So it turns out Espot is a great little place to be! With the local bakery open at 7:30am, we decided to copy the locals and enjoy a tasty coffee and fresh pastry for breaky sat in the street. We also bought a fresh baguette ready for later, (along with some olive and artichoke spread thanks to the helpful shop owner who tried his best to find something for us veggies as he had no humous) and also knew today was a short and simple walk, so we were feeling goooooood!
A fab morning lead on to a fab afternoon, as not only was the walk simple and beautiful (apart from a brief but very scary moment meeting an older - retired?- sheep protection dog and his dog friend who barked and bared teeth and stalked us as we tried to calmly and quickly pass a house in Estais), following easy trails with open views, we reached the campsite in La Guingueta dneu before midday; what a treat. This campsite gives discount to GR11 walkers
and has a reserved area which we thought was great, but we were soon a little disappointed when we saw the reserved area was their driest, rockiest and smallest patch. Oh well, thankfully it ended up being just us and Nicole there so all was good. Tents up, clothes washed, we headed to the pool and relaxed. Lovely jubbly. The only thing was the campsite shop was not massive, and, worried about days (being in short supply of shops) we stocked up on all our snacks and essentials like and sun cream, (which turns out to be very expensive) and somehow we spent 90euros! Oops.
Of course the bar was essential for dinner this evening too, but thankfully more in line with the average bar prices, and we enjoyed eating and chatting with Nicole again, before settling once more in our cosy tent.
with small breaks throughout, 20mins on incline, 30mins on decline, 30mins at Refugio Estaon, 60mins at Bordes de Nibros
to avoid the heat later on, and we were particularly glad we did today as this morning was huuuuuge climb. Thankfully, it was on a good trail, an easy rocky path switchbacking its way up to Dorve (we actually beat the signage time!) before continuing to climb in zigzags past two cols! As we hiked on up the sun chased us and only reached us as we hit the tree line which thankfully then shaded us for the rest of the ascent. Its also worth noting here, that we had a break and ate (for the first time in a long time it feels) a snickers; and it was delicious.
Anyway, with the weather on our side, we continued over the top col and quickly began the descent; again mostly easy rocky trail though some steep parts. Doing well for time, we had a longer break and ate lunch early, enjoying the views and spotting a snake! We then reached Estaon and headed to the Refugio for a drink; where we of course caught up with Nicole. Enjoying the shade and cool drink (this place is more like someones house theyve opened up for hikers rather then an official
Following the trail up and over a few mounds, we then headed down and along the river. Of course, when youre sat down and resting you think you feel ok, but as soon as you start walking, with a pack, in the afternoon sun, you can briefly regret the decision to do so! Once youre going again though, you quickly get back into a rhythm and we were soon at the abandoned hamlet of Bordes de Nibros. A cool but spooky vibe, we enjoyed looking around it and renamed it cow town, before taking a rest in some shade; now in a national park, we can only camp between and so we didnt want to arrive in our potential campspot too early.
We also now had a hikers nightmare, as the potential campsite was above us and not near water. This meant stocking up on the but vital liquid and carrying it allllll the way up. Slowly pulling ourselves up, step by step, in the sudden and unexpected appearance of light rain, often battling overgrown and hardy bushes, we made it to
the top, Coll de Jou, and sat to enjoy the sun that had reappeared.
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