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| MY TRAIN TO PAU |
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| PAU'S FAMOUS FUNICULAIRE |
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| GREAT VIEW FROM MY HOTEL ROOM |
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| THE CABANE AT CAILLOU DE SOQUES |
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| RATHER BASIC ACCOMMODATION - BUT IT'S FREE |
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| CLANGING SHEEP BELLS KEPT ME AWAKE |
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| LOOKING BACK OVER THE VALLÉE D'OSSAU |
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| SAFETY CABLES ON THE PASSAGE D'ORTEIG |
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| HELICOPTER RESUPPLY AT REFUGE D'ARRÉMOULIT |
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| UNFINISHED DAM AT IBON DE CAMPOPLANO |
The train was smooth and fast, and I had a great window seat from which I could watch the French countryside speeding past. It wasn't long before I could see the dramatic silhouettes of the Pyrenean mountains to the south. A little before 5.00pm the train pulled into Pau and I stepped out of the station to find myself in a place that I remembered well from my 2014 visit.
The station is in the river valley whereas the city is on an elevated plateau overlooking this. I boarded the free funiculaire which took me up to city centre level and soon found my hotel, Le Bourbon.
There was nothing immediately special about the hotel. However, I was given a top floor room and when I opened the windows, wow, the view over the Place de Clemenceau with its fountain was just spectacular.
Leaving my rucksack, I wandered around the town for a bit, firstly, to find a supermarket so I can pick up some camping food, and secondly, to find a restaurant so that, like the condemned man, I can enjoy a last hearty meal before heading into the mountain wilderness.
I sat at a table outside a Mexican restaurant that seemed to get good reviews on Google, and placed my order. I could see clouds rolling towards me as I waited for the starters and, even before it arrived, the wind increased dramatically and tablecloths and anything else not nailed down started to fly down the street. Along with the other guests, I quickly moved to an indoor table while the staff rushed out to rescue their furniture.
The food was excellent, but while we were eating it the weather deteriorated further with rain coming down in buckets. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Half an hour later when I walked back to the hotel, the pavement was practically dry.
As I lay in bed, every so often a flash of lightning would illuminate the curtains, followed by the rumble of thunder some distance away. Checking the following day's weather, things were not looking very good at all, with thunderstorms predicted. This was clearly not the time to be on some mountain ridge waving my metal trekking poles around.
I decided to make a start anyway, but keep to the valleys and find somewhere to shelter until any stormy weather passed. The three days following this were looking clear, dry and warm, which should enable me to make excellent progress.
There is an unmanned cabane (cabin) on the HRP route at a place called Caillou de Soques, just off the D934 road that passes over the Pyrenees. This can be reached by a bus from Pau. It is at an altitude of about 1,350m, which will help with acclimatisation before I climb another 1,000m above that the following day.
With plan in place, I departed Pau at 12.45pm on the 806 bus to Laruns, where I had stayed with some Spanish cyclists four years earlier. I then changed to the 806bis bus which brought me to Soques. Thus, at 2.45pm on Wednesday 29th of August, I was officially back on the HRP.
The views down the Vallée d'Ossau from Caillou de Soques were stunningly beautiful, as were the views from the bus during the drive there. My recollection of hiking through this place in 2014 was vague; perhaps because I had been too focused on getting to the next destination to look properly.
Anyway, the cabane was only about 20 or 30 metres away from the road, so I investigated. I wasn't expecting much, but was pleased to find it reasonably tidy and containing a table and some chairs, and three rusty bed frames with blankets on them. I picked the best and lay my sleeping bag out on it.
It was time for a late lunch, so I moved the chairs outside to enjoy a cheese and tomato baguette, a carrot and an orange drink. The sun had been out when I arrived, but I could see clouds gathering to the west. The rain started almost as soon as I took the first mouthfull, so I retreated back into the cabane.
The rain soon stopped, but since there wasn't much to do anyway I got to bed early. The thunderstorm never materialised and the only disturbance to my sleep was the clattering of sheep bells from the flock that decided to graze outside the cabane. In the morning I was greeted by an all enveloping fog. You can never trust the weather, can you?
The fog didn't make any difference to my plans. I reckoned I could navigate through It, and hopefully it would clear later on. After a banana and yoghurt breakfast, off I went at about 9.00am.
As it happened, the fog was just in the valley, so I soon climbed through it. It was a long relentless climb of about 900m through the Val d'Arrious until I reached the Col. From there, I turned right to tackle the precipitous Passage d'Orteig, where safety cables have been bolted to the rock face. I had passed this way before, so it held no fears for me. Shortly afterwards I reached the Refuge d'Arrémoulit, which is where I had abandoned my walk in 2014. At that time, the lake by the refuge had ice on it and the surrounding mountains were blanketed with snow. This time I was pleased to see that the lake was clear, and there were only the few patches of mountain snow to be seen.
I asked the refuge staff for some tea with milk to accompany my picnic lunch. I ended up with a bowl of hot milk and a tea bag. Perhaps my poor French was at fault. No matter, it was a welcome drink just the same so I didn't mention it. Shortly afterwards a helicopter arrived to deliver supplies and take away the empties (wine, beer and gas) and rubbish,
My hips, back and shoulders had all been hurting by the time I reached the Refuge. This was not surprising given that this was the first day that I had to carry my rucksack fully loaded - food and water had pushed the weight up to about 18kg, although this will reduce as I consume my supplies.
My aches and pains eased a little after an hour's rest, so I decided to keep walking. Heading south-east I had to climb over a chaos of rocks to reach the Col d'Arrémoulit, where I crossed the border and descended steeply into Spain. The route took me past some picturesque lakes and then east, high up along a valley, until I reached a dam at the Embalse de Respomuso. There is a Refuge on the north side of this lake, but I continued past it until I reached another lake, the Ibon de Campoplano, surrounded by flat meadows. It was now 8.00pm, so I decided to pitch my tent by a stream. I had been walking for 11 hours, which included just an hour's break. I wasn't able to move particularly fast with my heavy rucksack, but as least my stamina was OK. I am already ahead of my schedule, so I can count this first day of walking a success.