Diary volume 5
9th-11th July 2003
Marcadau - The Breche Hut

9th July - 5.30pm

Today's walk was described by the guidebook as a classic crossing of 3 cols. It was to be the first really big day that we have done since Mac arrived, and the first that I have done in the high Pyrenees, so we got up at first light and had an early breakfast that had been left out for us by the hut staff. It was actually quite good, compared to the meal last night. We were away by 7.00am setting a steady, but relaxed pace up the valley towards Col d'Arratille.

It was a pleasant walk up a good path with the shapely slabbed peak of Grand Pic d'Arratille dominating the view, and providing a nice subject for a photograph reflected in the calm waters of the higher d'Arretille lake. Over this first col we dropped 100m before zigzagging up to Col des Mulets, still on a reasonable path up the scree. By 10.30am we were looking down into the wide glacial valley of Oulettes du Vignemale, still feeling fresh and bang on schedule! We slipped and slithered down a long ribbon of snow having fun trying to glissade, and I needed to use an ice-axe arrest at one point when I fell unexpectedly. It's nice to know you can do it when you need to!

The Oulettes du Vignemale is an incredible place. It's a huge U-shaped glacial bowl with a perfectly flat base of sediment that has been trapped by a morraine, on which sits the Refuge des Oulettes de Gaube. The refuge is a square concrete building, but amongst all this grey rock it doesn't look out of place. At the head of the bowl are two glaciers, with huge triangular spires of rock towering above them to the summit of Grand Vignemale. The biggest glacier is split by an enormous crevasse so that it looks as if it has been cleaved by a giants axe, with the grey ice contrasting clearly with the white covering of snow.

Photo: Vignemale from the Refuge des Oulettes de Gaube, Petit Vignemale is on the left

After a brief lunch stop at the refuge, which looked clean and tidy, we pushed on up the remorseless zigzags climbing up the Eastern side of the bowl and then traversed round to the Col de Hourquette d'Ossoue. The traverse gave spectacular views down onto the glacier below. Earlier we had seen climbers on a ridge above the glacier, and we could now see the line terminating on Petite Vignemale. It looks to be on lovely clean rock at about V Diff and, for the grade, is in an amazing position above the icy cravasses!

At the col we rested as cloud spilled over the ridge and obscured the view. On the climb up there had been a few spots of rain and a few distant rumbles of thunder, so now we hesitated before committing to the climb up onto Petit Vignemale. But at times it cleared to reveal a view and the thunder was distant, so we left the sacks and set off up the scree.

It was lovely to walk without the sack, but the climb just kept going and I felt that the altitude was starting to affect me as I panted upwards. Eventually the scree turned to quartzy rock and the slope sharpened into an arrete so that we felt exposed and VERY high! The final 30m to the summit were along a narrow ridge, and suddenly the cloud blew back to reveal the awesome bulk of Grand Vignemale in front of us.

The glacier to the SE of Vignemale is a huge expanse of space, and the buttress of the main summit towers over the knife-edge ridge which links it to Petit Vignemale. Yet where we stood already felt so high, as the view down to the valleys and lakes far below was like looking out of an airoplane! I was gripped by the effects of vertigo as I stood next to the cairn. I wanted to crouch down and hold onto something - it was quite exhilerating!

Back at the col we collected our sacks and then dropped down to Refuge Bayssellance. This refuge has been renovated during the closed season and is spotlessly clean and newly painted. It stands perched on a knoll at 2650m and is the highest refuge in the Pyrenees.

Whilst sat outside waiting for the dormitories to be opened we met an English couple who are working for Exodus holidays, guiding clients on activity holidays in the mountains. This seems to involve mainly walking during the summer, plus some caving, and then skiing and ski mountaineering during the winter.

The good news is that Grand Vignemale is accessible without crampons at the moment as there is plently of snow on the glacier. So we plan to attempt that tomorrow and stay here again tomorrow night. Whoopee!

