Ascending to Col des Gourgs-Blancs
Sue and Martin's Big Adventure
Day 28 - Sunday 22 August 2004 - Stage 23
Postcard Summary
Green lake to Oô (a village)
village
of Oô
Green lake to Oô (a village)
Excellent alpine day with glacier,
boulders and 2000m descent – 11.25 hours, 18 km, 800m ascent
As our camp was already up at 2400
metres, there wasn’t too much height to gain but the ground was either
boulders, steep scree or glacier. Good
plod up hard snow in early sunshine.
Super views of surrounding mountains.
Rose to another col before descending for a sunny lunch near Refuge du
Portillon. During the afternoon the path dropped relentlessly into a green,
lake-filled valley with waterfalls, a lovely contrast to the morning’s alpine
scenery. Julie hitched the last 4 km
whilst we used a path to reach the 
Diary Entry (by Sue)
A magnificent,
if long, day in alpine landscapes with beautiful weather. It was a cool, but
clear morning at our green (from glacier melt) lake, and we were away at 8.15
am, on a rocky path to Lac du Milieu.
It became more bouldery,
then climbed steeply up a scree slope. From the top, our objective was visible
- the Col
Ascending the Glacier des Gourgs-Blanc
Col des Gourgs-Blanc
The steep rocky
descent, we stopped for a mountain mix / chocolate break, trying to work out
which way to go to the next col. Now, there were quite a few folk around, some
with ice axes for the snowfields. From here, the view is rock and snow.
Col du Pluviomètre
was easy to aim for, as the large rain gauge stood out well. We took Georges Véron's
advice and went up the rock spur to the south. More snow, boulders and rock,
and it was reached at 11.30. Excellent views from here, back to Pic Goudon and Pic
des Spijeoles, right off the first col, down to Lac Glacé and Lac du Portillon,
and across to Pic de Perdiguère.
Pic Perdiguère from Col de Pluviomètre
Lac Glace
The descent to
Lac du Portillon was hard going, on boulders following cairns
Below Lac du Portillon
Trumpet Gentians
Here, we leave
the HRP, for a resupply in Luchon, so it is the start of a huge descent for the
afternoon. The path improves, the air warms, and a view of a green valley with
three lakes emerges, after the starkness of the morning's terrain. The path was
wide, well constructed and busy. It descended gradually to Lac d'Espingo, an
area with sheep grazing and people admiring beautiful views.
Views to Lac Saussat and Lac d'Espingo
Taking a break near Lac d'Espingo
Refuge d'Espingo
From here, a
steeper descent plus the aid of zigzags through trees to the lovely Lac d'Oô ',
a large lake with precipitous walls, and a long waterfall cascading into it.
The Auberge supplied cokes, and we waited for Julie, whose knees were suffering
from the long descent.
Lac d'Oô
Unfortunately,
on leaving there at 5.30, we still had a few miles to go to reach the village of Oô
Julie outside the auberge at Lac d'Oô
At the car park,
Julie stopped to hitch. We ate some mountain mix to fend off the hypoglyccaemia
both had felt, then continued on a gently descending path/track.
Oô was lovely - old
cottages, a boules area, river running through, and whilst we were taking all
this in, a car tooted its horn - it was Julie in the back of the hotel owner's
car. She had successfully got a lift from the second or third car past, but the
campsite no longer existed when she got to Oô. So we were all booked into the Hotel
Spigeoles, a family-run place. The hotel owner had spotted us marching past,
and had gone to ask Julie if it was us. The lift was offered when Julie
panicked as she had no shoes on!
Hotel Spigeoles
By now it was 7.15
pm, and we were ecstatic. There was even a double bed! In no time, we were all
showered and downstairs in the dining-room enjoying a cold beer. The set dinner
was cold meat and salad, then lamb with lots of potatoes, then cheese and ice
cream. It was a well earned one. The sky was still clear, as it had been all
day, when we turned in after 10:30.
Stats
and route (Viewranger):
21
km, 1700 metres ascent, 9.5 hours
No comments:
Post a Comment