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Itinerary

Please plan to arrive in the afternoon at the GR10 campground (Camping GR10) which is located at the entrance to Cauterets about a mile from the village center. At 6 PM, we will have an introductory gathering with wine and cheese. My experience is that many of us will be tired from the long travel day, so you may prefer to stay in the campground rather than go into town for dinner. There is a supermarket about a hundred yards from our campground.

We are ferried up to the start of our hike to La Fruitiere, a mountain hotel where we can stop for breakfast coffee and croissants. Then we begin our high Pyrenees mountain hike with three almost flat miles up the Lutour valley past cascades and meadows to the Estom lake (5600ft) where we will camp for the night. Having dropped our packs, we now can take a trail up the eastern headwall of the valley which soon rises to several high cirques with numerous lakes and tarns. The really ambitious can go to the mountain crest at almost 10,000 feet.
We have our evening meal in the Estom refuge.

We hike from Estom lake (5600ft) up to the Col d’Arraille (8523) down  to the Gaube valley beneath the Vignemale, probably the most spectacular mountain in the Pyrenees and down the valley in about two hours to the Pont d’Espagne (5000ft) total 8 miles. We take a bus back to Cauterets. A more strenuous option would be to climb from the Gaube valley up to the Col des Mulets, traverse over to the Col d’Arratille and down the Arratille valley to the Pont d’Espagne. This would add about 1200 feet of ascent and descent and about six miles to the day.
We have a free evening and chance to go into town for dinner.

Rest day.
In the morning, we will review equipment and prepare for the six day hike starting the next day. Four evening meals will be in refuges but we will have to prepare breakfasts, lunches and one evening meal.
Day Four is our chance to explore a French mountain resort village. Cauterets is a historic resort famous for its thermal baths since the 19th century. It still looks much the way it did during the Belle Epoque. There is much to do and see including a museum of the natural history of the Pyrenees and interesting small shops and restaurants. During the day, we will go to a one hour demonstration of cheese making and sample wine and cheese and other local specialties. In the evening, we will have a gastronomic excursion to a restaurant known for its regional specialties such as garbure and cassoulet and the famous local wines, Madiran and Jurancon.

We hike from the Pont d’Espagne (5000) to the Refuge Wallon (6158) (4 miles). We go up one of the most beautiful high valleys in the Pyrenees following an ancient route over the mountains to Spain. We have an easy day and camp just beyond the refuge. Several short and interesting side trips are possible from our campsite for the rest of the day. One is to the high pass of the Puerto de Panticosa (two miles and 2000 feet) and another to the Aratille lake (two miles and 1000 feet).

We hike to the Col de la Fache (8800). Those who wish can go to the summit of the Grande Fache (9900). It is an easy scramble but exposed with a terrific view which will take about two and a half hours. The whole aspect of the Pyrenees now changes as we descend from the relatively green French side to the sunny and arid Spanish side. We go past several lakes to the Resposumo refuge (6700) (5 miles).
We camp near the refuge and have our evening meal in the refuge.

From Resposumo lake (6700), we climb past the Arriel valley lakes to the Col d’Arremoulit (8080) and down to the Arremoulit lakes in a very alpine setting with glacial lakes and cliffs all around (5 miles).
We have dinner is in the refuge. We Americans call it a meal but for the French hut gardiens, it is a repas, an occasion.

From Arremoulit lakes (7590), we cross the Col de Palas (8300), traverse the upper cirque of the Arriel valley to the Port du Lavedan (8636), descend past several high mountain lakes to the Larribet refuge (6814). This is a spectacular day with numerous views of Mt. Balaitous (4 miles) Possibility of side trips to easy peaks or mountain cirques.
Evening meal in the refuge.

We descend from the Larribet refuge (6814) to the valley of the Arribet (5742). This is the sort of valley that gives the Pyrenees their reputation as the garden of Europe. We ascend to the Col de Cambales (8930) and down to the Cambales lakes for a camp at about 7590 ft (8 miles).
No refuge.

Descend past the Cambales lakes and cross over to another high mountain cirque with numerous lakes. Go past the Lac Nere, Lac Pourtet and the Lacs de L’Embarrat and down to the Pont d’Espagne (6 miles and 1500 ft of ascent).
Return to campground for the night. Evening meal is free.

We are taken to St. Bertrand de Comminges and the Es Pibous campground by taxi in about an hour and a half. For the rest of the day, we explore St. Bertrand village which used to be a Roman city of 50,000 and now has a population of about a hundred. This includes a visit to the Basilica of St Just, a remarkable early Christian church built out of pieces of the old Roman city, to the Roman ruins and small Roman museum and to the cathedral of St. Bertrand. St. Bertrand de Comminges is often called the Mt. St. Michel of the Pyrenees and is the outstanding cultural historic site of the Pyrenees.
We have dinner in St. Bertrand.

We go by taxi to the Gargas cave (5 miles) for a two hour visit. This cave has paintings of wild horses, bison and mammoths but is exceptional for its 231 hand silhouettes made by blowing paint over a hand pressed against the wall. Their exact purpose is unknown but the effect of standing before paintings made by humans 28,000 years ago is awesome.  We return to St. Bertrand for a farewell lunch.

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