Australian trip

This is my first post with the Android tablet. In a couple of weeks we are off on a trip to south east Asia and Australia leaving the grand autumnal weather behind. We first go to Bangkok and then Sydney before driving to Brisbane and picking up a camper van. From there we go to Cairns before flying to Melbourne for a few days and then returning home via Kuala Lumpur to land on 5th December.
We should be able to update the blog when we have WiFi and time, so until then have fun!

Now for something completely different!!...Ben Hope, the most northerly Munro mountain in Scotland

After the sunshine of Spain, the contrast of the autumnal weather of the highlands in Scotland and near freezing temperatures, was a bit of a shock. As we were visiting Tain anyway, I thought it would make a great trip to go north to the village of Altnaharra and then spend a day on Ben Hope, the most northerly of the Scottish Munros, whilst Helen and Dad went up to the nearby northern coast. We had a great B&B in Altnaharra (apparently it is now on the Land's End to John O'Groats cycle route as we found when sharing the B&B). The day before, the area had gale force winds and rain but the mountain forecast for the 10th was reasonable with a good chance of getting a clear sky at the summit and no rain all day.

Ben Hope taken from the Dun Dornaigil Broch on the road from Altnaharra and about 2 miles from the car park giving access.

I took the route from the car park just north of the Dun Dornaigil Broch, a "beehive" stone structure (roundhouse) dating back about 2000 years. This climbed steeply on a rock path that had become a stream and then over peat and wet ground. always keeping the main stream (in photo) on the left

Waterfall on Allt-na-caillich burn which the route follows on the first part of the climb,

The route finds a way through a gap in the crags to the main summit ridge. Looking up I noticed a group of deer watching me but they vanished as soon as I got closer. At this stage I got great views to the Strathmore with the river winding into the distance. By this time, the ground was much firmer and made for more pleasant walking.

View of the descent under the clouds from below Ben Hope's summit to the crags and the view looking to the south down Strathmore glen.

There were a few large cairns by this stage marking the way along the broad ridge as the "path" continued to wriggle a gradual ascent. At one point, I thought I was approaching the top to find a false summit and another hill to climb. At this stage, with a sprinkling of snow underfoot, the cloud was low enough to obliterate the view as the wind from the north cooled me down. I hung around at the summit trig station hoping for the weather to clear and to explore a little to the north, but rather than improving, the cloud was getting worse.

You might wonder why I included the summit trigonometry station in the clouds - I'm sure someone knows !

The ascent only took me a couple hours so I had plenty of time but it wasn't a pleasant place to wait. I think even Robert Macfarlane (who recounted his experience spending the night up here in "The Wild Places") would have agreed! Anyway, almost as compensation for the missed view, I heard some "clucking" sounds and then spotted a flock of Rock Ptarmigan (see photo) running between the rocks and difficult to see in the white and grey background. However, they didn't seem bothered by my presence and just darted about among the snow and rocks always keeping a few paces in front of me, welcome company!

Can you see the Rock Ptarmigan amongst the rocks? There was about a dozen in the area.

The descent was easy enough and as the sun tried to get through, gave some views down the glen and across to the sea in the north.

A walk across the Aiguestortes National Park: Vall de Boi to Vall d'Aran

I had never visited the Vall de Boi as the GR11 crosses the northern part of the Park so I was looking forward to walking to the Los Encantados mountains by a different route. I stayed in the village of Eriil la Vall on the western side of the valley, more or less opposite Boi and spent a day exploring the area up towards Caldes de Boi and Boi itself. The latter village has restaurants and a 4WD taxi company that provides transport into the National Park as private vehicles are not allowed access. Just south of Boi, on the Cami de la Aqua footpath, there are some grand lookout points and a barbeque area that overlooks the Vall de Boi. It was here that I saw two Golden Eagles, my only sighting of raptures on the whole trip.

The following day I walked into the Park along the Cami de la Aqua (this goes to Caldes de Boi but you can cross the river south of La Farga to access the road to the main car park; this takes about an hour from Erill).

Erill la Vall , where I stayed (at the bottom of photo) taken from the path south of Boi.

The route joined a track alongside a lake, the Estany Llebreta and then past "Mirador de la Cascade" to reach the plain, "Planell d'Aiguestortes". This is as far as the taxis are able to go so I met several day walkers strolling in a tranquil setting of woods and running water, Aiguestortes meaning "twisted waters".

Plannel d'Aiguestortes, a lunchtime stop and water refill before the climb to Estany Llong.

A short climb from the plain I was able to sit and watch an Isard (Chamois) gingerly crossing a meadow. I had already seen and heard a few Marmots but this was my first sighting of an Isard. At the same time I almost bounded from my seat as a tree behind me decided it was time to lie down with a loud crack. 

