Team Jeff n Rach: The Pyrenees Coast to Coast: 2. Hendaye to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port

Hendaye to Biriatou

We finally had the Atlantic at our backs as we headed out of town following the ubiquitous red-and-white markers. Little did we realise how we would come to rely on these as we made our way out of Hendaye and in to the foothills.

Lovely rolling hills with rich mini-farms, we made our way on a mixture of road and well marked trails.

We had set out a bit after midday but found the going slow as we settled into the weight of the packs on our backs and the up-and-down nature of the trail. We arrived in Biriatou at about 3.30pm feeling a little the worse for wear. We had only walked a few kilometres but the hills had proved hard work. It had taken us something like 3.5 hours to cover a section of the route that the guidebook said should take about 2 hr 10 min. Not daunted (as it had started to rain) we checked in to a hotel for the night and went to the local auberge for the menu de jour after Rach had a bath in the delightful room in which we found ourselves. Serano ham REALLY is as good as it's reputation.

The following morning we popped in to the little Basque church to ask for some divine protection and then were soon on our way "col hopping" in the lower part of the Pyrenees.

Biriatou to Col de Grand Escargas

We climbed steeply out of Biriatou up a ridge studded with power lines. The trail took us from about 50m across a col to a ridge at 530m. This was a shock to the system as we were anything but "match-fit" at this stage and the packs were weighing heavy. After crossing a couple of cols we descended to a non-village called Col de Ibardin. I say "non-village" because it was a town without houses or accommodation! Basically, it is a smugglers haven where the French come on the weekends to stock up on cheap cigarettes and alcohol from Spain and have lunch in restaurants with great views.

Not a bad feed though!

We continued through the afternoon ascending and descending through some lovely forest.

After following a small stream where we saw many locals out collecting mushrooms we ascended to a beautiful col where we decided to spend our first night in the tent. We had a few nibbles with us and there was a heap of firewood so we pitched the tent and had a lovely evening drinking wine out of the carafe our friend Helen gave us as a present. The local nag seemed to want to share our evening too!

Rach was suitably impressed with my fire making skills:

Not to mention the quality of the vin de pays!

I was ever so happy I brought the "chopping board":

And the tent really IS comforable and SO roomy:

Col de Grand Escargas to Sare

Today turned into something of a comedy of errors. We woke to everything being a bit damp due to the heavy dew. Care needed to be taken to make sure we didn't get sleeping bags wet.

After breaking camp we descended to Olhette but I managed to get "off piste" so by the time I got to the gite, Rach had gone on to where she expected to meet me for our petit de joenour. Not to be, Muggins thought Rach had gone on so climbed to Col des 3 Fontaines (gut-busting on an empty stomach) and when Rach was not there, continued on to Sare. Rach meanwhile had gone in to Olhette to wait for me so by the time she left she was about 2 hours behind.

It was a very hard day for both of us as we were each worried about where the other was.
We finally met up again in Sare where we had dinner and stayed the night.

Sare to Bidarray

The walk to Ainoha proved easy walking following a stream and undulating (low) hills in to Sare. I couldn't resist the temptation to have a swim and once circulation had returned to the nether regions, found it most refreshing.

The climb out of Ainoha was not easy however. It proved to be a gut-busting slog up a hill to the Col des Troix Croix, where we had some discussions with God. I was asking why She was punishing me.

This was followed by a meander across the top of the hills, past a farm that also operated as a gite,

continuing through a long afternoon which culminated in arriving in Bidarray at about 8.30 where we checked in to a lovely room in the hotel.

The descent to Bidarray was noted in our guidebook as needing care. The guidebook says "those used to steep, loose and exposed descents will not be troubled but anyone who dislikes such places will need to go very carefully". this is an understatement to say the least! Vertiginous is a better description!

The descent became even more treachorous when it started to rain and then we game across a wash-out where a large section of trail had simply fallen off the mountain:

The hotel however was delightful and the beer and meal excellent. I am on a mission to taste every local beer and the one in this village was particularly special. We are sure it had nothing to do with the high levels of adrenalin that had been coursing through the system for most of the afternoon.
We stayed in Bidarray an extra day as we both decided the bodies needed a bit of R&R. Spent the next day sitting at a table in the restaurant "al fresco". Caught up on correspondence and administrivia (including how to operate this blogsite).

Besides the following day was billed in the guidebook as the "hardest day so far".

Bidarray to St Etienne de Baigorrye

The book is absolutely correct: "...this is a long hard day..." which took us just over 12 hours. We covered 15.7kms with a height gain of 1260 metres and height loss of 1248 metres. The estimated time in the guidebook is 7 hrs 15 min.But there is more to the story than that.

We set out at 8.15 in to the fog and mist (as they say in the classics);

climbing steadily to first the ridge line where we stopped for a rest too eat the croissants and pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants to the uninitiated);

Continuing up;

To the highest point of the day - Pic d'Iparla (1044m).

We were feeling pretty cocky at this stage as we had climbed 900 m in the time estimated in the guidebook and were feeling strong and able to continue comfortably. We decided to continue to "bag" the other two Pics at 1022m and 1029m after eating a few dried apricots. We thought we would have lunch "a little further on".

WRONG!!!

We trekked along the ridge top, climbing and descending to these further Pics for another hour or so.

