Day 2: Col de Joncs to Chapelle de l'Aubépine

This morning my very smart watch advised me that I'd had over 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep, but I do remember turning over a few times to get comfy on the camp mattress and being conscious of no more cow bells! On opening the tent at first light I realised it's both the cows and horses that are adorned with neck bells! They seem unfazed by them, and the sound is strangely relaxing to me, but these awkward looking metal contraptions must take some getting used to wearing! The moon was fading and provided a beautiful backdrop to the early morning view from the Col. I was hoping to feel totally refreshed but the super early airport departure yesterday, combined with the toils of starting the trail straight away, had left me a touch tired this morning! Oh, and it was pointed out to me before I left, not to forget that I have a few more years on the clock now, and to realise and appreciate that! ... which to be fair I'm reminded of by the occasional mirror check-in! White stubble hair is on the march!

Anyway, I broke camp after successful ablutions, and battled to pack what will now be known as 'Megapack'! I set off for Col d'Ibardin, which involved a short climb and traverse of the Northern slopes of Manttale (574m), followed by a short descent. The 7am morning temperature was a pleasure! In my still awakening mind I resolved to bid farewell to my spare headtorch and old Garmin running watch + cable. I made my peace with them (I'm hopelessly sentimental with things I have, and things I can live memories through!), I confirmed my appreciation to my sister for the years of use both have given me (old Christmas gifts from her!), and hey presto I think I'm about a WHOLE 200g lighter than the around 19kg I'm carrying ... well Rome wasn't built in a day!

Arriving into Col d'Ibardin (circa 400m at the top end), it was the perfect opportunity for a lovely café au lait on a little restaurant terrace. The couple running the place were so friendly. They kindly filled my water, but I started to think I'm going to have to get more 'wild' with my water re-fills very soon! After a brief but lovely little rest, I was off and onto the trail again. The trail started with a downhill road through the border town filled with more weird shops than people, after which off-road paths were regained thankfully! There was an initial climb, and then the trail entered some lovely shaded woods with fairly flat terrain and a stream to follow at points. More climbing started after the briefest of forays into Spain, which took me up and over Col du Grand Escarga (273m), with the impressive duo of La Petite Rhune (699m) and its senior La Rhune (905m) now in clear view. There were great views of these to my right on the long descent to Olhette. The heat at 10am was already brutal! On arrival into Olhette I made my 1st navigation error and headed about half a kilometre down a small road through the actual village, whereas I should've carried on without accessing the village! However, something must have drawn me that way and what that turned out to be was a restaurant that made me a small takeaway baguette and furnished me with oodles of free chilled water! The restaurants have these amazing ice cold water taps, so refreshing in the still, furnace-like heat!

So, after a retrace of those worthwhile extra steps, I was back on the trail and into a long and exposed climb to Col des Trois Fontaines. I had to make 3 rest stops on the ascent, and at each one I swore at 'Megapack', but worked on accepting my responsibility for the insane weight I was hauling. However, some failing stitching in areas on the strap attachments, and on the straps themselves, now had my attention, concern & annoyance. I'd chosen a new pack before leaving, was on the cheaper side at £48, and a brand I'd never tried before - #OLPRO (proving very disappointing!). That decision may turn out to be a big mistake! I ate my delicious demi-baguette half way up whilst trying to insert my body into a bit of shade too small for me! Cheese, good ham and a roasted pepper sauce, mmmm mmm! Bit small though! [Addendum - whilst savouring the taste of that small sandwich, little did I know that would be my last food for the rest of the day and through tomorrow!]. I climbed on after my lunch stop and arrived at the Col (563m) which had a small wooded area providing beautiful shade - a veritable oasis in the heat! It was definitely time to recover and feel human again by drying off, relaxing, resting, and watching a pair of soaring Eagles (I think!). I used my new solar charging panel to fill up my power bank .. this seems like awesome bit of kit on first use!

After an hour break in the shade I decided to carry on, and start the long descent into Sare. The intense heat and lack of breeze was immediately upon me and made going very tough. A lovely water source towards the bottom of the descent provided much needed relief, and my thoughts turned to the SPAR shop I knew was in town - I was desperate for food supplies as I had NONE! However, to my confusion, the SPAR shop had a notice to inform that it had shut at midday! An absolute nightmare! I had a lay down on a shaded bench to contemplate. I knew that on the way out of town there was an option of a campsite, but it was early in the day. The other option was to crack on like a trooper to Ainhoa, where surely supplies would await?! The safe sensible decision would be the campsite? Have a guess what decision a 2nd day trekking Craig made?! Yep, I decided to pound out the extra 9kms to Ainhoa in a burgeoning heatwave, well overpacked, with no food and no idea if I could get any!

The GR10 followed fairly flat, rolling gradients, on a mixture of track and small roads. I started to feel a bit rough on this section, but I convinced myself it was just developing hunger. I was sure the lovely food in Ainhoa would sort me out! After quick trudge of the 9kms, I was greeted by a very quiet and closed Ainhoa ... oh dear! However, next to the village water-point there was a random baguette vending machine, a life saver! I eagerly got coins out, so excited about the two baguettes I would buy and consume one there and then! The sound of my coins not being accepted by a vending machine has never sounded so depressing to me! Of course I repeated the process several times - 'just in case?!'. I decided to take on lots of water, whilst gathering some composure to ask at a posh hotel restaurant if they could sell me 'du pain'?! I was gently declined! I then had a look at another one, but it was a 1 star Michellin restaurant in full service with so many waiters ferrying tiny morsels of food about to the terrace diners! I think the sight of my sweaty, dishevelled appearance, with 'Megapack' on my back, made them ignore me! So off I walked, slowly back to the GR10, a touch concerned! Well, my guidebook said that there is a Gite/farm 3 hours into the next day? I resolved to survive on water until then as I started on the final push of the day - a really steep climb out of Ainhoa to Chapelle de l'Aubépine, where I knew good wild camping was possible. The climb was horrible, I felt pretty ill, and at the top my body rejected the water I'd been drinking on the way up. It just came straight back up! I was on all fours, luckily alone, trying to not be worried!

After a brief rest, I made the final attempt up to the Chappelle. I made camp under the three crosses depicting the crucifixion, surely I'd be OK I hoped as I looked at them! It is a beautiful spot, which I did appreciate, but I was also not in great shape at all. I'd done nearly 36kms, with nearly 1500m ascent and nearly the same in descent, with 'Megapack'. I eaten only one cereal bar, and one demi-baguette in a heatwave!