It was a 5 1/2 hour drive from Andorra to Gavarnie, France. Partially because I got lost multiple times. I was trying to use Google Maps with turn-by-turn…
I wish I'd been able to take more pictures on the drive. The drive into Gavarnie was beautiful. Crazy how the roads would go from a little, but fast moving,…
Arrived in the village at Gavarnie, searched around a while for the trailhead, and then jumped on the trail. Trail signs are in French now!
Gavarnie is evidently an extremely popular tourist spot. A bit like the Yosemite of Europe. But this time of year, it's empty. Just the way I like it!
Le Cirque de Gavarnie. Tough to see in the fog, but it's an amazing glacier carved cirque almost 1,000m (3,200') deep. You can Google it to see what it looks…
A closer look at the cirque. The weather made it a little frustrating though. Imagine being in Yosemite Valley in front of Half Dome and not being able to see…
There's a light rain falling again today, and the temperature is dropping as the elevation climbs. The standing water in the trail is frozen solid!
The trail veers off into a valley on the way to La Brèche de Roland, which is a famous break in the ridgeline at the top of the Pyrenees that marks the…
There are a few legit stream crossings along the way.
Not a creek, that's the trail. Evidently they don't believe in culverts around here. For best performance, you can view the video on YouTube .
A good sized stream winding through the valley admidst the snow and increasingly heavy rain.
The snow is probably a couple days old and the only tracks around are hooves. There clearly haven't been any humans up here in in a while. Awesome.
Getting into heavier snow and the trail is starting to get a little dicey. That's the trail along the narrow ledge on the right.
Interesting pattern of streams cutting through the snow.
A defrosted ravine with a roaring cascade cutting through it.
Cascades everywhere.
Trail junction and the Brèche de Roland pointer is broken off. Not a good sign (literally).
The stream about ready to dive down into the valley below.
Three roaring cascades running in parrallel down the canyon wall. Unfortunately, my camera is starting to fog up again in the rain and snow.
Looking back at the spot from the previous picutre. The snow is starting to get deep enough now that I'm postholing.