HRP - The Introduction

The Haute Route Pyrénéenne (or HRP) is a long distance hike. It traditionally starts in Hendaye on the Atlantic coast and pretty much follows the crest of the Pyrénées (on the France-Spain border) all the way to the Med (though, of course, it can be done in the opposite direction). The current guidebook describes it as 44 days of hiking, and these are generally pretty long days; with rest days and some bad weather people generally take somewhere between 50 and 60 days to do it.

The HRP is rather more intense than most long distance hikes (e.g. the GR5 or GR10). First, it stays high in the mountains on pretty rough terrain; at times, it is more like a mountaineering route. Huts are further apart in the Pyrénées than the Alps and you're seldom near a village, so you often have a choice between really long days to get to accommodation or camping. Navigation is also an issue; there are no red and white stripes to mark the HRP and sometimes there really isn't a discernable path. 

I live locally and I don't plan to do it all in one go. Instead I'll do it in sections over the next 2 or 3 years. My approach is to carry very light bivouac gear but to use huts when it makes sense (maybe 70% of the nights). I had planned to start the hike a couple of years ago but Covid 19 (and the associated health measures) put paid to that. But I'll be heading to the start of the hike by train tomorrow morning. I intend to do the first of the HRP's 5 sections, Hendaye to Lescun, which should be 9 days of hiking, before the summer 'busy' season.