GR10 diary,Central Pyrenees and the Ariege

Day 1-8

Day 9-17

Day 18-26

Day 27-35

Day 36-41

Central Pyrenees and the Ariege - mountainbug.com

Click the thumbnail images for a large version

15/08/02 Lac d'Espingo à La Lanette Camping, Bagneres de Luchon.

Good weather again at the off (a little orage in the afternoon to clear the air then nice again :-)

Our bilberry enriched porridge sent us on our way up the rest of the climb back up past the refuge and on up to the Hourquette des Hounts-Secs (2275m). The views to the south-west are magnificent with the glacier and snow covered upper slopes around Pic Belloc to be soaked in. From here we dropped down and around via the col and Pic de Cecire to the ski resort of Super Bagneres (1800m). From the resort the descent is steep along a forestry track (a playground for mountain bikers, who take the cable car back up - lazy!) that winds you down nearly 1000m to the old spa town. The town is major and was once an opulent spa town. Its grand villas and parks still preserve some of that bye-gone era, but now there is an air of better days gone by about the place. Its till good for a look about and a great pizza though and is packed with every amenity. The thermes are still attracting tourists in as well.

Click the thumbnail images for a large version

16/08/02 Q La Lanet Camping, Bagneres de Luchon à Cabane Artiguessans.

We just caught the campsite shop in time for a pain-au-chocolat before we started off on another hot day. The route cuts up the hill short-cutting between stretches of road. The GR10 leads you up through ramshackle villages (Sode looks like its only just hanging onto the hillside and indeed many buildings have given up holding on to their roofs and foundations in some cases!), and up to the slightly more substantial Artigue (1224m with water supply). The climb above the village is fairly easy through meadow and grass land up onto the rolling ridge. Water is definitely required. The route continues up and along the line of the border to the Col des Taons de Bacanere, where remains of an old building (strange place for a customs house) are passed. From here you can follow markers along open ground cutting across to the ridge between the Pic de la Hage and the Pic de Burat. Approaching the ridge BIG clouds were forming... we thought we should chance it and started (much to the amazement of day walkers) to romp up the climb to the ridge as distant rumbles became much less distant! After making the ridge - great view was joggling about at this time - we dived down the other side, past scurrying sheep and cattle, and made for a most welcome little cabane - Phew... the storm was good to watch from the window :-). Having had a good long rest we decided to cruise on down through the woods to the lowest cabane, where we joined up with a couple of other hikers who were going Coast to Coast in the other direction. It was a good night by the campfire telling tales of woe, good routes and nice camping spots into the night. We learned from Laurent (who was very kind with his great cheese) that we had just entered into the start of the Ariege country - a bit of land dedicated to over 1000m ascents and descents, crossing countless ridges as you try to go West-East...the area where the most people give up!

17/08/02 Cabane Artiguessans (Fos) à Refuge de l'Etang d'Araing, 26th day of walking.

Another scorcher :-). The morning was brought in by wrist watch alarms at 6am. (We were on the ground after moving down from the bunks, due to its turning into a kipper oven...). I stepped out of the wood smoke, much like being turfed out of a late night club with the dry ice floating about you, and into the crisp morning. The day was broadcasting its intentions already, with a few scattered clouds and the last twinkling stars. The walk from the cabane down to the little village of Fos is a good way to wake up; gently descending though the old forest to the road that is followed into town, and coincidently past a great little baker's on the main street. If you fancy a comfortable night in Fos, try the English-run B&B "Le Repos du Moine" just 50m from the GR10. From Fos you climb the road and pass through little villages claiming to be 'Wild mountain villages' and 'Home of the bears'. Melles is the larger of the two villages, a pretty village with a good auberge and restaurant. Where the road runs out you find yourself on a steep climb up to a little cabane, (nice spot) called Uls, near the Pic de la Malede. Behind the cabane is a slow running, but potable water source (much to our relief!). From the cabane the climb is a more gentle if hotter meander up to the top - the Col d'Auren (2176m). The impressive Pic de Crabere (2629m), which marks the border with Spain, is visible from the col . The views give you a good pat on the back up here, and you are further treated to an easy descent to a refuge (Refuge de l'Etang d'Araing) next to the dam. We camped just over the dam on a sheltered flat spot.