I stayed two nights at the Refuge Llong set near the lake of the same name.

Estany Llong looking east to the Portarro d'Espot (my route onwards) with the Pic del Portarro (2734 m) in the middle  of the scene. The wild Mallards here were very tame!

I had time to explore the area going to Estany Redo, a small glacial lake set above Estany Llong, the Estany Nere area and the view from "Mirador del Portarro" looking down to Estany de Sant Maurici, the most famous lake in the area.

Estany Redo, a tranquil setting  enclosed by mountains. 

The following day I followed the trail to the pass (Portarro d'Espot) and then a long descent to Lake Sant Maurici and the mountain Refuge Ernest Mallafre. This was a relatively easy hike on a good track with great views of several high peaks including Portarro, Saboredo and of course the twin peaks of Los Encantados (named els Encantats on my map).

Estany de Sant Maurici from the view-point near the pass. There is no view of the lake from the actual pass track

A drink stop after descending out of the wind at the pass.

Typical wild country of the Aiguestortes. In the distance to the north is Tuc de Saboredo and Pics de Bassiero forming the chain  of the northern extent of the Park. The GR11 winds its way down that valley somehow!

The Ernest Mallafre Refuge is a small mountain shelter with a Spanish warden who does an excellent job of welcoming walkers and climbers even though he doesn't speak much English himself. I had two pleasant nights here with amazing dinners. I took the opportunity to explore the Valleta Seca, the normal route to access the scree shute that leads to the summit of the Los Encantados, the Monestero valley leading to a lake and pass of the same name, and finally the circular path around Lake Sant Maurici. I have already included a photo at the beginning of this account of the scenic Monestero valley where I spotted many Wheatear, Black Redstarts and hundreds of  Crag Martins nesting in the cliffs.

A less dramatic view of the Los Encantados, here showing the Grand Pic from the south side (Monestero valley) and the scree shute where I watched two climbers descend. The Crag Martins were nesting on the cliffs to the right.

The last leg of my trip was a hike to Espot and then on to La Guingueta on the GR11, just for old times sake! and then over the Portillon pass (eth Portihon) from Bossost to Luchon (avoiding landslides!). The path on the Spanish side of the Portillon was the old Mule track mentioned in some of the older books on the Pyrenees such as Belloc and Morton. Unfortunately, Morton's fears have been realised and there is now a good road joining the Vall d'Aran with Luchon (completed in 1935). He commented from his campsite near the Portillon:" --- and then I began to wonder why no broad road ran over the mountains here for the Luchon tourists, and shuddered at the thought of what would happen to the Val d'Aran if ever maniacs started to "develop" the district." The Spanish took care to leave the old Mule track but I couldn't find any trace of it on the French side; I suspect it is under the road for most of the way, what a pity as it would make a fine walk.

Probably one of the most flattering views of the twin peaks. This was taken from the northern shore of  Estany de Sant Maurici. There is a path that goes around the lake but it does involve a few river crossings.

Mule track over the Portillon from Spain returning to France and Luchon. No zig-zags here !

And here my trip ends; I have dozens of shots of the amazing array of flowers, lizards and crickets I came across, but that's another story.  Adios.

Trou du Toro - "Hole of the Bull" or Forau d'Aiguallut

The next part of my hike was inspired by the book of the Frenchman Norbert Casteret, “Ten Years Under the Earth” (1940).  In this he describes his journey over four years in finding the true source of the river Garonne that reaches the Atlantic after feeding the vineyards of Bordeux. He knew that the waters from the Esera valley disappeared  in the Trou du Toro (meaning “Hole of the Bull” but marked on the Spanish maps as Forau d'Aiguallut) and that this water could emerge anywhere in such a complex geology and chaotic maze of streams and sink holes. Casteret couldn’t do what came natural to him and lower himself into the cave system because the waters go down through a bed of shifting sands. He considered dye tracer tests too expensive so he spent weeks exploring fissures and caves in the region of the Maladeta Massive.  There was also a possibility that the waters from the Trou de Toro changed valley, basin and slope, passing under a ridge of the Pyrenees and rising at the Goueil de Joueou  (meaning “Jupiter’s Eye", Uelhs de Joeu on Spanish maps) near the Cirque d’Artiga de Lin in the Val d’Aran. So for this reason, Casteret transferred his attention to the Cirque d’Artiga de Lin above the Goueil de Joueou. This is a very steep amphitheatre scored with ravines, lakes and fissures and he recounts that this was the most strenuous of his four years exploration. So it was that by the end of 1930 he knew that the disappearing waters did not reappear in the Esera valley, and that the source of the waters pouring from  the Goueil de Joueou was not from the high Cirque d’Artiga Lin.

