Pyrenees Day 9: The Pineta Valley

We left Parzan along a 4WD track snaking its way up a valley to some abandoned lead mines. Although we did not pass the mine themselves, we still decided not to replenish our water supply from the local streams. As we crested over the next ridge we saw ahead of us the dramatic wall of the Monte Perdido massif, the next day´s challenge.

Meanwhile we descended into the scenic Pineta valley below, passing through an improbably flat stretch of meadow a dozen soccer fields long, surrounded by white cliffs. Walking along this gigantic golfing fairway carved out among bare rock I almost expected to encounter a group of retired attorneys teeing off in our direction. However, we did not encounter anyone at all that day until we descended to the tourist road at the valley´s bottom.

We continued along an expansive flat riverbed of dry rocks to arrive at our next refugio after a not-too-difficult day. There, we encountered a French man who arrived by car to resupply his friends, who were hiking the entire GR11 from ocean to sea. He apparently resupplied them many times along the route (which involved mult-hour detours by car, since there are no east-west roads in the Pyrenees), allowing them to travel light.

Dinner at the refugio was a family-style affair, with 7 of us passing each dish around a single table. I was initially concerned that hunger would prevail over politeness andprovoke a knife-and-fork scuffle over the food, but was relieved to see that there was enough of each course to keep the jousting to a minimum.