18/08/02 l'Etang d'Araing à Grauilles Cabane
Day 27

We woke to the gentle tinkle of the stream below the dam, then as I stuck my head out of the tent to catch the disappearing stars, my gentle morning start-up - gaze at the view, make a cuppa, stir up some porridge ... was rudely interrupted with hurried packing due to the sight of a horror on the horizon. Stars were still above, but an anvil-shaped cloud cast in reds and purple by the morning light was creeping ominously towards our mountain. All was quickly rolled up and just in time our equipment was kept dry (and light) as we dashed into the unmanned cabane on our side of the dam. The storm came, saw and thundered quickly and left us with a beautiful refreshed morning. The walk from our camping spot was great - up over a short climb to the ridge then down past old mine workings of Bentaillou (and great bilberries) to the valley bottom - home, so we were told, to the best gite d'etape in the Pyrenees (did look very friendly), the Gite d'etape d'Eylie. The big descent down to the valley bottom must then be paid for with the climb up the other side; again passing bits of old mine workings, leftovers from lead and zinc excavations. The climb is quite steep but well marked and very pretty, passing through beech forest and then heather and bilberry covered slopes. From the top is a fun descent past several good unmanned cabanes. These came in very handy as an afternoon thunderstorm passed over and did its thing. We made the valley bottom in growing darkness not due to the time of day but to the massive cloud that was gathering as we made our way through the amazing deciduous forest. We had time for a skinny-dip in the river before the storm kicked off. It was a great display (the storm that is) that we watched from supreme comfort in a brilliant little cabane ('Cabane Grauilles') - complete with upstairs sleeping (with new mattresses), candles, dried flowers, fire-place and a great position just up the valley from our route in a little pasture.

19/08/02 Grauilles Cabane à Seix

28th walking day

It's a hard but very pretty hike up the next ridge and down the other side to a popular parking/walking area, then straight up the next, following a cool river (the Muscadet) with loads of tempting plunge pools. Up and downs such as these are the vibe in the Ariege - akin to walking along the back of a Stegosaurus. We were chased off the top of the next ridge - a truly beautiful spot with loads of walking routes and cabanes - by another storm (turned out that this was to be the stormiest summer in over 30 years...), that pelted us with 1/2 inch hailstones whilst we were sheltering in the lee of a ridge by the Etang d'Ayes (another very pretty lake). It was a storm with a sadistic twist that kept rumbling about us and every time we dared to straighten up it would crack back with a mighty (evil villain style) booming laugh "thought I'd gone did you? - I'll teach you"... We eventually managed to escape the forks and hail and carried on down to the col, passing another good cabane, that was unfortunately being refurbished - should be good for next year though (Cabane Eliot). We then stupidly trusted the markers of the GR10 and followed it along a particularly sinuous route down past the local lake only to have to regain all the height on the climb to the Port de la Core. You can imagine, just here, the route planners getting side-tracked by the undoubtedly attractive or wine toting tourist office representative; "well if you just happen to get the route to come down past our pretty little lake and tourist stalls on the way through..". It is always good to check your map before descending! We ended the day with a camp a couple of km down from the Port.

20/08/03 Seix Q (it's amazing what you can get up to in a tent)

Day 29

Woke up on a mission, and charged down 7km of track and lane to get into Seix (yes, you pronounce it just how you might think....cue awkward phonecalls to parents explaining location, and highly unamusing puns) first thing. On arrival, our desparate thoughts of washing, showers and setting up camp were momentarily dissolved by the discovery of the best bakery in France (OK, its become an obsession, but this one really was!). On the advice of the tourist info, we camped 1km out of town, on the road to Oust. A nice campsite, with good facilities, and a very friendly kitten. The rest of the day, we languished in the sunshine, the only mishap being a pierced platypus bottle (victim of a happily thrusted cheese knife).

