Spring walking in the Pyrenees. Plateau de Saugué, orchids and a Fire Rainbow!

We had a spectacular day up at the Plateau de Saugue today with the Explorer Pyrenees walking holiday. First we waded through the orchids to a crystal clear lake with a perfect reflection of the Cirque de Gavarnie to test our cameras with. We were then rewarded with a rare sight as an incoming weather system threw up some bizzare alto cirrus clouds above the frontier ridge with Spain. Half an hour later we sat down to admire the view and found ourselves trying to work out if we were all having problems with our sunglasses as a large stretch of azure blue sky turned into a rainbow… This was a “circumhorizontal arc”, or Fire Rainbow  – a rare optical effect produced by aligned high altitude ice crystals of a similar size causing iridescence. 

Reflections of the Cirque de Gavarnie in an alpine lake. Early June Pyrenees walking holiday.

A panoramic shot of the Cirque de Gavarnie (National park and UNESCO site), from the Saugue plateau.

Admiring the view from the wild flower meadows

A fire rainbow! or circumhorizontal arc

A Fire Rainbow dancing over the Pyrenees frontier as a weather system moves in from the South.