Mountaineering, 'Pyrenees Venturer', Pyrenees, Aug 2011, ID 1093

Cranbrook School CCF

Pyrenees – An Easy Week, by Emma Reynolds and Megan Calcutt

The first day was spent travelling. We reached our campsite late that night, and quickly learnt that we would have to get used to sleeping on slopes and rocks! The Pyrenees greeted us that night with our first storm, and we started the next day with damp rucksack straps. We had arrived at the end of the local summer- all the cattle were being herded off the mountains to lower pastures, and the sound of bells ringing from the neck of of all the animals was everywhere.

Our first day hiking was totally uphill, which gave us a bit of a shock – we weren’t used to walking yet, and as were totally self-sufficient, carrying everything from food to fuel, the weight of the packs, particularly uphill, was realised. Our first campsite was amazing. We pitched our tiny tents opposite the Pic du Midi, the iconic sight of the Pyrenees, and dived into the beautifully blue, yet almost sub-zero lake. We cooked our first orange bag meal of dehydrated freeze-dried food on our mini stoves – spaghetti bolognaise was, despite the blood red and orange, not that bad! These were the rations that we would be eating for the trip and in general they weren’t bad at all!

Each cadet took turns in guiding us on our flexible itinerary. The days were set to have target high points which gave breathtaking views, with a descent in to a nice wild camping area. Megan and Beth led on upwards to the Col de la Fache (2700m), which due to the endless false summits, we nicknamed the ‘worst col in the world’ – it seemed to go on forever! However, we were amused by Captain Money falling in a stream. On two occasions we camped near the mountain huts, which were a nice contrast to the general isolation we experienced most of the time. The mountain huts allowed us to experience a little ‘civilisation’ in the form of toilets, not to mention the fantastic food.

Day 4 started with a gradual walk up to the Col d’Arratille (2250m), and then the Col des Mulets, which is almost three times the height of Snowdon. We sped over our last col the next day, stopping only to refuel on Mars bars from the Refuge de Bayssellance – our last hut. This night was spent in an amazing area, with a beautiful grassy floodplain to camp on; the flat mossy grass was a great contrast to some of the places we’d had to pitch our tents! We were surrounded by mountains, and the glacier face which was in front of us still had 2 climbers on it as it got dark. We watched their head torches move down the glacier and finally they were safe in at the bottom. We headed down the valley towards Gavarnie, our final destination, crossing gushing cascades from melting glaciers – which really showed how much we had grown to work together as a team.

At the bottom of the valley it was such a relief to see the Gavarnie sign, and our campsite was a godsend, having proper toilets and even showers! We cleaned up, and went into town, heading straight for the nearest pizza place! The stars were at their best, and we even saw several comets.

Thanks and congratulations to everyone for getting through the huge physical challenge, and making it such a great trip, and, of course, special thanks to Mr Usher, Mr Howard, Mr Swinburne, Captain Money, and Jane, who took the immense decision to run such a risky and dangerous trip in such a beautiful place. We went into the mountains as individuals, but came out as a close-knit team.

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