21/08/03 Seix to Aulus Les Bains

And on the 30th day....

Here, once again, we (perhaps foolishly) chose our own "shortcut" to Aulus les Bains, and left the GR10 to skirt through overgrown woodland and along narrow sheep tracks. Just in advance of our daily storm, we paused in the village of Ustou to taste the waters, and share a rickety bench with an old lady. At this point, you should be warned about those waters. Definitely purgatory, but certainly not therapeutic....five hours later agonising stomach pains were but a gentle introduction to four days of spontaneous colonic irrigation. But before all that started, still blissfully ignorant, we ascended to the col above Ustou, following a cobbled village track. At the top, we tried to avoid a long road trudge by ploughing off into the forest along a "path" we had spied on the map. Probably it did exist once, but no more - serious undergrowth and marsh eventually popped us out in a meadow sporting a cluster of old barns. These were to be our home for the night, because no sooner had we arrived in Aulus les Bains, than the heavens opened, and the sky fell down. We pitched our inner tent inside a dusty, slightly odourous, bat-infested barn, and sheltered "Mary and Joseph style" amongst the hay-filled mangers.

22/08/03 Aulus to Vicdessos

Day 31

The morning air had that fresh smell, that only comes from a night of torrential scrubbing. We left the village, and sulphur-supping residents of the thermal baths, behind us to take an old village track into the woods. Here, where green light filtered through to moss-covered rocks and crumbling walls, the atmosphere was heavy with history. As our path meandered through ancient buildings, clustered amongst the trees, we expected to see a white-bearded druid magically appear. At the top of the village track, we met the road again, and joined tourists from cars (humph!) in an ascent to the col. From there, we followed the valley down, again on picturesque old village tracks (and with much hurried bush-visiting - very nice bushes they were too) to Auzat. Here, you can take advantage of the amenities, but you won't want to hang around, because the village is home to a huge, smoking factory. The neighbouring village of Vicdessos is slightly more appealing, and has a nice campsite next to the river, and with easy access to the shops, including a butcher, baker and alimentation.

23/08/03 Vicdessos to Clairans Cabane

32nd day

An atrocious day, both in route and weather. We started by cutting off a bit of gratuitous up and overring by starting with a road romp to Siguer (and a nice path down the river prior to the road section). Siguer is a pretty village, once home to the Comtes de Foix. From here on, the weather turned rainy and clouds darkened, while at the same time the terrain became more and more ankle-turning and vague (especially at the top of the hills, where the horses had knocked off all the posts....). Joy! We eventually picked our way down to our proposed resting place - a cabane marked on our new 2001 edition map, only to find that it had no roof! So, already exhausted, we went over even slower, boggier ground (over the old boots!) to the valley floor to camp. Here the GR10 markers frantically warned us off the only remaining bridge crossing - sending us through hedges until we got so frustrated that we went over the double XX bridge, only to find ourselves on the right route. We were knackered and most peeved. So, why not get this gnarly ground finished with to give us a nice day following? Up 350m of incredibly steep ground, and over a really vague top (with a dark cloud chuffing out the odd hail stone), and down the rocky/boggy/stream infested/tortuous route to the valley floor (I suppose it would have been nice if we'd been in a better frame of mind!). Our 12 hour day ended at the refuge non-garde "Clarains" - actually a dodgy cabane with half of its sleeping deck turned (one assumes) to firelighters some time ago. It turned out to be quite cosy though, while the storm got going over night. We were woken by a funky squirrel/possum type thing (probably an edible dormouse in fact), snooping about. It made its presence known by first running by our heads, then leaping up the chimney and knocking over a lot of old cartons. Quite funny, and cute.

