Back on the exercise track

Walking/Running
It was still 30 something degrees yesterday, but what the hell, we have got to get used to doing active stuff in these temperatures, so we decided to head up 'the zig-zags', a footpath that I have had my eye on since we came out here. It is off the road which leads up to the Etang de Lers (20 minutes from the house) and would be a cracking route to run when temperatures have dropped a bit, because the first section is a gentle gradient up a rough but very runnable trackway, which eventually leads to the Cabane Rouge up on the top with fantastic views over towards the higher peaks of the Pyrenees. We sweated buckets just walking up to the cabane and Taff was greatful for the regular streams alongside the path from which he could drink. My fingers swelled up (again) which is probably a combination of dehydration/loss of tissue salts and the increased altitude (we were probably at around 1500m at the cabane). Something I need to keep an eye on. After a short break at the top, we followed the well-marked route walking/running as we contoured round the hillside and eventually arrived up at the Port de Lers where we encountered the cows! These animals have bells round their necks and roam free up on the top pastures. They freaked Taff out somewhat, even though he was on the lead by this point, but we made our way through the herd and picked up the footpath back down alongside the stream to the car, running what we could. It was a total outing of around 3 hrs. We hope to do more :-)

Climbing (well, almost!)
So the forecast for today was not brilliant, but after an initial small storm this morning, the sun came back out and so after lunch we decided to head off to explore a crag at Bedheilac, 14 miles/20 minutes from Pissou, up and over the Col de Port. It seemed to have some good low grade stuff, but after a very hot, very sweaty 25 minute walk up to the sector that we were interested in, we found it already occupied by some Frenchies! Doh! The weather was changing by this point with big black clouds rolling in, so we abandoned ship and made our way back to the car. But for people climbing the mid grades, there is tons to go at here. Lovely limestone and well-bolted. Definitely a place to revisit.