Ordesa and Monte Perdido - Some Unfinished Business!

The Ordesa Valley is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, incredibly dramatic and another great place to enjoy some wild camping and hill slogs! We'd intended to come here a couple of weeks ago from the other side of Monte Perdido, to "tick" the summit and see the famous "Breche du Roland" (a large natural "cut" in the peaks along the French/Spanish border) but were thwarted by the snow and lack of mountaineering kit to cross over the necessary pass! However, from the slightly friendlier Ordesa side it was simply a long slog and scramble to both the Breche du Roland and the summit of Monte Perdido, so we were finally able to settle the score here! We won't mention the cloudy summit morning though.

Churches nestled in the hills on the road to Ordesa.

The village of Torla at the head of the Valley. You can see the cliffs of the Ordesa canyon behind...

After a pre-dawn start and slog up the mountainside we came across the "Clavijas (or rungs) de Cotatuero" to cross the next rock band on our ascent. Having come across sections of these rungs before and being very underwhelmed, we didn't even consider bringing harness and lanyards. But this section wasn't quite the hand line along a wide ledge that we'd encountered before - more a proper via ferrata along a sheer cliff face! Still, the rungs were huge and plentiful so it wasn't actually that bad! 

Starting off along the rungs...

Falling is not an option! 

Safely back on a flatter track on the plains at the top of the canyon. Had seen no-one except 15 chamois at this stage!

Continuing up towards the Breche du Roland... According to legend, the Brèche de Roland was cut by Count Roland with his sword Durendal in an attempt to destroy that sword, after being defeated during the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778. I have my suspicions, must have been a large sword... 

Crossing the scree - my nemesis! I hate this stuff, especially weighed down with a bag. Give me exposed via ferrata anyday! 

Nearly there...

Made it! A very windy col at 2804m with views into France. 

Back down the scree, slightly nicer going this side...

Campsite number one at the Goriz refuge underneath Monte Perdido, the third highest mountain in the Pyrenees at 3355m and our objective for the next day...

Sunrise at the summit of Monte Perdido! The reward of a 5am start and 1400m ascent up boulders and scree by headtorch! Monte Perdido means "lost mountain" in Spanish (so-called as it's actually quite hidden by from the French side). It seemed a pretty appropriate name this morning!

Thankfully just a few metres below the views were slightly better! On the right was our nemesis col into the Val de Pineta where we camped last month and failed to cross over.

Views down to the Ordesa Canyon were alright too. 

Heading back down, far more pleasant and spectacular in daylight! 

Having arrived back at the refuge at 10am, we packed up and headed round the valley for a wilder and more secluded campspot. Hard to imagine we'd been up the top that morning and not at all galling that the clouds had now lifted above the summit. Not galling at all...

We managed to squeeze the tent in amongst the limestone pavement! Good old Quasar :-)

Plant life nestled in the rocks. I thought these looked like sea anemones! 

The gorge is just spectacular! 

Not bad by night either...

A moody showery sunrise! 

Breakfast with a view!

The next day we did a day walk from our "edge" to the wilder Anisclo canyon, another gorge perpendicular to Ordesa. 

Walking along the Pardina Ravine, proper limestone and cattle country. Care must be taken not to fall in a hole or step in a cow pat! 

Can you spot the path along the other side? 

Cute little crocuses nestling among the cow pats!

More moody skies above Monte Perdido... Summit almost "lost" again.

And yet another cup of tea! This cup was particularly appreciated though as we had to carry water up from the refuge (an hours walk away) in every bottle and pan we had as there were no running streams up here!

Views behind down towards Pardina and Anisclo...

Another moody sunrise after a very stormy night! We'd stashed our bags under some ledges overnight, assuming this would be drier than the tent porches... Unfortunately the water pooled underneath and we found all our stuff sat soaking in a big puddle - oops! 

Following the river down the valley bottom to the car... hard to imagine we'd been camping on top of the cliffs above! 

The "Grados de Soasa" a series of waterfalls cascading down the valley and the destination for MUCHOS day walkers! 

A geologists paradise... again there are paths along some of the rock bands! 

Into the woods in the final section... definitely beginning to get an autumnal feel.

MOOOOO! One of many cows that patrol the car park and deter wild campers with their foghorn-like vocals! 

Panticosa Valley - More Hill Training!

Next stop on our road trip was the Panticosa Valley (or Garganta del Escalar to give it its proper name), a new valley for us near the Spanish/French border. We stayed at the head of the valley, next to the Balneario de Panticosa, a spa and cross country ski resort in winter and possibly the weirdest complex of buildings I've ever seen! As a so-called trained planning officer(!) I was astounded by the mish-mash - beautiful stonework and Victorian style architecture nestled next to dilapidated ruins, mixed up with tin shack factories/scrapyards next to modern 4 star hotels that look more like a a brand new university campus...

But anyway, above the slightly strange and eerie empty resort the scenery was far more consistent: sharp sided valleys, big peaks, canyons and lakes. So we had a couple of steep day walks here to keep beasting our legs!

The beautiful Lagos Azules - the reward after 700m ascent. A joy with only day sacks! 

A nice place to paddle and finish my book too :-) 

Descending back down towards the weird and wonderful Balneario de Panticosa...

Some gnarly weathered signage on the way...

The very cold and deep Azule Lake. No swimming in this one!

Some canyoners in action, as seen from the path (well, just off the path as Ali was teetering off the edge of a cliff as usual!)

Canyoner number two preparing to get a dunking...

Splash!

Our path took us on the incredibly well-marked GR11. I want the job of GR sign painter!

A beautiful yet slightly eerie 4* Hotel - it's closed up until winter.

Next to wooden "wild-west" style bars and shops...

Old-school railway station in front of University Campus?

Remains of stone buildings tucked away... 

More colourful wood...

The next day's walk followed the same GR (11) up the other side of the valley. Again well marked! The only person we met all day was following this route across the whole Pyrenees, on day 20 of 35 and desperate for some company! 

The impressive cairn that marked our col and destination for the day: the "Puerto Bielo del Brazato at 2578m to be precise. Nice views whatever its name!

Not a bad place for some lunch either. Views of Vignemale (one of highest mountains in Pyrenees) in front.

Starting the steep descent back down. I'm not actually about to walk off a cliff edge by the way...

Just down past the lakes and towards valley bottom...

The final meadow before it's back to zig-zagging all the way down to the Balneario (and dinner).