10th July - 4.00pm

I had the usual disturbed night of sleep last night. What with being too hot and stuffy, and in a small room with others who snore (mentioning no names) I rarely sleep well in the refuges. I look forward to getting back into the familiar space of my tent again.

We arose to bright blue skies and crystal clear views, and after a quick breakfast headed off for the glacier with nice light sacks. There was an unusually large quantity of snow in the Pyrenees last winter so for the time of year the snow cover is still quite extensive. This means that the glacier is well covered and negotiable without crampons. Later in the year, or after a lean winter, crampons would certainly be needed.

Photo: The Glacier d'Ossoue. A party can be seen on the path beneath the cliffs.

As it was we kicked our way up sugary snow following a clear zigzag path with numerous other walkers into the white expanse of Glacier d'Ossoue. From the top of the glacier there was 100m of steep scrambling up the rocky cone of the summit of Grand Vignemale. The rock was loose and covered in loose stones, so the scrambling wasn't very enjoyable, but once on the summit ridge the final section to the top was a delight.

Compared with Petit Vignemale the top didn't feel very exposed, but the view from the top in all directions was breathtaking! I could trace where I had walked from the West as far as Pic d'Anie, now a lone peak in the distance. Looking East we could see nothing but high mountains extending way into the distance beyond the Cirque de Gavarnie.

After numerous photos, picking our way down the scramble, visiting the caves of Henry Frederick and generally soaking up the atmosphere of the place we slithered back down the glacier to Bayssellance by early afternoon. This has given us a nice half-day of R&R before embarking on the next stage tomorrow. The ascents of both the Petit and Grand Vignemale have been very worthwhile. It's great to have topped-out on one of the big '3000-ers'. I just hope I get the chance to do one or two more before the end.

11th July - 6.00pm

Today was a big day, with a big drop from Bayssellance into the Oulettes d'Ossoue before climbing up and over the rough ridge of Pic de St Andre and then climbing up to the Breche Hut in the Cirque de Gavarnie. I will remember the morning for the wild flowers. After a couple of days at Bayssellance at over 2600m it was lovely to drop down into the lush valley and see the riot of colour by the side of the path again, and the grasshoppers scattering in front of us as we walked.

The route down from Bayssellance passed down the steep gorge of Barrancord d'Ossoue alongside a series of waterfalls and snowslopes. We then emerged into sunshine and walked through the meadows, with Marmots everywhere calling to each other. The climb onto the ridge of Pic de St Andre was steep and pathless, and the day hot. It would have been a real drag if the flowers hadn't been so spectacular. They provided a welcome distraction from the hard work! We picked our way along the shattered ridge, the view East marred by the ski station of Especieres below us, and then down loose, unstable scree to Col des Especieres where we took a well earned rest and managed to get a signal on the mobile phones for the first time in 2 days.

The path over the Col des Sarrodets to the Breche Hut is a real tourist route, this being the easiest access to the hut and the Breche de Roland. There was a constant stream of people coming back down as we trudged on tired legs below the Northern flanks of Le Taillon and then scrambled and hopped across the cascade pouring out of the glacier above. It was nice to walk on a good path though after the the rough going earlier in the day.

Photo: Col des Sarradets with the Breche Hut and the Cirque de Gavarnie behind.

The final climb to the col was a real struggle, but at the top the Breche Hut was only a short walk across a snowslope away, and the view across the Cirque de Gavarnie was amazing! The Cirque is backed by a curving sheer wall of grey rock which plummets out of sight into the valley below and the whole cirque is ringed by the snowslopes of the Glacier de la Breche which is perched on scree slopes above the precipitous drop, down which the Grand Cascade falls. The hut is positioned with the prime view of this awesome panorama, with its thick stone walls and bright red shutters, perched on the very edge of the glacier. A truely remarkable spot, and an essential stopping off point on the HRP.

Go to Volume 6

Return to Diary Index

Return to Homepage