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Trekking in the Pyrenees

Trekking in the Pyrenees

Excerpt:
Sample Trek


Contents List | Introduction | Route options | Planning your trek | Eating and Drinking - Pyrenean Style | Sample Trek


CHALET D�IRATY – LOGIBAR [MAP 9]

Just east of the information office and the restaurant, turn left down a tarmac road – leaving it for a loose stone road on the left at the first hairpin. This in turn you leave for the right-hand (eastern) of two paths heading up the southern side of the Pic des Escaliers. The path is steep at first but it soon levels out and becomes a pleasant walk across the grassy hillside to the top of the ridge, from which there are excellent views to the north.

After a spectacular but not particularly well-marked descent you reach a rough forest road. Follow it to the right for about 700m, before a signpost, Logibar 5h, directs you to go left down another track.

At the first sharp bend in the new track, the GR10 continues straight ahead (east-north-east) on a footpath which leads around the grassy hillside. (Look for the beginning of the path to the right by a small post – don't go over the top of the hill!) The path continues, passing in front of a number of platforms used by hunters who shoot wood pigeon (palombe) in the spring and autumn.

After about an hour you come to a small locked house with an outbuilding; descend past the house and under the seven large trees below it, and join a track just beyond the trees.

The track rises over a spur and then descends to an area of scrub which is laced with paths made by cows and sheep. it's easy to lose the markers here but pay really close attention to them and you should emerge below a cow trough. Veer right here down into a small grassy dip along a wide, grassy track, before leaving it for a smaller path to the left, currently marked by two red-and-white poles, whereafter sticking to the trail becomes much easier. The path begins to climb again, emerging eventually at a track junction by a small col (just north-east of spot height 1041m on the map). A yellow sign, Logibar 3h 15, points the way to the next section of the path.

Follow the vehicle track along the top of the hill to a fenced-off field. The GR10 avoids the field by passing down a muddy cart track to the right-hand side, before taking a footpath which skirts the bottom of the enclosure. Follow this footpath south-eastwards along a spur, past two small hillocks, and eventually to an old gate, beyond which is a croft.

With the black-and-white village Larrau to your right, round the hill and follow a wide track. Eventually, the path begins a steep descent south down towards the valley bottom. (Ignore markers painted on a tree at the start of the descent which many people mistakenly interpret as suggesting that you should carry on traversing round the hill on a minor path. You shouldn't.)

After a steepish descent, you join a tarmac lane very briefly before short-cutting down the hillside on another footpath. These short cuts are easy to miss, but all being well you should eventually arrive on the road just below Logibar.

LOGIBAR
Postcode 64440
Logibar really only consists of a single building, the Auberge Logibar (tel 05 59 28 61 14), which is a combination of an inn, restaurant and g�te d��tape.

The g�te takes 36 people, has reasonable kitchen facilities, and costs €11 per night. Double rooms in the auberge cost €26. Food at the restaurant is adequate and reasonably priced. Logibar is popular with day trippers, because it is the nearest parking place for a visit to the famous Gorges d�Holzart�.

LARRAU
Postcode 64560
Larrau is the nearest place with a shop, and is 2.5km up the steep road from Logibar; try hitching a lift as it's a 40-minute walk. H�tel Etchemaite (tel 05 59 28 61 45, 05 59 28 72 71) has rooms for €42-58, while H�tel Despouey (tel 05 59 28 60 82) charges €28 for a room. The former also has the only restaurant in town which is beautiful but eye-wateringly expensive, though their €15 set menu is tremendous value. The campsite just below the village charges around €5 for a one-person tent.

Trekking in the Pyrenees

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