330 miles and 14 000 metres!

So sorry for the lack of communication.  I have been somewhat sidetracked by the World Cup.  Those who know me will be surprised but largely immobilised in front of the television I'm kind of subject to whatever is on, and with at least 2 football fanatics in the house with me most of the time, that's kind of a foregone conclusion.  Recognising that, and in the spirit of parents trying to keep a child occupied with a holiday scrap-book, two of my sons persuaded me to start a new blog - the World Cup from the perspective of an almost-60 yr old woman who knows nothing about football and has almost as little interest.  Well, the tactic has worked.  I'm much more involved in it than I ever thought I'd be, and am finding some of the reporting and peripheral subject matter really quite interesting.  So far I have managed to blog daily from the first match - general ill-informed ramblings, but then, that's perhaps not so different from what I see from the professionals.  If you're interested its at www.mumsworldcup.blogspot.com, but I would caution you not to have high expectations.

As for the Pyrenees, with the sun shining here and me starting to get a bit restless, I'm so missing the mountains but am not as disappointed now by the accident as I thought I'd be.  I have had 5 fantastic weeks and will go back for the remaining 3 weeks, probably next year.

So, what did I do in those 5 weeks:

• I left St Jean de Luz, Pays Basque on Tuesday 27th April and stopped just short of Aulus-les-Bains, Haute Ariege on Wednesday 2nd June.
• I walked about 330 miles, and climbed a total of around 14,000 metres (more than 1.5 times the height of Everest!)
• I walked through the Pyrenees Atlantique (Pays Basque, Bearn), Hautes Pyrenees, Haute Garonne and Haute Ariege.
• I stayed in hotels, chambres d'hotes, gites d'etapes, gites and private homes.  I received a great welcome wherever I went.
• I particularly enjoyed walking and/or meeting up with friends and family, spending time with people I met along the way and the times (lots of them) when I was alone.  The solitude was a very special part of the trip.  Just as well as it was a bit early in the season and there weren't many other walkers around on the route I was following.
• It made a big difference having contact with friends and family at home.  I really appreciated all the messages I received.
• I had good times and bad times.  Not all days had bad moments; all days had good moments.
• There were real times of challenge where I thought I might have bitten off more than I could chew.  It proved not to be the case and the sense of achievement afterwards was amazing.
• I was revelling in the freedom of the experience and the impact it was having on my mind and body, but I was really looking forward to the final 3 weeks, during most of which I would be accompanied by a succession of family members.  I am disappointed I didn't get that far.
• I would happily do it all again, but would change certain elements of the trip.  I will definitely tackle the final stretch in the near future.

There are more detailed thoughts and reflections to come, along with the photos. Organising my thoughts is proving almost as difficult as organising the photos so it may take a while.  Please bear with me and keep checking back periodically.  For now, a couple of photos from the day of my biggest mental challenge - from Germ to Lac d'Oo

 Looking back down the valley towards Germ            

 The Col d'Esquierry - my route towards a steep descent to the next valley

         

Looking back

I've started sorting through the hundreds of photos I've taken on the iphone and my camera. There's a bit of work to do to make them presentable but I'll start uploading them in batches as I work through them.

Looking back over the five weeks of walking is weird - it seems such a long time ago that I left St Jean de Luz with Graham.  Every photo brings a moment of reflection but they remind me that whatever the day brought, there was always something positive in it - a message to remember for everyday life back home. Perhaps I'll record some of those reflections over the next few days - they encompass such a range of emotions and subjects I don't want to loose them when I get back into everyday life.

For the moment, here's a taster of the photos:

Starting by the Atlantic in Ciboure (by St Jean de Luz) on a glorious day
(27th April 2010)

.

 First sight of Sare, a beautiful Basque village

St Jean Pied de Port

 

 Les Baronnies - Chateau de Mauvezin

Tested by the woodland - this doesn't show the worst of the devastation but the rocks added to the difficulty.

Col d'Esquierry - my biggest mental challenge

Seix - fast running water was a recurring theme

But it was the woodland that led to this, though it happened on a relatively easy stretch.