24/08/03 Cabane to Merens Les Vals Q (via Refuge de Rulle)

Day 33 - a double whammy

Breakfast of our favourite semolina au chocolat was followed by a climb up to the Refuge de Rulle. This time a good walk! We took the road route most of the way (having become rather unimpressed with the local GR idea of a path!), and got there for lunchtime. So, what do you do after a nightmare previous day, and an already longish walk?....carry on after a quick coffee of course. It didn't look far on the map, but our scheduled next day of walking was a 1000m+ descent over huge granite boulders - generally hard going. We raced the estimated 5hr section, emerging in Merens les Vals in under 4hrs. It was a stomp and a half, but the promise of the next day off can certainly motivate tired feet. From here we hitch-hiked to the neighbouring town of Ax les Thermes, and another good campsite (cheapest emplacements are "sur la colline" - on the hill). Just a bit let down by the miserable weather, we had an excellent Chinese in the town, and were very impressed by the hot, sulphurous spa water freely running in the gutters.

From Merens, we recommend a leisurely train ride North to Foix - an ancient town, with pretty cobbled streets and an imposing castle. As usual, we saw it in hideous weather, but even then it was worth a look. The main railway line running through Foix, Ax and Merens les Vals heads South through Andorra and into Spain, and is a major freight route.

* Bagneres de Luchon; Tourist office: '05.61.79.21.21 www.luchon.com, The train station is to the north of the town. The town itself is a nice spa town that is popular through out the year and has been putting alot of effort into its image of late; well kept parks and roads, monthly night markets in summer, a flower festival and marching band festival in summer and film festival in winter (007 Film 'The world is not enough' opening scene was fimed on the near by Peyresourde alti-port).

* Fos; Camping municipal de Fos:' 05.61.79.29.28 is nice and good value, 2€ per person.

* Bears; The Pyrenean brown bear (Ursos arctos) has been re-introduced in this area. The release site was close to Fos and Melles.

It is said that the hunter, Bonnecaze of Laruns (died 1860), killed 55 bears in his career. Over-hunting and deforestation, as in the rest of Europe, has lead to dwindling numbers in the Pyrenees and extinction elsewhere. In the 1960's it was thought that numbers were too low for the bear to ever make it, but in 1996 a program was started to try and help things out for the bears. Two female Slovenian brown bears were released above Melles (under fierce opposition, particularly after they unfortunately killed several sheep in the next valley). The project managed to continue however and one of the bears, nicknamed Melba, produced three cubs. The bears aren't out of the woods yet though in Sept 1997 Melba was shot by a hunter.

The bear is small and timid, its diet is largely herbivorous, thus it tends to stick to forested areas under 1800m.

There are thought to be only 5 or 6 native bears remaining.

* Melles Auberge; Auberge du Crabere: ' 05.61.79.21.99

* Refuge de l'Etang d'Araing ': 05.61.96.73.73 A modern place with a full time guardian from mid-June to mid-October. A small section with 12 places remains open throughout the year. The price is 12€ for the night, and food is also available.

* Gite d'etape d'Eylie: ' 05.61.96.14.00 well looked after with good kitchen facilities.

Click the thumbnail images for a large version	15/08/02 Lac d'Espingo à La Lanette Camping, Bagneres de Luchon. Good weather again at the off (a little orage in the afternoon to clear the air then nice again :-) Our bilberry enriched porridge sent us on our way up the rest of the climb back up past the refuge and on up to the Hourquette des Hounts-Secs (2275m). The views to the south-west are magnificent with the glacier and snow covered upper slopes around Pic Belloc to be soaked in. From here we dropped down and around via the col and Pic de Cecire to the ski resort of Super Bagneres (1800m). From the resort the descent is steep along a forestry track (a playground for mountain bikers, who take the cable car back up - lazy!) that winds you down nearly 1000m to the old spa town. The town is major and was once an opulent spa town. Its grand villas and parks still preserve some of that bye-gone era, but now there is an air of better days gone by about the place. Its till good for a look about and a great pizza though and is packed with every amenity. The thermes are still attracting tourists in as well.	Click the thumbnail images for a large version

