Backpacking in and out of the Aiguestortes

Wasn't keen on getting up as there was a frost on the tents but glad I did as I caught the sunrise shining on the Pic de la Mainera 2906m.

It looked like it was going to be a cloudy day so we took the opportunity to get packed up whilst the sun shone.

We then climbed to a small peak at  2722m to look down into the Estanys dels Vidals d' Amunt.
It was an easy descent from there to the Pas del'Os and the GR11 to the Refugi Colomina.

Despite our rucksacks bulging with dehydrated food we went in for tortilla and jamon.

We then headed back into the hills up the Estany Tort to camp below the Collada dels Gavatxos.
The last time I was here the place was crawling with cows and it was difficult to find a campsite that was flat, rock free and wasn't covered in cow muck.

We finally got camped up between the Estany Eixerola and the Estany de Castiesco.
The cows had not wandered this far yet but their bells could be heard jangling in the distance.

I'm airing the Z Packs double quilt in the photo.  This has damp proof down and weighs less than 900g.  This is approximately the weight of one sleeping bag.  The tent on the left is my old Solar 2.2, which as you can imagine weigh 2.2Kg.  The tent Dawne and I used was the Tarptent single skin Stratospire which has acres of room and only weighs around 1200g.  Ok a bit obsessive over weight, but it is my hobby and I'm not keen of lugging huge weights up hills any more.  I aimed for a base weight of 6 Kg and probably came out at about 6.5Kg.

Dawne modelling the quilt and the  superb ultra light Berghaus Vapourlight jacket.

The Tebay Lad and Geordie Lass backpack in the Parc National D' Aiguestortes I Estany De Saint Maurici, Part1

We travelled by Eurostar to Paris and then TGV to Toulouse.  In theory 13 hours from Carlisle.  A lack of research on my part saw us missing the Toulouse train by 5  mins and having to get a later train.

After a night camping in Espot we took the hair-raising Landrover taxi to the Refugi JM Blanc by the Estany Tort. We have been to the Pyrenees at least 5 times but always to the granite peaks such as Carlit and Andorra.  This area is no exception being white granite.  There are dozens of lakes , often with white granite sandy beaches and best of all no midges.

The track (GR11-20) led on past the Estany Negre.

The track continued to the col in the middle distance.

After a short first day we pitched up at 2500m over looking Estany del Cap del Port.  The cloud had built up, but luckily it stayed fine.

Next morning we followed the track around the lake and over the Collada de Saburo (2689m).

The Geordie Lass breaks free of the boulder field below the Collada de Saburo. There is a path down there somewhere.

After passing two more lakes, there are too many to mention, we rounded the Estany de Colomina and headed for the refuge.

We bought lunch in the refuge and settled down for a rest in the heat of the day.