Day 11: 1 hour past St Engrâce on climb of Soum de Lèche to the valley of Les Orgues de Camplong

So, I woke up having survived the panic of the bee hive installers! But the relief of that didn't change the still completely wet atmosphere, just everything was wet .. me, the tent and all my surroundings! This morning required but one thing, get the heck on with things because nothing is changing! I really surprised myself with the speed and efficacy of breaking camp, but then I realised my packing system was falling into place. Also, you have no choice but to crack on when it's like this! A morning like this made me appreciate the fact I can pack my pack in my spacious but heavy 2 person tent!

Wanting to warm up and try see if sunshine was at higher altitude I set off at a good pace up the steep, wooded climb. There were many tight switchbacks and it was enjoyable despite the still very wet and foggy atmosphere! Even when I exited the woods and the climb became less steep, the damn fog persisted! I had been past the strange 'Le Gardien' carving in the forest and swore at it regards the blooming BROUILLARD!!

However, to my delectation, as I climbed gently on a track climbing the slopes of Soum de Lèche (1839m), I emerged from the cloud into blue sky and an absolutely glorious panorama!

The track brought me right to the Spanish border. It wasn't an inbuilt GPS that told me this, more the nice, switchbacking mountain road below the path with a sign telling you you are entering Spain! The views had been great and I was close to Arette-la-Pierre-St-Martin and a much anticipated café au lait stop!

I passed a sign I'd seen many times en route at Berger cabanes - 'Vente Fromage'! I decided it was my time to buy mountain sheep cheese! I conversed with the Berger, at first he was more concerned with a young guy herding a load of sheep up the mountain road switchbacks than my SJHS (Sir James Henderson British School of Milan) French! I could see why, there was no road visible, just a sea of sheep! It was fun to watch! Anyhow, he gave me a taster of his product, absolutely delicious! So we went into his Bergerie to transact cheese. He just wanted to give me the block he had, I asked for 5 Euros worth .. he looked shocked and confirmed did I want 5 kilos?!?! Non Monsieur! 5 Euros worth of your fine Fromage des Brebis! Although I could definitely have eaten 5 kilos of it!

There was a bit of road walking over the Col de la Pierre-St-Martin (1760m), before resuming a path over the ski fields of Arette-la-Pierre-St-Martin, to arrive into the small resort with all facilities open! I rested at a lovely bar/restaurant for an awesome café au lait with a dog for company. And to top the stop off there was a great little Epicerie to stock up from. I bought a fruit lunch, so refreshing to restart trekking with!

A bit of track saw me up above the ski resort and into the ski lifts, it looked like it would be a good place to ski! The track soon veered onto narrow path which climbed through very rocky terrain and utterly breathtaking views! The sky was blue, the temperature lovely, the cloud below provided for a sense of being above the damn BROUILLARD! Craig was an extremely happy man!

It would be pointless to try and verbalise the absolute majesty of the next section of walking. So I'll just confirm, it was unimaginably majestic! Granite peaks and cliffs, rocky terrain, pine trees and areas of grassy valley. Hautes Pyrenees gold!

Coming up and out of Arette-la-Pierre-St-Martin, the path skirted Pic d'Arlas (2044m) before following a spectacular traverse with Portillo de Arriba (2105m), Le Pourtet (2238m), Pic d'Anie (2504m) and Pic de Countendé (2338m) dominating the skyline to my right. To my left was the cloud filling the valleys far below.

At the end of the traverse there was a fun scramble over the Pas de l'Osque (1922m) which is a small gap in huge lumps of granite cliffs! So much fun and so beautiful all around. From here you could see the upcoming Pas d'Azuns but I still managed to veer of the path when marvelling at where I was! There were a few other trekkers so in true Craig style I tried to make out this diversion had a purpose and as I'd climbed a bit I used my best acting skills to demonstrate I had been searching a better view of the whole area! Once the trekkers had passed I had a little swearing session as I negotiated a route back to the GR10!

It's so difficult to know what photos to include! I hope the selection can convey the natural beauty of the route!

From Pas d'Azuns (1873m) the view ahead of Pic d'Anie (2504m) was the best so far, so impressive. As the path switched direction to head down the valley Les Orgues de Camplong framed the left hand side and Le Billare (2309m) provided the backdrop to the right hand side.

After a short, steep descent I filled up with water from the spring at Cabane du Cap de la Baitch (1689m). The guide book said good camping was possible here, but it looked like that had changed in the years since the author trekked through! So, I carried on in the hope that better options would materialise.

Instead of traversing nicely on the path in the above photo, that's the area I just continued straight on up the boulder scree and ended up pretending I definitely meant to do that!

The view of Orgues de Camplong (above photo) from just after Pas de l'Osque (1922m).

Something drew me to a grassy area just before the path enters the woods and I'm so glad I stopped to check the wild camping potential. There was a flat little dip perfectly sized for my tent, with beautiful views and a lovely little stream with waterfalls a minute away! Once set up I felt very content to have found this wild camp, and it was nice to have the late afternoon in the sunshine. I had a cold wash in the stream, I had a choice of a bath in a rock pool, or a shower at the waterfall! I chose a bath, and there weren't even sheep around to hear my little shrieks when the ice cold water refreshed the trekking body!