October 2, 2019 – Departed 8:45 – Arrived: 13:30
The rain that started yesterday afternoon continued overnight. Although it had stopped when I left, it started again one hour into my hike and kept me company for most of the day. It wasn’t unpleasant though, despite raining quite hard at times. My backpack stayed dry (that’s the most important) but my clothes and boots got all soggy, and everything is now drying on a rack at the gîte where I am staying.
As for the path, it started on easy roads for the first hour, but then climbed quite quickly into the forest, on a narrow path on the hillside, with a steep slope up to the left and equally steep down to the right. At the top it continued along the edge of the plateau, then descended to the Col de Portet-d’Aspet and then down to the village itself. The elevation difference today was significant, with the highest point in the hike around 1,200 m, whereas the villages at both end were in the 500 to 700 m range.
I didn’t take many pictures today. At first I could see the mountains with clouds clinging from their sides, but once the rain had started all I could see beyond the nearest trees was a white wall. I’ll try snapping a picture of the village tomorrow – we are back in slate roofs territory, with some slate tiles rounded at the end, it’s quite pretty.
The place where I am staying is the Bar Chez Jo. The dorm is a loft directly above the bar, with half a dozen beds. A Canadian flag hangs above one of the beds – a gift from pilgrims, I was told – so that’s naturally the one I selected. As for the shower it’s outside, half in the open, kind of weird but the water is hot. I am sharing the place with three hikers going the other way, and who gave me tips about where to stay tomorrow.
GR10/GR101/GR78 August/September/October 2019 