View south-east of the Valleta de l'Escaleta with Coth des Aranesi. The cascade and Trou de Toro are around to the left.

There is also an additional angle to this story in what now-days would be called an “environmental impact” in that the Spanish authorities were planning to divert the waters of the Trou de Toro to a power plant in the Esera valley and as they thought this water eventually found itself back into the Rio Esera, they saw no problems in their plan. Casteret thought otherwise and in his own words “I trembled for the Garonne” as the waters from Jupiter’s Eye contributed about half of the Garonne as it entered France.

The cascade (the same mentioned by Casteret) above the Trou de Toro. The water from the cascade disappear a few metres downstream.

The "Trou de Toro" (Forau d'Aiguallut) where the river disappears into the sand and limestone passages.

The re-emergence "The Eye of Jupiter", Uelhs de Joeu where the waters from the Trou de Toro, having found a way under the mountains, come out of the rock in the forest floor.

In July 1931 Casteret, having got the backing several eminent scientists, started a dye tracer test by pouring fluorescein dye into the Trou de Toro. His party consisted of his wife, mother and two friends of theirs together with a Spanish muleteer. They’d crossed from Luchon (by the Port de Venasque). At twilight they cast the dye into the cascade (see photo) above the sinkhole (the dye is sensitive to sunlight and hence their delay) and found a cabin down the valley to spend the night. Early in the morning the two groups went their separate ways: the Esera detachment, his wife and two friends, and the Garonne detachment, himself with his mother. The Casterets met bad weather on the Collado de Toro on their route over the mountain ridge. In his words “the steep northern slopes of this pass, which dominates the Cirque d’Artiga Lin, demand close attention to business from climbers”. He describes it as a “ticklish matter” in thick fog! He had to navigate the plain of the Artiga de Lin by compass although he had crossed it numerous times in his researches in good weather. The account ends happily as, whilst his mother was tending to a fire in a shepherd’s hut, he found the Goueil and to his amazement it was green, the Garonne did rise in the Maladeta and in his words “…my head whirled with memories”. The story goes on because he had to escape the French police (even in those days green rivers weren't acceptable) and find his wife and friends in the Esera valley(they found no evidence of green waters!) and after much work they stopped the power project in the Esera valley.

Looking back to the Collado de Toro and lake with the Maladeta Massive glaciers in the background, a very beautiful area.

Thankfully my journey was easier in that it didn’t involve dyes, mules, bad weather or the French Police. It started after crossing the Rencluse ridge and descending into the Pilan d'Aiguallut where I found the cascade mentioned by Casteret. and the Trou de Toro, amazing sights in the autumn sunshine. I did manage to get my feet wet crossing the various streams before heading along the north side of the plain to start the ascent to the Collado de Toro. This was a really great walk passing sink holes and the occasional Wheatears to reach the ascent to the pass and lake (Ibon de Coll de Toro). After crossing a small boulder field at the lakeside, I was soon resting looking down on the Artiga de Lin valley and having a lunch which the refuge had supplied.

The largely unmarked descent down the Cirque was steep and at a couple of places involved handholds on steel cables pegged into the sides of a narrow gully. It was certainly good to reach the bottom of the Cirque with the remnants of a snow field and a very picturesque scene of shrubs and wild flowers in bloom. A short walk across the plain led me to a closed unmanned refuge and visitor centre and a short walk into the forest, a mountain cabin (cabane dera Artiga de Lin)  where I set-up for the night. In the morning, I followed the Val de Lin to reach the Delhs de Joeu and see the re-emergence of the waters from the Trou de Toro. This is now a tourist attraction complete with a paved road from Las Bordes and its own car park. Even at relatively “low water” the emergence was impressive so it is hard to imagine what it sounds and looks like with the melt waters from Maladeta peaks in full flow.

The Cirque d'Artiga de Lin in the morning light. The route down follows the gorge on the left, descending to what remains of the winter's snow.

One of the steel cables to assist the descent down the face of the Cirque. I doubt Casteret had such aides available although he may have used ropes.

There had been extensive flooding in the Val de Lin with large boulders sitting on what remained of bridges and much erosion of the river banks and forest. In June, a combination of storms and snowmelt produced widespread floods across the Pyrenees including Cauterets, Lourdes and Luchon.

After this I made my way to the village of  Las Bordes and onto Vielha (the capital town of the Val d'Aran) to catch the "Parc Bus" to Erill la Vall in the Vall de Boi, the southern entrance to the Aiguestortes National Park.

