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Published: July 28th 2009
Back in France just on time to cross two adventures from my wish list! Although my family lives only a few hours from the Pyrenees mountain range, I never got the chance to be in France in June since they moved there...which is precisely the best time of the year to go rafting and trekking in the area! Actually, as far as the rafting on the Gave d'Ossau (class III & IV) is concerned, it is only feasible between late April and June, right after springtime when plenty of water is coming down the snake like river, so yes I had been waiting for many years...
The huge plus was that this was a family trip which when leaving on the other side of the world doesn’t happen that often, and make it all the more enjoyable! My young sister couldn’t join us so it was the four of us (my parents & Stephaney, my brother) and looking forward to the next trip where we will be all together! Day 1: Rafting time...should I have mentioned that we would be 'jumping 6 meters+ water dam' ??!! (Maybe not...)
Surrounded by a
forested canyon,
narrow with lots of obstacle (think massive trees in the middle of the river) and offering
emerald color water, the Gave d’Ossau is one of the reference when it comes to white water rafting in the area. The rapids might not be the most thrilling I have experienced so far but the scenery combined with the
misty ambience make it quite spectacular.
It was as well the first time for my parents and brother to go white water rafting…Both my brother and father were really enthusiastic, the only one we had to convince was my mother who has always been scared of the water, obviously that doesn’t help! But she trusted us and safely seated at the back of the raft and after a few minutes she simply loved it!
Used the services of “evasion eaux” for this trip and they
tailored made the perfect rafting journey focusing on the most interesting part of the river that ends up in Oleron Ste Marie and with just the four of us and two guides, sweet!
Alright, the only tiny detail I hadn’t mentioned to any of them was the water dams that we would have to jump… Still
laughing when I recall their reaction when we arrived at the first dam, parked on the side to go checking the water level before going back to the raft and well…
paddle full speed and down the dam! They were asking for more! This is actually really fun and a nice added bonus to this adventure playground!
So, will we go again for more rafting outing all together, yes definitely! Pff….
Lots of sensations already for this first day, and back on the road for a few more kilometers all the way to Eaux Chaudes to experience some local style auberge (hostelry), south west of France food & get ready for the following day!
Eaux Chaudes and the ‘La caverne’ auberge: perfect stop before heading for some serious trekking.
Eaux Chaudes in itself is a really tiny village, once famous for its spa, located in the valley d’Ossau right at the entrance of the
Gorge du Hourat (30mn from Pau).
We were welcomed by the owner Annie and Jacques, who quickly gave us a tour of the hostelry and somehow felt like at home. Warm & convivial, this hostelry seduced us by its south of
France flair & down to earth aspect. Nothing pretentious but simply a good old feel of how holidays in a mountain area should be!
The husband, Jacques, is THE cook and wow…
true traditional mountain style dish using local products, starting with a Garbure (soup made of vegetables and Duck Confit) followed by what got to be the best Tartiflette ever with lots of Reblochon cheese and to finish on a sweet touch a homemade lemon meringue pie… The least to say was that we would not lack of energy for the next day trek!
The hostelry is surrounded by various trekking path starting from the spa and going along the river, so after such a meal we were off again for a short 2 hours walk in the area.
By then it was completely dark so equipped with flash light, we walked along the river, up and down the mountain path, with from time to time a tiny move in the foliage here and there breaking the silence…getting closer from the river again, we
could hear the water roaring, going down full speed with plenty of tiny waterfalls bringing in more water from the top of the mountain.
Shoes on, time to go for some real trekking! Pic du Midi d’Ossau, here we come…
The Pic du Midi d’Ossau is located in the heart of the
Pyrenees National Park and represents an emblem of this part of France. Lots of hiking paths around it and plenty of ways to combine them! Decided to go for the
classic tour of the Ayous lakes, a series of lakes stretching around the pic and a nice 6 hours trek across the valley, through thick woodland and then up to refuge of Ayous for a spectacular view over the pic and the Lac Gentau.
Details: 15km, 5h45, +1590m (altitude gain), -540m
Itinerary (well...at least the one we had planned…): Lac Bious-Artigues - col long d'Ayous - Lac Roumassot - Lac Miey (the smallest one) - Lac Gentau - refuge of Ayous - Lac Bersau - Lac Casterau - Gave de Bious & Bious bridge back to the starting point.
Parked the car by the Lac Bious-Artigues and from there started to gently go up, keeping the lake on our right side, following the main path and going across a roaring river. Lots of water and here and there
a fish popping out, the smell of the surrounding
mountain pines is becoming omnipresent, everything is just so calm and relaxed… Not many trekkers that day so really feel like we are having the mountain to ourselves!
Cairns made of stones dropped by previous trekkers have been strategically built up along the way thus allowing us to remain on the right path. As we pop out of the woods after a steady climb on a still muddy soil, the lush green valley reveals its second lake of the day…Nothing huge but with a surface so calm that the pic du Midi d’Ossau partially reflects on it. The
lush valley leading to the next lake is just as stunning.
Covered with a carpet of wild flowers, gentians, azaleas and Pyrenean lilies, mix of blue, yellow and white, the valley offers a nice patchwork of colors only interrupted by a touch of snow remaining here and there.
As we keep walking the snow starts to take over the lush valley and we are as a matter of fact crossing more and more snow slide…
Underground rivers reveal themselves on and off, often edged with a lace like mix of ice and snow
before disappearing again or turning into
powerful waterfalls. The Pic du Midi d’Ossau reflection was stunningly shimmering in the waters of the Lac Gentau which make the surrounding calm sounds even more surrealist. Took a few minutes of pure contemplation before going
back to reality…which somehow I would have loved to make abstraction of for a few more minutes:
snow everywhere… Short backtrack here: this trip took place in June! Was expecting everything but snow, as by that time of the year it is supposed to be long gone! Obviously, we had perfect equipment for a day trek including good trekking shoes but not snow shoes nor ski gloves!
The path to the Lac Bersau is supposed to go up from the left side of the refuge and for once I was really glad I had brought the compass (roughly south ward) as a few path were going around the refuge and with the snow didn’t really felt like taking the wrong one! So up we went!
Pretty steep snow covered slop, so it is the least to say that we took our time, hoping that the other side of the mountain would be more
friendly as by then we had reached the maximum altitude of this trek…Well, not only the lake on the other side was covered with ice and surrounded with snow but more and more clouds were coming our way…mmm…doesn’t feel like a good idea to keep going! We decided to turn back, better be safe than sorry, and as we were doing so we noticed that this was exactly what everyone else was doing…
The only small detail we had somehow all skipped was that it meant going down on the snow covered slope which had been already pretty scary on the way up so let you imagine on the way down…The soil was extremely slippery and we obviously didn’t have any walking stick so it was with extra care that we started to head back to the refuge,
didn’t really feel like sliding down to the river located at the bottom of the slope… The way back offered some nice views over the pic du midi d’Ossau from a different angle allowing to chill out from time to time, simply enjoying the serenity of the Pyrenees.
End of the week end and time to head back home! First family
trip and not the last one, as a matter of fact already planning the next trek in the Pyrenees area…
hard to resist to the land of deep blue lakes and lush valleys!
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