	16/08/02 Q La Lanet Camping, Bagneres de Luchon à Cabane Artiguessans. We just caught the campsite shop in time for a pain-au-chocolat before we started off on another hot day. The route cuts up the hill short-cutting between stretches of road. The GR10 leads you up through ramshackle villages (Sode looks like its only just hanging onto the hillside and indeed many buildings have given up holding on to their roofs and foundations in some cases!), and up to the slightly more substantial Artigue (1224m with water supply). The climb above the village is fairly easy through meadow and grass land up onto the rolling ridge. Water is definitely required. The route continues up and along the line of the border to the Col des Taons de Bacanere, where remains of an old building (strange place for a customs house) are passed. From here you can follow markers along open ground cutting across to the ridge between the Pic de la Hage and the Pic de Burat. Approaching the ridge BIG clouds were forming... we thought we should chance it and started (much to the amazement of day walkers) to romp up the climb to the ridge as distant rumbles became much less distant! After making the ridge - great view was joggling about at this time - we dived down the other side, past scurrying sheep and cattle, and made for a most welcome little cabane - Phew... the storm was good to watch from the window :-). Having had a good long rest we decided to cruise on down through the woods to the lowest cabane, where we joined up with a couple of other hikers who were going Coast to Coast in the other direction. It was a good night by the campfire telling tales of woe, good routes and nice camping spots into the night. We learned from Laurent (who was very kind with his great cheese) that we had just entered into the start of the Ariege country - a bit of land dedicated to over 1000m ascents and descents, crossing countless ridges as you try to go West-East...the area where the most people give up!
	17/08/02 Cabane Artiguessans (Fos) à Refuge de l'Etang d'Araing, 26th day of walking. Another scorcher :-). The morning was brought in by wrist watch alarms at 6am. (We were on the ground after moving down from the bunks, due to its turning into a kipper oven...). I stepped out of the wood smoke, much like being turfed out of a late night club with the dry ice floating about you, and into the crisp morning. The day was broadcasting its intentions already, with a few scattered clouds and the last twinkling stars. The walk from the cabane down to the little village of Fos is a good way to wake up; gently descending though the old forest to the road that is followed into town, and coincidently past a great little baker's on the main street. If you fancy a comfortable night in Fos, try the English-run B&B "Le Repos du Moine" just 50m from the GR10. From Fos you climb the road and pass through little villages claiming to be 'Wild mountain villages' and 'Home of the bears'. Melles is the larger of the two villages, a pretty village with a good auberge and restaurant. Where the road runs out you find yourself on a steep climb up to a little cabane, (nice spot) called Uls, near the Pic de la Malede. Behind the cabane is a slow running, but potable water source (much to our relief!). From the cabane the climb is a more gentle if hotter meander up to the top - the Col d'Auren (2176m). The impressive Pic de Crabere (2629m), which marks the border with Spain, is visible from the col . The views give you a good pat on the back up here, and you are further treated to an easy descent to a refuge (*Refuge de l'Etang d'Araing*) next to the dam. We camped just over the dam on a sheltered flat spot.
	18/08/02 l'Etang d'Araing à Grauilles Cabane Day 27 We woke to the gentle tinkle of the stream below the dam, then as I stuck my head out of the tent to catch the disappearing stars, my gentle morning start-up - gaze at the view, make a cuppa, stir up some porridge ... was rudely interrupted with hurried packing due to the sight of a horror on the horizon. Stars were still above, but an anvil-shaped cloud cast in reds and purple by the morning light was creeping ominously towards our mountain. All was quickly rolled up and just in time our equipment was kept dry (and light) as we dashed into the unmanned cabane on our side of the dam. The storm came, saw and thundered quickly and left us with a beautiful refreshed morning. The walk from our camping spot was great - up over a short climb to the ridge then down past old mine workings of Bentaillou (and great bilberries) to the valley bottom - home, so we were told, to the best gite d'etape in the Pyrenees (did look