September 12, 2019 – Departed 8:10 – Arrived 15:20
What a day! It started, just one hour into the hike, with two gems. The first to come into sight was the Fort du Portalet, a fort built I mid 1800’s to defend the valley against the Spaniards. The fort is located on the other side of a deep gully. On this side, the path is known as Chemin de la Matûre, so named because it was used in the 1700’s to carry tree trunks to make masts for the French Navy. The path is carved out of an almost vertical cliff. It’s quite an impressive piece of work. You can still see the marks of the holes that the workers filled with gunpowder to break the rock apart.
After that it was a long climb, at times gentle, at times steep, specially near the end, to the Col d’Ayous (2,188 m). This is the first time since Hendaye that the GR10 has crossed the 2,000 m mark. The climb to the Col took an entire 6 h 15 mins. I was exhausted. But it was worth it. The view from the top is incredible. There were 6 or 7 letting it soak in, taking pictures, and getting our first look at the imposing Pic du Midi d’Ossau just across.
From the Col it was another hour down to the refuge which is right on the side of Lac Gentau. The setting is incredibly beautiful. As for the refuge itself it’s very basic – no hot water, no showers, no electric plugs (it’s all photovoltaics with batteries) and in any case no wifi and no cell service. But there were some 30 of is who spent the night and had dinner there. The two women who were operating the refuge were incredibly organized and energetic and love their job; before dinner they took time to explain to us how the refuge was built and how it operates, and between the main dish and cheese they made us go outside to admire the shadows setting on Pic d’Ossau as night fell. A bunch of us volunteered to do the dishes afterwards, and it was really the least we could do to thank them.
GR10/GR101/GR78 August/September/October 2019 