Hiking in the clouds

Into the clouds...

I set off for a shortish day hike on Le Layens, a 1625 m high mountain in the Pyrénées that is used as a paraglider launch. Everything went very well until I joined the final ridge, and saw that clouds were moving in from the North. Hmmm, this wasn't in the forecast I saw. Very quickly I found myself in the clouds hiking along a long, indistinct ridge without any real paths. Finding the summit wasn't that hard (just keep going up) but after that navigation became more difficult. For the next hour or so I spent most of my time looking at my compass and peering into the mist, hoping to recognize the few landmarks on the map. Even as a hiker, the mist can be very disorienting - at one point, I thought there were a group of sheep 200 m away, only to realize it was a bunch of daffodils about 15 m away!

Anyway, I followed the intended route, even if it was a little more stressful than I expected. Near the end of the hike, I popped out of the clouds and pretty much the first thing I saw was my car, 750 meters directly below. Maybe next time I'll pack a GPS for my hikes...

Some pics.

Le Trône du Roi

Le Pic d'Anie from Le Trône du Roi

For the last couple weeks I've been looking at the Pyrénées, trying to work out if the snow-line was high enough to permit some hiking. Today's forecast was excellent so I decided it was worth a try and went on a hike up Le Trône du Roi. It's a popular hike on essentially the 'front-range'' of the Pyrénées - so at 1266m not a big mountain but quite a steep hike to a sharp summit and a short drive from Pau.

It all went according to plan, with excellent views of the bigger snowy peaks and a taster for more hikes to come. Some pics.

Big Waves at St-Jean-de-Luz

Typical Basque Architecture

Our 'local' coast has changed from the Med to the Atlantic and it's quite a contrast. The Med always seems to be warm, sunny, calm and blue - even in the middle of winter. The Atlantic is much more elemental - even in summers it can be moody, gray and stormy. The differences go well beyond that; the Atlantic - with the Basque architecture - has a charming 'old world' feel while the Med feels like some modern, Californiaized development. Marinas contain sailing and fishing boats, rather than only luxury yachts. 

We could see most of these differences on a day-trip we made today to St-Jean-de-Luz, a fashionable Basque resort. We didn't know much about the town before our visit, but we learned a lot from the little information plaques throughout the town. It has the only sheltered bay on the south west coast. Before the sea-walls were constructed, the sea would advance a meter per year, but afterwards the town built its wealth on fishing and piracy!

The weather was very pleasant, with almost no wind. But, as we were strolling around, we noticed big waves breaking over the distant sea-walls. We had to see what was going on! So, after a leisurely lunch, we took a boat out to the Fort de Socoa. We were mesmerized by the spectacle! On one side of the sea-wall, spray, mayhem and spectacle; on the other side, kayakers calmly paddling around. I'm keen to go back when it is windy!

Some pics I took. If you want more spectacular waves, look here.