For quite some while, I have had my eye on a little meander up to a spot called 'Goutets' which, at 1480m, lies in the shadow of Le Pic des Trois Seigneurs, the highest peak in our immediate area. I had first seen Goutets mentioned in a book about snow-shoeing in the Ariege. It is a tiny village whose purpose in the 19th century, was to house the shepherds whose animals roamed the high pastures during the summer months.
With the rural exodus of the 20th century however, the 'orris' fell into disrepair and it looked like this witness to the heritage of the area would disappear altogether. But fortunately, there has been a move over the last few years to preserve Goutets and the miniature village is once again being used by local shepherds during the summer months - in June every year, the 'transhumance' movement relocates the cattle, goats and Merens horses from the lower winter pastures up to the higher pastures which is where the 'bergers' make their home until October/November when the process is reversed.
Anyway, enough of the cultural lesson! We set of from Le Carol (20 mins from Pissou/950m) which is a sweet little hillside village, virtually unchanged for decades. From there, we picked up a footpath signposted for Goutets. It climbed steeply and then after a km or so, levelled out and took us through woodland where we came across several abandoned buildings, testament to the activity in this area in days gone by. Soon, the narrow and sometimes rough footpath met the track which led from Carol to Goutets. We followed this track and reached the village 1 hr 15 min after leaving Le Carol, a distance of just over 5km and 480m of ascent. It was lovely to see the restored buildings and to imagine the life of the shepherd during the summer months. But we couldn't linger, as light was fading and there was a chill wind in the air. So we donned our lightweight windproofs and set off at a run, following the excellent track which led us back to Le Carol in just over 30 mins. It was good to stretch the legs again, although I was having trouble shaking off the general tiredness and malaise feeling that has been dogging me for a few days. So anyway, we have now bookmarked the route up the track to Goutets as a possibility for a ski de rando/snowshoe outing in the not too distant future
With the rural exodus of the 20th century however, the 'orris' fell into disrepair and it looked like this witness to the heritage of the area would disappear altogether. But fortunately, there has been a move over the last few years to preserve Goutets and the miniature village is once again being used by local shepherds during the summer months - in June every year, the 'transhumance' movement relocates the cattle, goats and Merens horses from the lower winter pastures up to the higher pastures which is where the 'bergers' make their home until October/November when the process is reversed.
Anyway, enough of the cultural lesson! We set of from Le Carol (20 mins from Pissou/950m) which is a sweet little hillside village, virtually unchanged for decades. From there, we picked up a footpath signposted for Goutets. It climbed steeply and then after a km or so, levelled out and took us through woodland where we came across several abandoned buildings, testament to the activity in this area in days gone by. Soon, the narrow and sometimes rough footpath met the track which led from Carol to Goutets. We followed this track and reached the village 1 hr 15 min after leaving Le Carol, a distance of just over 5km and 480m of ascent. It was lovely to see the restored buildings and to imagine the life of the shepherd during the summer months. But we couldn't linger, as light was fading and there was a chill wind in the air. So we donned our lightweight windproofs and set off at a run, following the excellent track which led us back to Le Carol in just over 30 mins. It was good to stretch the legs again, although I was having trouble shaking off the general tiredness and malaise feeling that has been dogging me for a few days. So anyway, we have now bookmarked the route up the track to Goutets as a possibility for a ski de rando/snowshoe outing in the not too distant future
No comments:
Post a Comment