that leg solo, with Les hopefully resuming th trek on wednesday. Now brief details since the last posting. I am sorry there are no photos I dont have my pc connecting cable, I used Alains last time;
Monday 7th june St etienne de Baigorry to St Jean Pied de port
32degrees in the sun too hot for walking. Les was re invigorated with the rest and we went wellgood views but still quite low stuff. Had first nights camping at st Jean and ate out in town.
Tuesday 8 June St J to Phagalcette
Overcast and humid; today was a short one so we pressed on into the following day to reduce the amount of climbing by 400 metres. Tent wet from rain. My feet were very sore today (and for the rest of the week, better now) climbed up a bit. We arrived in Esterencuby and continued a steep climb to a wonderful Gite d etape with food to die for. Met couple from Alsace who we bumped into several times. Very strong winds and rain in the night.
Wednesday 9 June Phagalcette to Chalets d Iraty
Weather started good but deteriorated during the day to driving rain.
we left at 8am and quickly reached first col. descended, then zig zag up and up. Then wet weather gear on and long downward descent on side of hill. and guess what...at the bottom we had a steep up and up for about an hour. Very bleak on top and difficult to see way marks in mist and driven rain. Came down through lovely Beech wood to Chalet Pedro, which was shut. Picnic lunch of obscene sausisson and progressed on. Arrived at Chalets, a ski resort. Our room was tiny, took in turns to breath. Cooked our own food, Pasta.
Thursday 10 June chalets to past Logibar
The weather was horrendous left at 8 am and started across hillside but was hit by torrential horizontal rain and hail. We needed supplies so decided to take route via Larrau which was shorter. We arrived in Logibar early, the official end of the day and carried on to knock off some of tomorrows ascent. The wind and rain persisted. The climb up was severe and eventually it got too dangerous to proceed higher so we backtracked into a wood and wild camped. dinner was bread and pate and to bed at about 8 pm. High winds all night.
Friday 11 June On to st Engrace
Wind had died down a lot, fine to start with but showery becoming persistant;
I had run out of water yesterday so had an apple for breakfast and pressed on. AtAbarrakia I took a compass bearing which caused us a bit of confusion. Eventually realised it was reading 180 degrees out. Good job I brought 2; Les also has one. Reached the col d'Anhaou at 1383 m and looked ahead to see snow covered peaks and mountan sides. Eventually reached st Engrace and booked into gite D' Etape. met Wolgang (from germany with friends in Walldurn) and a young basque who we called Yogi as we couldnt pronouce his name. Also saw the Alsations we had met before. had a good evening despite the cold and wet.
Saturday 12 June St Engrace to Arrete Pierre St Martin
Heavy rain all day
Set off for steep climb, first up track in a wood. we frequently had to crawl under or over fallen trees and it went up and up incessantly. no pictures today as the camera was packed away to keep it dry. We were above the cloud base so finding waymarks became difficult when we emerged onto the open hills. near the top we saw Alpine Choughs. We just kept going higher and higher untill we emerged on a road which we followed to our overnight spot, a mountain refuge. We arrived just after lunch and spent a lovely afternoon with Wolfgang and Yogi. needless to say they wanted to watch the world cup in the evening so despite all my efforts I couldnt miss it.
Sunday 13 June P St Martin to Lescun
It was misty with intermittant rain when we left to cross the most incredible landscape; It was a limestone pavement pitted with holes and eroded into many shapes. Again waymarks were difficult to find because of the mist. However we made it without incident and eventually had to do what the book described as a scramble. It was a short climb...I was terrified as i dont like climbing. After getting to the top we went through a narrow path and then steeply down on a scree path which meandered around the mountain tops. we saw some chamois. Eventually we started an interminal descent of over 1500m with the scenary changing to pasture and then woodland. It was here that Les really started to suffer. It took him 2.5 hours to get to lescun from a sign which said 1 hour. I went on to get accommodation and found the village full. I met an English man, mathew who directed me to a Chabre D'hote where we could stay one night. The owner drove me up to look for Les but we found him in the village. We ate in the local pub and met up with Wolfgang again and ......yes we watched the Germany match.
Monday 14 June Rest Day
overcast and cool and misty.
The english guy, Mat drove me to the nearest ATM to restock on cash and on my return our patron drove us to Estaut where we booked two days accomodation. Over Lunch at the pub the patron offered to drive me back to lescun tomorrow for me to continue my journey. People are so hospitable it is quite humbling. I have also been amazed at my ability to converse in my very basic french and be understood.
Any way folks thats all for now. Speak at the next opportunity, Au Revoir.