We then scrambled down to Col d'Harrieta at 808m and were confronted with a gut-busting scramble up the further ridge across very broken ground to Pic de Buztanzelhay at 1029m (the fourth of the day). All this on empty stomachs!

By this time, we had been going quite a while, getting tired and still had a descent of some 850m. over what was to turn out to be very rugged terrain. After a navigational miscalculation that saw me relegated to co-pilot status, we finally got down to the col at 700m at 4.00 where we decided to (finally) have something to eat. We had been carrying goats cheese, baguettes, nectarines and some chorizo all day and this was a most welcome reduction in the weight in our packs and an increase in the weight in our collective stomachs.

Now feeling considerably more chirpy and well rested we were ready to continue down;

Despite a couple of setbacks:

Rach impersonating a turtle on its back in a muddy creekbed (no picture allowed, oops, er, ....not available, just the result) and some minor navigational issues (I had been temporarily allowed back in the pilot's seat); not to mention what seemed like an unending trudge once we finally got off the hill; we arrrived in St Etienne-de-Baigorry at 182m at 8.30pm. By this time we had been on the trail for some 12 hours and 18 minutes (whose counting?), but we had completed the day in accordance with the guidebook and were pretty chuffed with ourselves.

We finally checked in to the gite after being relieved of our packs in the courtyard and having a sleeping bags inspected by the maitre d' (bedbugs are an issue in some of the gites), we rewarded ourselves with a large glass of Grimbergen and a 3 course dinner.

The Belgians REALLY do make a nice beer.

St Etienne-de-Baigorry to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port

"Mostly road and track walking today with a pleasant trail over the top of Manoa". So saith the Muse! 20km; 859 heigth gain, 864 height loss with a walking time of 6hr 15min. Easy, don't-you-know?

We were expecting a long (if easier) walk today and were determined to keep better track of our walking time and taking food regularly. And so it would prove.

We set off and 10.37 after breakfast at the gite. We made some sandwiches from the ham and cheese and baguettes provided. Climbing steadily, we had agreed to put in a good 2 hours walking before stopping for our first break. This proved a good idea as we felt good and were able to climb to Col d'Aharza at 734m where we stopped to have some food and a good vin d'pay courtesy of Rach, who had bought a bottle of red the previous night which we had not drunk and Comrade Helen, who had gifted us the wine caraffe. Noice!

We left here after a 20min break and then made our way around the side of the hills, finally climbing steeply to the crest of Monhoa. Again we had made good time and stopped briefly here as the mist and fog rolled in.

We had now had two days of summiting peaks in the fog and mist but hey, this is FUN. As we decended the fog started to clear and view of the valley below soon emerged.We had now had two days of summiting peaks in the fog and mist but hey, this is FUN. As we decended the fog started to clear and view of the valley below soon emerged. Rach even took time out to charm the locals.

Continuing on down, we came onto a winding road that took the occasional short-cut straight down to cut off loops of the road. We arrived in the little hamlet of Lasse at about 5.00 where we stopped for a quiet beer and sit down.

We still thought we had a few kms to go when we arrived in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port at about 6.30 with a heap of pilgrims and holiday makers all looking for the same thing we were: a place to stay. Rach had been here before in 2012 when she did the Camino de Santiago a few years ago. She felt like she was coming home when she saw the Camino sign on the pavement (below). I was thinking about a plunge in the river!

We then had pause to relfect on the advantages of booking ahead. All the hotels were full. After searching (and even briefly considering going to the municipal campsite as it started to rain no less) we finally found a pilgrims refuge at about 8.30.We were first assigned 2 bunks in a dormatory (to my absolute horror), however after explaining that I snore (a lot and very loudly) we finally ended up in the most delightful double room with a fantastic view over the town:

Rachael's Footnote: the look on Jeff's face when we were shown the dorm room cannot be described adequately. It was, indeed, one of horror but it was tinged with fear and trepidation. I honestly thought he was going to run out the door. To be fair, I was not a little concerned myself! I could not imagine how we could possibly spend the night with 6 potentially pious female pilgrims whose expectations did not include a night spent with a large, noisy, somewhat gruff (and dare I say) at times antisocial antipodean male!

Jeff later confirmed his reluctance to accept this "refuge" when he told me he was ready to head to the municipal campsite and set the tent up in the rain!

After a rather rushed meal in a restaurant on the main road we got back to the refuge at 9.55 where the caretakers were waiting to lock the door at 10.00.

Overall, though, we were really happy with this day. We had walked the 20km in less than the time suggested in the book, were feeling pretty good physically and had got in to town at a reasonable time. Maybe we were starting to get a bit fitter and, dare I say, a bit smarter.

We had been planning to stay in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port a few days to have a break and get this blog set up. By the time we were in the room however, we were having some doubts if we would be able to. We needed space and a room (not to mention reliable internet) to do this and the refuge was clearly not suitable. Rach came to the rescue on this however and managed to book us into a delightful self-catered apartment on the edge of the old town for 3 nights.

We subsequently extended our stay to five nights and had a ball in the local supermarche stuffing ourselves with all sorts of exotic (and not-so-exotic) food and wine some examples of which are shown below:

Rach's bit:
Just wanted to add a few pictures that I like or give me happy feelings (in case I lose the photos off my camera - or worse my iPhone, which is my camera)