Tiny goldcrest in the holly bush

 

Trois Seigneurs boucle depuis La Freyte

I fancied a long walk to profit from the beautiful weather but I kept changing my mind about where to go! Inital plan was to climb Pic de Materat but its a long day with well over 1600m of up hill. Then I thought about Pic de la Fourne, which I haven't climbed, but it's another long day with long sections without a trail. I couldn't find anyone free to go with me, so in the end decided to do Pic des 3 Seigneurs from the East side which I've wanted to do for a long time. The trekking guides on the internet said 7h45 (one said 8h45) so I started early.

It was just above freezing early in the morning so I was glad I took some gloves. After a section on a piste the path crosses a footbridge and climbs steeply through the forest before esacping the treeline and passing into the impresive Cirque d'Embans with a 700m high headwall.

Looking south to Cap de la Dosse

On leaving the Cirque I was in the sun and in short sleeves for the rest of the day. The path climbs over some bald hills to arrive at a new mini cirque with numerous lakes, passing the Etang Long and Etang Bleu. Ahead is the Col de la Couillate 1961m which I reached in a little over 2hrs giving fabulous views.

Etang Bleu with the col behind

view from the col with the first few unnamed pics to cross on the right

My route now turned right and followed a long ridge over several tops including Pic de Peyroutet and Pic de Crède before eventually arriving at Trois Seigneurs 2199m in around 3hrs. Amazingly I had the summit to myself for an early half lunch.

looking down from the ridge to the Etang Long, Etang Bleu, Etang des Rives and Etang du Tirou

My starting point was at the bottom of the wooded valley

View from the summit

Retrospect of Pic Crède and Pic de Peyroutet

From the summit I descended steeply continuing around the head of the Cirque d'Emabans to Cap des Gragnots and down to the Col de Pourtanelle 1789m. Just before the col I was surprised to see a solitary Ibex.

the descent from 3 seigneurs

Ibex, in the far distance in the centre of the field the cabane rouge

A steep descent from the col, a second lunch and then I was back in the forest to reach in a clearing the cabane rouge.

the descent from the col

The cabane rouge, interestingly paint green!

A steady descent through the amazing colours of the forest saw me back at the car in 5h45 including 30mins for my lunches. 15km and about 1300m of ascent. Pleased that I'm still much faster than the guide book at nearly 59 years old!

 

A little road trip north

After the excitement and exhaustion of a week long dance workshop, Susie fancied a ittle trip, so we headed north to visit a couple of interesting villages. Firstly Montbrun Bocage, famed for its Sunday market, castle and medieval streetscape.

Then onto Carla Bayle, a hillstop town named after Pierre Bayle a protestant philosper in the 17 century known for its art galleries and a number of resident artists.

 

Autumn colours arrive quickly

 

A change in the weather

 At last the temperatures have dipped and some rainfall has brought a dusting of snow to the mountains.

Pic de Certescan, Flavisella, Pic de Turguilla depuis Gerac par l'arête de Rabassère

Ben dropped in for a visit from Andalucia and he was keen to get into the mountains. 20 years ago I climbed Pic de Certescan from the path between Etang Hillette and Etang Alet and 16 years ago Ben and I looked at climbing to the summit from the long ridge starting at Point de Rabassere. We turned back because of poor weather. It seemed the perfect objective.

We started from Gerac at 9.00am and made quick progress to the Etang Reglisse, crossed the breche in the north ridge of Point de Rabassere to reach the Port de Colatx in 2 hours 10. Here we were on the frontier ridge between france and Spain which we would follow for the next 4 hours.

The breche

Our objective from was to follow the ridge on the left all the way to the dark peaks on the skyline in the centre of the photo - taken from the breche.

The first part of the ridge over Pic de Colatx, Point 2434m, Pic de Couillac and Pic de Soune starts as easy walking but gets progressively narrower and more rocky. After col beyond Pic de Soune the climbing starts and we put away our walking poles and put on our climbing harnesses.

Looking down on Lac de Certescan from the first part of the ridge. Our overnight at the lefthand edge of the lake and our objective the dark peaks in the clouds.

Arriving at the col, Pic de Soune in the background

The long dragon back ridge to the summit of Certescan Nord alternates between narrow sections of climbing at II and III and easier sections of scrambling. There's a short section 'au cheval' with one leg either side of the narrow ridge, and several hand traverses all on good granite. The crux is a breche with a short 15m abseil from a spike followed by a cracked slab III.

The pinnacle we abseiled

Ben about to abseil

Finishing the cracked slab

The we moved together for a short section then for the rest of the ridge dispensed with the rope and climbed separately. It is a long and exposed ridge, but never technically difficult, with great views. The weather stayed perfect and most the day we were in shirt sleeves.

About halfway to the summit (pyramid on the left) looking across to Montabone

After 6 hours we finally reached the summit of Certescan Nord 2840m and had a late lunch. The views were immense in all directions! 

success!

From the summit looking towards Flamisella (2800m) and Lasaugède (2728m) over Lac Gueroso

Retrospective of the ridge from summit of Certescan Nord (2840m)

Panorama from the summit of Certescan Nord

Next we had to leave the solid granite of Certescan Nord and cross onto the loose red gneiss. A down climb to a col then a reascent to the slightly higher summit of Certescan Sud also called "Flavisella" (2853m) located in Spain.

Downclimbing the loose gneiss rock

We had to check every hold on the gneiss as many were loose, but we quickly reached the summit and highest point of the day. Here we were met by a small group of Iberian Ibex.

From Certescan Sud looking to Certescan Nord and the long ridge of our ascent to its right.

Now at last we could start the descent to the Lac de Certescan and on its shore the Refuge de Certescan.

The overnight was comfortable and there were only 8 of us in the refuge for the night. 

The following morning there was a marked change in the weather. We left at 8.00 into low cloud, drizzle and cold. We climbed higher and higher passing the lakes of Estany de Romado de Dalt, Estany de Seno and Estany de Colatx.

Estany de Romedo de Dalt

The higher we got, the stronger the wind became, the heavier the rain, the colder the temperature and the poorer the visibility. With numb hands and about 50m visibility we had to resort to GPS and compass to eventually find the Port de Sounou (2371m). From here and to the north at 2527m was Pic de Turguilla which we had to attain to find out descent into France. We climbed up steeply through granite slabs, gispet and bilberries  buffetted by strong gusts which sometimes had us holding onto to anything solid, to eventually land on the summit in the driving rain. 

We were a little more sheltered on the Franch side and the visilibility improved as we descended but occassional strong gusts continued and I was blown off my feet at one point. We were happy to finally reach the Cabane de Turguilla where we stopped for lunch out of the weather.

The descent from here we've done many times and we were soon ascending the ladders and back at the car in Gerac.

It had been a grand adventure! Amazingly at home, an hours drive away it was 28 degrees and sunny.

Mulch

With the branches from the first hedgelaying chipped, there's been plenty to mulch the gardens. Now all we need is rain. We've had two days with rain in about three and a half months! They say rain will start on Wednesday, but it's always rain tomorrow.

Tomorrow I m heading off with Ben to do a two hike picking up Pic de Certescan, then dropping into Spain to stay in a refuge.