Category Archives: HRP

Pyrenean Haute Route 2016. Days 20–27 Gavarnie to Bagnères-de-Luchon

France

Louis went home from Gavarnie. I would be on my own for the rest of the hike.

Day 20. Cirque de Gavarnie with the Brèche de Roland, seen from the Espuguettes hostel.
Day 20. Cirque de Gavarnie with the Brèche de Roland, seen from the Espuguettes hostel.

The HRP heads over a pass to the Cirque d’Estaubé and then to the lower reaches of the Cirque de Troumouse, two lesser-known cirques. Continue reading Pyrenean Haute Route 2016. Days 20–27 Gavarnie to Bagnères-de-Luchon

Trekking the Pyrenees: GR10, GR11 or HRP (Pyrenean Haute Route), a short guide to the differences

Map of GR 10 (red), GR11 (blue) and HRP (yellow) in the Pyrenees, as I walked them. As the crow flies the distance from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean is around 420km. For walkers it is about twice that.
Map of GR 10 (red), GR11 (blue) and HRP (yellow) in the Pyrenees, as I walked them. As the crow flies the distance from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean is around 420km. For walkers it is about twice that.

I’ve now walked the length of the Pyrenees three times on different routes. 2700km, Atlantic to Mediterranean: 164 days hiking. I’ve been asked which route I liked best. Is it the Pyrenean Way (GR 10) [guide and forum] in France, the Senda Pirenaica (GR 11) [guide and forum] in Spain and Andorra, or this year’s trek, the Pyrenean Haute Route [Cicerone guide]  (Haute Route Pyrénéenne, HRP, in French; Alta Ruta Pirenaica in Spanish) which flits across the border every second day?

Continue reading Trekking the Pyrenees: GR10, GR11 or HRP (Pyrenean Haute Route), a short guide to the differences

Pyrenean Haute Route 2016. Days 7-13 Orreaga to Somport

Spain

Like all the other walkers in the Orreaga/Roncevaux Pilgrim’s hostel  we were woken by the sound of monks singing. But unlike them the four of us were the only ones heading north, still on the Camino, but in the wrong direction. Once we had climbed up to the ridge we were in France – but only just – passing by frontier markers 200 to 204. This is where the Pyrenees really start, although they are still clothed in grass. We saw very few other walkers.

Day 7. Heading for Mendizar.
Day 7. Heading for Mendizar.

If you don’t have a tent, you still need a roof. I had chosen Egurguy on the basis of the excellent Pyrenees Refuges and Cabanes site. It lived up to expectations, which weren’t very high. I slept in huts about once a week. Continue reading Pyrenean Haute Route 2016. Days 7-13 Orreaga to Somport

Pyrenean Haute Route 2016. Days 1-6 Hendaye to Orreaga

Day 1. Hendaye, 20 June 2016. Filling up a bottle from the Atlantic, a Pyrenean walking tradition.
Day 1. Hendaye, 20 June 2016. Filling up a bottle from the Atlantic, a Pyrenean walking tradition.

I knew I could never walk the Haute Route (HRP) – too high, too technical, and above all I would need to carry a tent and all the extra kit that implies. But then, in the dog days of February, I came across TransPyr, a guide which claimed a tent wasn’t necessary. I looked at other guides to the Pyrenean Haute Route.

Each one proposes a different trek. The walk, it seems, is not a itinerary at all, more of an idea!

Continue reading Pyrenean Haute Route 2016. Days 1-6 Hendaye to Orreaga