Pyrenees 2006 YES

Quoted message said:

All advice, general chat welcomed.

1) Catch a mountain satge of the TDF www.letour.com
Camp out the night before or drive up the stage hill the night before
early am.

2) Goto 'Gavarnie' and the walk up 'Cirque de Gavarnie', cheap but amazing outlook
campsite just beyond the village. The campsite is not signed. Park outside the Tourist
office
then nip into the office and get a free pass for the campsite as cars are not allowed to
drive thru the village. It's up from Lourdes. Cirque Walk - Go uphill from just outside
the campsite then contour round and down to the Hotellerie from there.
Omelette, Beer and frites there then up to the cirque falls via the scree paths.
The earlier the better especially after the 14th of July when it's busy.

3) Drive up the 'Col de Tourmalet', excellent easy peak to bag
then lunch in 'La Mongie' after visitng the Calble car trip up to the
Astronomy station up the Pic du Midi de Bigorre.
Take shades as we did not and struggled to see the huge vistas. Before 12pm
as it gets busy. You have to book food ahead.

4) 'Ax les Thermes' is a quiet and nice spa town, free spa in the town square.
It's near the end of valley from Toulouse, about 2hrs drive. It is less than an
hrs drive from Andorra, Pase Del Case. There you can get a 5 course lunch
for 10euros. Very cheap gear and shopping.

Enjoy !

You may see me there early july - mid july, blue espace (campervan)

Nick

PS www.mtbnick.fotopic.com has some photos from last July in the baove areas.

Leonard Trim said:

A couple of mates and I have finally taken the plunge and booked flights
Edinburgh/Birmingham/Toulose for end of July, beginning of August. Pau
would have been nearer but was a more expensive flight. The money saved
going to Toulose enabled us to hire a wee car for a fortnight. Now all
we have to do is work out what we are going to do in the hills, where to
stay, decide whether to book accommodation in advance, reduce gear to
Flybe's weight limits etc. etc.
All advice, general chat welcomed.

OK, someone has to start, so here goes.

Head for the Val d'Aran, just inside Spain beyond Vielha. On the way
(90 mins from Toulouse, so easy enough off the Birmingham
mid-afternoon flight), St Bertrand de Comminges is a good overnight
halt, decent old-fashioned hotel opposite the church, whose name
escapes me. Arties, in the middle of the Val d'Aran, is an hour
further on and makes a good base for day hikes, or longer multi-day
treks using refuges, and the same is true of Espot (for the Aigues
Tortes National Park), Esterri d'Aneu, Ribera de Cardos (Hotel
Cardos), and Tavascan (Hotel Estanys Blaus).

Further west, Gavarnie and Ordesa have their undeniable attractions,
but will also have a lot of people in them at the time you are going.

You won't need crampons, axes, etc. Rope only if you want to get
scrambly. Hat with a brim. EHIC.

Kev Reynolds is your friend for this - ISBN 1-85284-420-5.
--
All the best
David Millen
Xativa, Valencia
www.fincacasablanca.com
please reply in group
if you have to email me, remove the obvious:
[email hidden]

You really won't need to carry a great deal of gear with you at all. Short
(convertibles are useful) a couple a light walking shirts, a light
waterproof and a micro fleece for the evenings should do.

If you have a car I would seriously consider a base for a few days in the
Valée d'Aspe (lescun), then Cauterets and then Gavarnie.

Walks and Climbs in the Pyrenees has all of the routes - but get hold of Kev
Reynold's new bible The Pyrenees (`cicerone). This will have everything in
it you will ever need and if you're using a car you can take it with you
(too heavy for backpacking).

On 18/12/05 11:33, in article [email hidden], "Leonard

Trim said:

A couple of mates and I have finally taken the plunge and booked flights
Edinburgh/Birmingham/Toulose for end of July, beginning of August. Pau
would have been nearer but was a more expensive flight. The money saved
going to Toulose enabled us to hire a wee car for a fortnight. Now all
we have to do is work out what we are going to do in the hills, where to
stay, decide whether to book accommodation in advance, reduce gear to
Flybe's weight limits etc. etc.
All advice, general chat welcomed.

--
Andy Howell, Birmingham, UK. To mail simply put back the dots ...

Must Be Over There ...
http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/trek

Thanks for the replies guys. I will have a study of the maps and guide
books and get back to you.

--
Len Trim
[email hidden]

"Andy Howell" <andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk> wrote in message
news:BFCE16C2.483A5%andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk...

Quoted message said:

You really won't need to carry a great deal of gear with you at all. Short
(convertibles are useful) a couple a light walking shirts, a light
waterproof and a micro fleece for the evenings should do.

I was ther in july, 30degs during the day but as soon as the Gavarnie valley
was shaded, 5pmish it dropped and again at night.

We were wearing a sweater and fleece, no shorts at night.

A down jacket is a good choice since it packs down tiny
and is amazingly warm.

Nick

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Nick \(Scots\)" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

I was ther in july, 30degs during the day but as soon as the Gavarnie valley
was shaded, 5pmish it dropped and again at night.

Quoted message said:

We were wearing a sweater and fleece, no shorts at night.

Quoted message said:

A down jacket is a good choice since it packs down tiny
and is amazingly warm.

This is the sort of information we need to get. Sweater and fleecy will
do for me. Can't justify a down jacket!

--
Len Trim
[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

This is the sort of information we need to get. Sweater and fleecy will
do for me. Can't justify a down jacket!

But it's smaller and warmer.

Nick

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Nick \(Scots\)" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

But it's smaller and warmer.

Duvet jacket might be smaller and warmer, but as I do not have one I
have no intention of going out to buy one. I can remember when they
became all the rage in the 80s, but they were no good for Scottish
conditions, far too wet here and frankly rarely cold enough nowadays.
My intention is to do the trip as cheaply as possible. I am even
seriosly considering the wee Argos tent for my home from home for the
fortnight, but do not really fancy facing up to a Pyrennean thunderstorm
in it.

--
Len Trim

[email hidden]

On 24/12/05 14:43, in article [email hidden], "Leonard

Trim said:

Duvet jacket might be smaller and warmer, but as I do not have one I
have no intention of going out to buy one. I can remember when they
became all the rage in the 80s, but they were no good for Scottish
conditions, far too wet here and frankly rarely cold enough nowadays.
My intention is to do the trip as cheaply as possible. I am even
seriosly considering the wee Argos tent for my home from home for the
fortnight, but do not really fancy facing up to a Pyrennean thunderstorm
in it.

You really don't need to worry too much. While the storms can be pretty
dramatic the air is always pretty warm. I just take a couple of summer
shirts, a micro fleece for the evenings and a Paramo Fuera smock which is
water resistant rather than completely waterproof. No problems, even in
torrential downpours.

--
Andy Howell, Birmingham, UK. To mail simply put back the dots ...

Must Be Over There ...
http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/trek