very friendly), the *Gite d'etape d'Eylie. The big descent down to the valley bottom must then be paid for with the climb up the other side; again passing bits of old mine workings, leftovers from lead and zinc excavations. The climb is quite steep but well marked and very pretty, passing through beech forest and then heather and bilberry covered slopes. From the top is a fun descent past several good unmanned cabanes. These came in very handy as an afternoon thunderstorm passed over and did its thing. We made the valley bottom in growing darkness not due to the time of day but to the massive cloud that was gathering as we made our way through the amazing deciduous forest. We had time for a skinny-dip in the river before the storm kicked off. It was a great display (the storm that is) that we watched from supreme comfort in a brilliant little cabane ('Cabane Grauilles'*) - complete with upstairs sleeping (with new mattresses), candles, dried flowers, fire-place and a great position just up the valley from our route in a little pasture.
	19/08/02 Grauilles Cabane à Seix 28th walking day It's a hard but very pretty hike up the next ridge and down the other side to a popular parking/walking area, then straight up the next, following a cool river (the Muscadet) with loads of tempting plunge pools. Up and downs such as these are the vibe in the Ariege - akin to walking along the back of a Stegosaurus. We were chased off the top of the next ridge - a truly beautiful spot with loads of walking routes and cabanes - by another storm (turned out that this was to be the stormiest summer in over 30 years...), that pelted us with 1/2 inch hailstones whilst we were sheltering in the lee of a ridge by the Etang d'Ayes (another very pretty lake). It was a storm with a sadistic twist that kept rumbling about us and every time we dared to straighten up it would crack back with a mighty (evil villain style) booming laugh "thought I'd gone did you? - I'll teach you"... We eventually managed to escape the forks and hail and carried on down to the col, passing another good cabane, that was unfortunately being refurbished - should be good for next year though (Cabane Eliot). We then stupidly trusted the markers of the GR10 and followed it along a particularly sinuous route down past the local lake only to have to regain all the height on the climb to the Port de la Core. You can imagine, just here, the route planners getting side-tracked by the undoubtedly attractive or wine toting tourist office representative; "well if you just happen to get the route to come down past our pretty little lake and tourist stalls on the way through..". It is always good to check your map before descending! We ended the day with a camp a couple of km down from the Port.
	20/08/03 Seix Q (it's amazing what you can get up to in a tent) Day 29 Woke up on a mission, and charged down 7km of track and lane to get into Seix (yes, you pronounce it just how you might think....cue awkward phonecalls to parents explaining location, and highly unamusing puns) first thing. On arrival, our desparate thoughts of washing, showers and setting up camp were momentarily dissolved by the discovery of the best bakery in France (OK, its become an obsession, but this one really was!). On the advice of the tourist info, we camped 1km out of town, on the road to Oust. A nice campsite, with good facilities, and a very friendly kitten. The rest of the day, we languished in the sunshine, the only mishap being a pierced platypus bottle (victim of a happily thrusted cheese knife).
	21/08/03 Seix to Aulus Les Bains And on the 30th day.... Here, once again, we (perhaps foolishly) chose our own "shortcut" to Aulus les Bains, and left the GR10 to skirt through overgrown woodland and along narrow sheep tracks. Just in advance of our daily storm, we paused in the village of Ustou to taste the waters, and share a rickety bench with an old lady. At this point, you should be warned about those waters. Definitely purgatory, but certainly not therapeutic....five hours later agonising stomach pains were but a gentle introduction to four days of spontaneous colonic irrigation. But before all that started, still blissfully ignorant, we ascended to the col above Ustou, following a cobbled village track. At the top, we tried to avoid a long road trudge by ploughing off into the forest along a "path" we had spied on the map. Probably it did exist once, but no more - serious undergrowth and marsh eventually popped us out in a meadow sporting a cluster of old barns. These were to be our home for the night, because no sooner had we arrived in Aulus les Bains, than the heavens opened, and the sky fell down. We pitched our inner tent inside a dusty, slightly odourous, bat-infested barn, and sheltered "Mary and Joseph style" amongst the hay-filled mangers.
