Cirque d’Estaube Pyrenees France

Day 45 France 30

Travelled: 55km to Lac des Gloriettes then back through Gedre and Luz St.Sauveur before going up and over the Col de Tourmalet.

Stay:P5 of La Mongie Campan (42.9197,0.1908)

It was another terrific day in the Pyrenees. After getting a baguette and some croissants we headed back up the road but turned off to go the Lac des Gloriettes (1678m alt).

The last 2km to the parking area were fairly narrow but we managed to only come across 1 car, phew. We had our breakfast and prepared ourselves for our walk to the Cirque d’Estaube.

We got to the otherside of the dam wall when the thunder started and then drops of rain… we made it back to Bluey just in time.

The next 40mins the storm whirled around us. We invited a fellow into the van who was bunkering down next to Bluey to get out of the elements. He was very happy with a warm cuppa as the hail started… finally the rain stopped but we waited another 30mins to make sure the weather had cleared. So once again at 10:30am we set off over the dam and then followed the trail along the reservoir for about 20mins.

We continued along the river that flows into the lake for another 40mins (3.5km) until we reached the Hut.

We were surprised to see so many vultures flying around and on the ground until we noticed they were feeding on a carcass.

We decided to continue on for another 30min/1km closer to the cirque (1900m alt).

We finally saw some marmots …

After enjoying the views we turned back as the wind picked up and the clouds came in once again.

We managed to get back to Bluey as the rain drops started again… we had a rest, recovering from our 9.5km/3hour walk. Then we descended back down.

We drove through Gedre and Luz St.Sauveur. As the weather was holding out we decided to drive up to the Col de Tourmalet 2115m alt. It’s a spectacular 19km drive and is very popular route for the Tour de France.

View of the Pic de Midi.

We stopped at the Col to have a look around.

We continued down the other side through the ski resort of La Mongie to the parking area #5 affording us a flat spot, views and reduced altitude about 1600m alt. Road signs re the Tour de France.