GR11Aug 16 2019

Pico de Aneto

Aug172019
Map thumbnail of location

Yesterday's trail was fantastic (and felt fantastic on my foot, too!) so I'm hoping for more of the same today. Thankfully, I don't have too far to hike until I hit a road, and then only a few more kilometers until I reach my end destination and rendezvous with Crash.

If I do it right, this will basically be an on-trail near-o.

A lake I passed with stunningly pretty waterA lake I passed with stunningly pretty water

Once I hit the road, I realized that it was a proper highway, but with a cliff face on one side, and a cliff edge on the other. (And no proper shoulders or anything to walk along). Looks like I'm gonna hitch this one!

Of course, right as I was about to stick out my thumb, a bus pulled up! It was like the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. Anyway, I pointed to where I wanted up go (on my phone) and the driver said "¡Sí!" so I gave him €6.20 and climbed aboard.

A short while later (during which I looked out the window and the width of the road only confirmed my decision to not walk it), we were at the trailhead -- which I learned was very popular with day hikers -- and I hopped out and started hiking. Five steps later, I realized that I'd left my hat back at the bus stop where I had been picked up. Damn. Oh well, I guess I'll suncreen it up!

The view from the trailheadThe view from the trailhead

After lathering up, I got to stepping -- it was only a few kilometers to our rendezvous point. The chosen point was a refuge right at the start of the trail up to Pico de Aneto, the highest peak in the Pyrenees. Our plan was to meet there, camp somewhere nearby, then climb the peak early the next morning.

In (comparatively) no time, I reached the refuge. It was only about 11:15 am, and I had no idea when Crash would show up. (He also didn't have a SIM for his phone so I really had no idea (not that I had service at the refuge))

Flawless weatherFlawless weather

There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and there was a creek nearby, so this meant a few things:

  1. I'm gonna get fried since I lost my hat. Double-damn.
  2. I can totally dry all my gear <3
  3. I can do hiker-laundry! <3 <3
  4. I can hiker-shower! <3 <3 <3
Let's get these feathers happy and fluffy again!Let's get these feathers happy and fluffy again!

After doing all the above, I was clean, my gear was clean, and we were all dry. And it was only like 1pm. What a day.

In order to avoid the roasting sun (now that it was a liability instead of an asset) I went into the refuge. I only lasted in there maybe 15 minutes though because the kitchen smelled amazing and I was hungry .. but I had run out of cash. Sitting in there was torturous, so I headed back outside and reapplied sunscreen before finding various grass patches to nap in (there were essentially no trees, meaning no shade).

They had cows roaming about the property, performing the landscapingThey had cows roaming about the property, performing the landscaping
I also befriended the property's cat. She had kittens who I didn't try to bother because they were running around doing their kitten things.I also befriended the property's cat. She had kittens who I didn't try to bother because they were running around doing their kitten things.
At least I think we were friends .. ?At least I think we were friends .. ?

Around 7, Crash showed up. We chatted with some hikers returning from the peak and asked them about the conditions and they insisted that crampons and ice axes are essential -- damn, neither of us have these things. Okay, well let's scrap the summit plans.

We hiked out a few kilometers and set up camp in a grove of trees under a clear sky (yay, cowboy camping).

GR10Aug 18 2019