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| SHEEP AVOIDING ME AS I LEAVE REFUGE DE VIADOS |
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| CLIMBING TOWARDS THE PUERTO DE GISTAIN |
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| WATERFALL NEAR REFUGIO DE ESTOS |
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| NO NEED FOR ME TO LABEL THIS |
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| BERNHARD & NORMAN AT CAMPING ANETO |
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| VERY ROCKY ROUTE TO COLLADA DE VALLIBIERNA |
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| IBONES DE VALLIBIERNA |
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| CAMPING NEAR REFUGIO DE LLAUSET |
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| CAN'T SEE THE WOOD FOR THE TREES |
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| LOOKING BACK FROM PORT DE RIUS |
From there it was a pleasant walk in a north-easterly direction up the Valle de Añescruzes. After about an hour and a half I reached a junction in the paths, and also a decision point. I could continue straight on and cross into France via the Port d'Aygues Tortes, where the HRP route will eventually take me through the Gourgs-Blancs glacial region. Alternatively I could stay in Spain and turn right to ascend to the Puerto de Gistain and then descend through the Valle de Estos. I chose the latter because the former eventually reaches the Col Inférieur de Littorole, which is the highest pass on the HRP and is likely to be snow covered on the steep east side. Without crampons, descending this could be dangerous.
My route though the Valle de Estos brought me to the Refugio de Estos at about 3.00pm. Simon and Léa were there, having arrived from Viados shortly before me. Simon had earlier phoned the Guardian at the Refuge de Portillon, the nearest one to the Col Inférieur de Littorole, who had confirmed that crampons were essential to cross the Col. My decision to stay in Spain was justified. Besides, the weather is generally better on the Spanish side, which seemed to be the case today.
Using my very broken Spanish I managed to order sausage, two eggs and chips, with a cup of tea. It was delicious and energizing - indeed, so much so that afterwards I decided to continue walking. Thus, just a little before 4.00pm, I said goodbye again to Léa and Simon. After two and a half hours I had arrived at Camping Aneto at the bottom of the valley, a large site with excellent facilities. I pitched my tent and by 7.00pm was enjoying a beer with a dish of olives on the balcony of their bar. A just reward for over 9 hours of walking, I'd say.
A little later in the evening, I was recognised by two young German lads who had passed me as I was climbing away from Parzan. Their names were Norman and Bernhard, and we spent the remainder of the evening sharing yet more beer, and stories about our walking experiences. We will be walking in the same direction in the morning, so might meet again.
And so we did. I started ahead of them, initially walking north-east up the Valle de Benasque for a couple of km, then turning south-east to ascend the long, wide dirt road that climbs through the Valle de Vallibierna. They caught me up about an hour after I started. The dirt road came to an end at the unmanned Refugio de Corona, which is where I caught them up again because they had stopped outside for lunch. I continued on, but they passed me yet again at the Pleta de Llosas.
The last time I saw them that day was ahead of me climbing the incredibly rocky slope up to the 2,720m high Col de Vallibierna. This was really difficult terrain that involved climbing over huge boulders. The arrival of some light rain, followed by hail, didn't help much either. Thankfully, it had ceased by the time I reached the Col. The equally difficult descent soon led me to the relatively modern Refugio de Llauset, built just two years ago and equipped with hot showers. Sadly, I was not going to experience one as all the beds had been fully booked by weekend walkers, and the showers were en-suite to the dorms. They did agree to feed me, though, if I opted to camp outside. I made the right decision as the food was very good.
Their breakfast was also better than average, although that meant being out of the tent at 7.00am. Sunday's weather was not looking great, but I didn't have far to go for my next stop, the Refuge de Conangles.
At least it didn't look far on the map. However the day started with clambering over huge rocks again as I fought my way over the Coll de Rio Bueno immediately south of the Refugio. From the top, the views of the Lagos de Anglios were amazing, but I knew that the terrain would take me ages to cross. If it hadn't been for the lakes I could have been looking at a moonscape (although I do understand that they have now discovered water on the moon).
Further down the valley I reached the woods, and working my way down the wet, slippery, rocky, root covered path was just as difficult. After several hours of battling my way down the valley, I reached the N230 road and the Embalse de Senet. The hard work over, I turned north for the short walk to the Refugio de Conangles. Shortly before I got there, I met Norman and Bernhard again, coming in the other direction. They had reached the end of their walk at Conangles, and were now planning to go to Barcelona. We wished each other well and went our separate ways.
I arrived at the Refugio de Conangles some 20 minutes later, but it was only 3.00pm which I decided was too early to quit for the day. The next climb on my route is to the Port de Rius, which at 2,320m, is 765m above Conangles. If I could climb that today then I wouldn't have to do it in the morning.
It was still sunny when I reached a suitable place to camp just beyond the Port de Rius. However, as I ate supper a cold fog started to envelope me. It was cosy and warm inside the tent, though.