The last time we hiked from Cauterets we met a couple in the refuge we started in and they gave us a bunch of tips about where we could go. So we made a loop beginning and ending in Cauterets with lots of possible variations.
We set out on the GR 10 out of town, but then when it headed southwest, we stayed south and went into the next valley, which is very dramatic and has been greatly shaped by many avalanches from the steep cliffs above.
It was a nice walk up The Valley, although too many people, we passed a trail head, which makes it easy for people to get to Lac Estom, which would be lovely if not for all the people. As soon as we started hiking around the lake the crowds were gone.
The trail past the lake wasn’t that well marked and was harder to follow. We lost it a couple times in the boulder fields. Then it went up the head wall, and boy it went up! The day had gone from a cold morning to a roasting day in the sun, but we were happy to have the sun shining.
Finally we made it to Lac de Labas, which was nice, but didn’t have great camping. We continued up to the second lake where there was better camping, but we decided to check out the third before making a decision. The third lake, Lac de Couy was great, beautiful views and lots of camp spots.
We picked a spot on the far side of the lake, which would get the most daylight and set up camp.
The dinner experiment of the day is tomato Alfredo pasta with peas, shallots, fresh garlic, red peppers, cured ham, and broccoli. It came out quite well although the peas could have used more rehydrating time and the cheese didn’t combine well, I think I added too much too fast.