	22/08/03 Aulus to Vicdessos Day 31 The morning air had that fresh smell, that only comes from a night of torrential scrubbing. We left the village, and sulphur-supping residents of the thermal baths, behind us to take an old village track into the woods. Here, where green light filtered through to moss-covered rocks and crumbling walls, the atmosphere was heavy with history. As our path meandered through ancient buildings, clustered amongst the trees, we expected to see a white-bearded druid magically appear. At the top of the village track, we met the road again, and joined tourists from cars (humph!) in an ascent to the col. From there, we followed the valley down, again on picturesque old village tracks (and with much hurried bush-visiting - very nice bushes they were too) to Auzat. Here, you can take advantage of the amenities, but you won't want to hang around, because the village is home to a huge, smoking factory. The neighbouring village of Vicdessos is slightly more appealing, and has a nice campsite next to the river, and with easy access to the shops, including a butcher, baker and alimentation.
	23/08/03 Vicdessos to Clairans Cabane 32nd day An atrocious day, both in route and weather. We started by cutting off a bit of gratuitous up and overring by starting with a road romp to Siguer (and a nice path down the river prior to the road section). Siguer is a pretty village, once home to the Comtes de Foix. From here on, the weather turned rainy and clouds darkened, while at the same time the terrain became more and more ankle-turning and vague (especially at the top of the hills, where the horses had knocked off all the posts....). Joy! We eventually picked our way down to our proposed resting place - a cabane marked on our new 2001 edition map, only to find that it had no roof! So, already exhausted, we went over even slower, boggier ground (over the old boots!) to the valley floor to camp. Here the GR10 markers frantically warned us off the only remaining bridge crossing - sending us through hedges until we got so frustrated that we went over the double XX bridge, only to find ourselves on the right route. We were knackered and most peeved. So, why not get this gnarly ground finished with to give us a nice day following? Up 350m of incredibly steep ground, and over a really vague top (with a dark cloud chuffing out the odd hail stone), and down the rocky/boggy/stream infested/tortuous route to the valley floor (I suppose it would have been nice if we'd been in a better frame of mind!). Our 12 hour day ended at the refuge non-garde "Clarains" - actually a dodgy cabane with half of its sleeping deck turned (one assumes) to firelighters some time ago. It turned out to be quite cosy though, while the storm got going over night. We were woken by a funky squirrel/possum type thing (probably an edible dormouse in fact), snooping about. It made its presence known by first running by our heads, then leaping up the chimney and knocking over a lot of old cartons. Quite funny, and cute.
	24/08/03 Cabane to Merens Les Vals Q (via Refuge de Rulle) Day 33 - a double whammy Breakfast of our favourite semolina au chocolat was followed by a climb up to the Refuge de Rulle. This time a good walk! We took the road route most of the way (having become rather unimpressed with the local GR idea of a path!), and got there for lunchtime. So, what do you do after a nightmare previous day, and an already longish walk?....carry on after a quick coffee of course. It didn't look far on the map, but our scheduled next day of walking was a 1000m+ descent over huge granite boulders - generally hard going. We raced the estimated 5hr section, emerging in Merens les Vals in under 4hrs. It was a stomp and a half, but the promise of the next day off can certainly motivate tired feet. From here we hitch-hiked to the neighbouring town of Ax les Thermes, and another good campsite (cheapest emplacements are "sur la colline" - on the hill). Just a bit let down by the miserable weather, we had an excellent Chinese in the town, and were very impressed by the hot, sulphurous spa water freely running in the gutters. From Merens, we recommend a leisurely train ride North to Foix - an ancient town, with pretty cobbled streets and an imposing castle. As usual, we saw it in hideous weather, but even then it was worth a look. The main railway line running through Foix, Ax and Merens les Vals heads South through Andorra and into Spain, and is a major freight route.