(3rd June 2010)

Room 404 - The final room with a view

Never before have I been in a hospital room with such a wonderful view - not that I've been in many hospital rooms.  Just a pity that the lovely weather waited until I was confined to barracks.

L'Esprit de Montagne

I'm back home now. Have been for almost a week and have started getting a bit more mobile and less tired. Walking up and down mountains is much easier than shuffling around a house on crutches.

Thanks are overdue to everyone who helped when I found myself stuck on the mountain, and that's the purpose of this blog:

- Ben was a star; setting off down the mountain when we found we couldn't raise anyone by phone. I worried that he would himself have an accident on the way, which would leave us in a much worse position, but intermittent text contact when bubbles of reception allowed kept me reassured. When he could he contacted the Gite d'Etape in Aulus les Bains (via James at home) who called the emergency services. Eventually and after not insignificant battles with fallen trees he arrived in Aulus.

- the bar in Aulus (sorry, don't know the name) which was Ben's first port of call; not for a drink but because that was the first sign of life. They were very helpful and hospitable even though very busy trying to finish their restaurant ready to open for the peak of the season.

- Helene and Christophe at the Gite d'Etape Le Presbytere in Aulus. This had been our destination for the night. Helene and Christophe (and others in the community) were very supportive to Ben, who stayed in the Gite for nothing that night (to be rectified as soon as I can get something in the post).

- the rescue services; the local police who spoke to Ben but more importantly the Secours de Montagne (part of the Gendarmerie) from Tarbes who came out by helicopter in the dark to find me and plucked me off the mountainside through the trees. Scary but I felt in such safe hands.

- the staff at the hospital in St Gaudens, all of whom were warm and friendly, caring and very competent, without exception, even to the point of giving me and Ben a lift to the station when we left the hospital because they weren't able to track down a taxi in time for the train we were hoping to catch!

- the staff at the Courtyard Marriott near Toulouse Airport, who also couldn't do enough for me, from allocating the most convenient room, to paying for a taxi when there was no navette available to bring me back to the hotel from the airport after the abortive first attempt to leave.

And that really sums up the kind of welcome I've received wherever I have been in the Pyrenees - "l'esprit de montagne" has made my trip what it was. I will be back.

....as did snow

...although it caused no problems, unlike the wretched trees!

Water featured large on Wednesday

Up in the clouds ...

...just minutes after Ben and I arrived st the top on Tuesday to a
spectacular view. Sorry we couldn't capture it for you.

That's just too much excitement for one day

Day 37 Wednesday 2nd June
St Lizier d'Ustou to Aulus les Bains 7miles

Time to explain the silence of the last 24 hours. On the face of it we
expected this stage to be tough but probably slightly easier than the
previous one - only 7 miles, slightly less ascent and no obvious
excessively steep slopes. All went really well, if slow at times due
to the gradient of climb and some fallen trees early on as well as the
kind of rocky terrain that had slowed Graham and me one day during the
first week. We passed some spectacular water features as well as a
really pretty ski resort. The downfall, literally, came on a
moderately straight-forward part of the descent just 3 km from Aulus
les Bains. I caught my foot under a tree root and fallen hard and
awkwardly and it wouldn't bear any weight. Suffice to say, for now,
that Ben made a heroic descent of the remaining woodland, littered
with trees, and alerted the emergency services with help from James at
home while I unpacked all my warm clothes and turkey blanket and
wrapped myself up while I waited for someone to return. There was only
feeble and very occasional mobile reception, so next to useless. Ben
left me just before 7pm. The helicopter arrived just before 10.
I now have a plaster on my ankle and am with Ben in a hotel at
Toulouse airport ready to fly back tomorrow, disappointed to be
leaving 3 weeks of unfinished business but so glad that this happened
when ben was walking with me rather than being alone, and that i was
lucky enough to have the five weeks I've had before I was stopped in
my tracks.
More later but it's time to crash out now. Walking on crutches is just
sooo tiring.

Briefly...

Day 36 Tuesday 1 June
Seix to St Lizier d'Ustou 11 miles

In brief Ben and I had a fabulous day. Walking was tough - over 1000 m
of ascent and almost as much descent and gradients were steep or flat.
But scenery made up for it and we loved the Gite d'Etape at St Lizier
d'ustou.