Off out to 'go high'! More later!Now returned from our wee trip, up to catch the snow while it is here! I had read about the Cirque de Cagateille in one of my books of the area and it was touted as 'the second biggest cirque of the Pyrenees after Gavarnie'.... which is massive! Got to go there, I thought. So, with pooch in tow, 45 minutes after leaving the house, we had our brown leather walking boots on and were on our way up the path. The views from the approach road had been tantalising as we passed through little communities of medieval atmosphere where people were still carrying out basic tasks as they have been doing for centuries - this area is so unspoilt, it is amazing.
Within just 20 minutes, we were rewarded with breathtaking views of the Cirque and the snow-capped peaks above
It had been a very easy walk that far (no snow, pretty much on the level) , so we decided to continue on the path up from the Cirque (980m) to the Etang de la Hillette (1797m) for which there had been a sign at the car park cautioning '3 hrs' to reach it. The ascent up through the initial woodland was steep. The pooch had been showing signs of an upset belly at the car park and en route to the Cirque so we were a bit concerned as to how he would do, but he was fine. After an hour of heading up, we reached a 'panneau' indicating 'Etang de la Hillette 1hr 15min'. We were making good progress. Soon we came out of the woodland and onto snow covered slopes but where the rocky path was well marked. We encountered a couple of steep icy patches through which Taff needed guidance and careful watching and at times on the lead, but he has quickly picked up the importance of words such as 'wait' and 'steady' which was a blessing.
After exactly 2 hrs, we reached another panneau pointing us to the right and indicating 'Etang de la Hillette 5 mins'. Great!
Ah, not so great. The final approach was down a via ferrata type metal ladder and then a via ferrata traverse round onto the final path to the Etang. No place for dogs.... not even our super-dooper little mountaineering pooch! Shame.
Thwarted, we retraced our steps but only after I had taken a couple of shots from our highpoint.
The descent was tricky in places and we both commented on how cumbersome brown leather walking boots are compared to our normal fell-running footwear. I seemed to stumble back down in a very ungainly and unladylike fashion and it seemed much harder work than it should have been. 1 hr after leaving the top we arrived back down at the car park. It had been a cracking afternoon in one of the least spoilt areas of France and we didn't see another soul once we had left the Cirque. Amazing. And the pooch is well and truely pooped! Just hope this fine weather continues. Chilly tonight though, so the woodburner is on the go again. Mmm, toasty warm.
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