Area: Ariege, Pyrenees
St Barthelemy is very notable as it emerges from the Ariege plains beyond Mirepoix. It made an obvious initial objective, and the morning dawned crystal clear with some serious heat starting to build. I was very conscious of not burning all my matches too early so adopted a sustainable pace to escape the ski developments and gain the unspoiled terrain surrounding the Etangs de Fage Belle, a small lake. The route then heads east to the hidden valley marked Font de la l'Auzate. Then came a steep climb out of dwarf woodland (with impressive stands of great yellow gentian) to gain high mountain terrain at the pronounced Col de Girabal, at which the route takes on a high mountain feel. A pleasant ridge leads to the summit of St Barthelemy. Instructive views over the entire region as it is much higher than everything else locally (apart from its immediate neighbour, which it would have been nice to have done as it looked an interesting scramble). I retraced steps down to the Col and then really enjoyed the steeper climb up to the Pic de Girabal, with a little mild scrambling in places especially on the crest. A lovely rocky summit, and then new terrain down to the next col over, the Col de l'Etang d'Appy, presumably named after the mountain lake just below. Again, I could have bagged more peaks from here but sensibly opted to complete the loop back to the Fage Belle and then back to Mont D'Olmes. A delightful start, after which I drove around to the next valley over and had lunch in Tarascon sur Ariege, before continuing to Auzat and the roadhead higher up at L'Artigue. This was rammed with day trippers escaping the heat, so I could only park lower down, after which I embarked on the walk-in to the Refuge du Pinet. I have done this before, a hut walk after a day in the mountains, and it is tiring, However, the heat today - along with the vertical interval - made this a particularly big ask at the start of the trip. That said, it was wonderful to be back in the high Pyrenees, and the route initally follows the valley of the upper Ariege with stunning views down to the river, the Cascade Pressac and up to the bare mountains further north like Pique de Belcaire. After a small error, I began to climb steeply through woodland. I hadn't done much research and was taken aback by the amount of climbing, which then got harder as it emerged from the treeline into the hanging valley south-west. No sign of the hut (which is completely hidden from view until you reach it) so life did get a bit tough for a while - sweating and dehydrating as I climbed. It got even steeper for a while, and with the 1100m climb added to the 1100m climbed this morning took it out of me more than expected. However, eventually I gained the beautiful Etang du Pinet and the wonderfully situated hut, which was packed, completely full. I was very glad that I'd booked, and just concentrating on replenishing my reserves with the usual fine four course hut meal of local beef with olives, ariege cheese, carrot soup, cake (and lots of resting admiring the view back down the valley) that evening.
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