The last day of the loop was the shortest, however it wasn’t as easy as I thought it might be.
Before leaving we extended our stay at the cabin, which means we were able to empty our packs and just carry one pack with water, snacks and rain gear. Then when we get back to the car we can drive back to the cabin and don’t have to worry about where we are staying. The cabins are cute and not too expensive.
First we had to road walk back to the village of Sazos, which was an annoying road walk up a big hill, but not terrible. The pass the we had to go over is about 1940 meters high, and the cabin is at 640 meters. The town of Cauterets is 7 km as the crow flies from the cabin, although I’m not sure how far the actual path is. The means in 7 km (4.3 miles) we had to go up and down (not quite as far down) 1300 meters (4,265 feet).
It was a lovely sunny day, we hiked up for a while before going above tree line, which I was excited about because of the views, but my excitement wouldn’t last. The heat was intense and the trail steep, and we underestimated it and didn’t bring enough water or the water filter (left that at the cabin). We were also sad that the cafe on the way up wasn’t open.
We lunched at the top with an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. Then we were thrilled to hike down the other, more shaded side. On the way down there was a cafe where we stopped for a wine and coke, it wasn’t the coffee and a crepe we hoped for earlier in the day but it was very enjoyable.
In town we had to replace some of our gear, we both got gloves for rain, I got a new hat and sunglasses as well as a second pair of long underwear so when my wool ones get wet I have a pair for camp. Betty got sunglasses, rain pants and a tech wash for her jacket which hopefully will restore it’s waterproof abilities. Along the way we found a cheese shop… so that meant we bought a buch of cheese, which meant we needed to buy a baguette and some fruit and veggies for a salad. Dinner was delicious.