The Portillon de Benasque and Aneto/Maladeta Massive.

This part of the trip started from the Hospice de France climbing up the valley towards the frontier ridge of mountains. There are no road crossings of the Pyrenees in this region and in the past the Portillon de Benasque at 2444 m, was an important track and trade route between France and Spain.

The area had violent storms in the summer that had caused flooding and rivers to break their banks and destroy valley roads. The road to the Hospice had been closed for a month during the summer and they were still clearing stretches from landslides and boulders deposited by the Pique river. The Tourist Office in Luchon told me that many of the local walks had been effectively closed because of landslides on the steep forested slopes around Luchon, but more of that later.

As I mentioned, the first day was wet with hill mist so I decided to stop the night before the Portillon in the hope that the weather would improve and give me a good view of the Spanish side the next day. The path up to the pass is very good over grassy ground to start with and continually snaking a gradual gradient up the valley giving views of waterfalls and the Hospice shrinking away in the distance.

Nearing the point where the track turns west and the Hospice goes from view. Can you see the route?

Eventually the path becomes rocky and turns to the west losing sight of the Hospice. Near here I stopped at an almost demolished cabin (called de l’Homme Rnes I think) for some lunch with the mist now swirling around my feet and the peaks around. After that it was a short stroll to the Refuge de Benasque alongside a series of lakes. The refuge was undergoing some building work made necessary because of the winter snow that had demolished the kitchen roof. Some of the accommodation, the kitchen and dining area were set-up in temporary canvas tents which all proved comfortable albeit cold as the clouds descended around us.

Refuge de Benasque showing the temporary accommodation. There are three lakes to the west of the track. The first shown here, below this another small lake and finally a larger lake, "Boums du Port" below the pass. At this time the Port itself was shrouded in the mist in the top left of the photo.

There were four builders and five walkers (including myself) staying the night. I had to admire the wardens who produced excellent meals given the harsh and cold conditions. 

I peeped out of the tent the next morning to see a blue sky; what a difference that made to everyone, with the prospect of a fine day, even the bitter wind had lessened. The path to the port only took about 15 minutes over a zig-zag ascent, the last bit over scree but with inclines of little over 30 degrees, amazing! Just before the port was a white sign, half demolished by the weather, telling of an important event in the Peninsular War. It was in French but from my little understanding it could have read something like: Here on 25th January 1810 during the reign of Napoleon 1st, a regiment from Upper Garonne left Luchon to reinforce the garrison of Fort Venasque in Spain crossing in a day with arms and baggage and with the help of a dozen peasants (farmers?) they carved steps in the snow and ice to make the difficult crossing. If you know a better account of the event, please let me know!

Looking back into the bright morning sunshine from the Portillon de Benasque back into France (the edge of the larger lake can just be seen). The pass itself reminded me of the Port de Baiau crossing from Spain into Andorra.

Since then the port has been an important gap in the mountains for several generations trying to cross the border in haste. For example,on 1st April 1938, Spanish Republicans fled from a Nationalist advance that had cut them off in the Esera-cul de sac. Many others didn't make it after being trapped in snowstorms the next day. Later at the end of World War II, a large number of surviving Republicans met their death when they returned to contest Franco's Spain.

The more open view from the Port into Spain here showing the Aneto/Maladeta massive and what remains of their glaciers. Amazingly I was met with a GR11 marker giving the directions of a variant route to the town of Benasque.

A few steps forward and I was in drier Spain with an amazing panorama of the Aneta/Maladeta massive, the highest mountains in the Pyrenees range. The valley below (mostly out of sight from here) is the Esera valley mentioned above which comes to a head to the left of the photo hemmed-in by high mountain forming the border with Catalunya.

On descending  I soon got great views of the "cul de sac" of the Esra valley, a less green landscape compared with the French side of the pass. My destination was the Refuge de la Renclusa which is on the far right (midway up) of the photo.

The descent was fairly gentle and I was soon on the track that the park buses use to bring in visitors from Benasque. After lunch I had another climb to reach the Refuge de la Renclusa. My plan was to climb the ridge east of the refuge over the Collado de la Renclusa and then drop down to the Pilan d'Aiguallut to find the sink hole where the river from the upper valley disappears underground.

This was taken as I climbed to the ridge to Renclusa and looking back to the frontier ridge with France. Can you spot the little notch on the horizon between Tuca de Salvaguardia and Pico de Mina (on the right of the notch) that is the Portella de Benasque?

Does anyone know whether the Portella de Benasque is entirely natural or was it widened to some extent in the 14th century? I have read conflicting accounts of the history of the pass so any enlightenment would be appreciated!