Area: Neouville Massif, Pyrenees
The concept behind this Pyrenees trip was to alternate cycling with basic mountaineering, and so it was up into the Neouville Massif for a bit of the latter this morning, a corner of the Pyrenees that I had never visited. I knew in advance that the obvious problem with the concept is that the two disciplines are just too similar (in terms of physical demands) to allow for much recovery. When I have done mountain trips with Vic or Steve we typically alternate mountaineering days with low level rock climbing, which is a much more sensible balance. That said, I felt fine today, not too tired at all despite the altitude. I drove from Fabian up into the Neouville Massif, a stunningly beautiful national park, in stupendous weather - almost impossible clarity of light, zero haze and not a cloud in the sky. I had coffee and a light breakfast from my van (I parked well below Lac Long right next to the start of the route up the first peak, Pic d'Estarange) and then started off. The route heads into the deep valley of the Ruisseau d'Estarange with Pic Mechant towering above. A delightful place of wild flowers, streams and meadows. At the top, a steep climb led into a hidden upper valley, a much wilder place with empty bowls of rock and moraines all around. A complex climb led up to the right, steeply, before traversing back left below rather loose looking walls (I saw a small rock fall at one point). The Estaragne ridge line was high above, but the route continued traversing until climbing awkward scree and a few slabby scrambling steps to move back right to gain a very shallow arete up to the summit. At the other end of the arete, the Grand Pic des Alharisses was impressive although lower. From the summit of Estarange, a stupendous view of the next peak, Campbieil, with multi-coloured rock and a classical pyramidal shape plunging down to verdant meadows far below. Memorable. It was also clearly much higher, and in fact the descent to the col was far easier than it looked, with minimal descent (although very steep). At the col, an easy contouring path takes the scree well to the right of the NE ridge crest. It then moves left to a smooth slab, fortunately at a very gentle angle. Above this, steep but easy terrain led with surprising ease to the summit. With a circuit of this kind I was mildly concerned about the nature of the descent on the other side of Campbieil but on the summit all concerns evaporated as it was obvious that fairly gentle scree slopes led down towards Lac Long. And the view was just superb - a grandstand seat looking towards the Haute Pyrenees, some of the famous peaks I had climbed in the past clearly identifiable. Monte Perdido (which I haven't done) behind the instantly recognisable cleft of the Breche du Roland and Le Taillon (which I have). Further right, the Vignemale and Balaitous resplendent, both of which I can remember as if it was yesterday (actually it was 1997). Perfect clarity and a really memorable view, as were the plunging cliffs down to Pla d'Adet and the valley I'd been staying in. Across the upper scree bowl, Pic Long looked magnificent but also loose! I decided to nip across to the subsidiary peak of Lentilla for a view back to Campbieil. Also brilliant, with even closer views of the high mountains across the valley and into Spain. As with Verdeguer, it is often the case that these satellite peaks look notable from a certain valley or viewpoint and therefore have their own names and identity despite the ease with which they can be included. After a snack I commenced the scree descent which was as easy and quick as it looked. But it still proved deceptive. As the ex-glacial bowl levelled out, the route became complex and hard to follow. It eventually led to a beautiful meadow with coalescing streams and then a drop to gain amazing views of Lac Long which was the deepest blue imaginable, Pic de Neouville rising above into a flawless blue sky. Lac Long was then a constant and almost impossibly scenic companion as the return route negotiated it by traversing high above it. This often proves trickier than expected and that was definitely the case today - it was long, complex and arduous with lots of rises and drops to gain the far side of the lake where the car park is. It took far longer than expected and was a tiring way to finish, especially as I still had some way to go back to the van. It was very busy up in the massif by now, but fortunately I was just in time for a late lunch back down in Fabian and refuelled splendidly on Pyrenean Garbure soup, Duck parmentier and fromage blanc with myrtilles.
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