Mont Valier (3)

A religious experience?

Rupert was keen to get a big mountain day in before he left tomorrow, so with the weather forecast to improve in the afternoon, I decided to take him, Yaron and David up Mont Valier from the Col de Pause via Port d'Aula and Petit Valier. Although there's only 1850m of height gain it's a long and tiring route with a short section of exposed scrambling before Petit Valier -but to my mind the best way up the mountain (without climbing).

We set off from the Col de Pause at 8.00 in thick damp cloud with poor visibility. We quickly reached the Port d'Aula (1hr 20) where conditions improved dramatically. It was one of those days when France was deep in cloud and Spain bathed in bright sunshine. Occassionally the cloud would spill over the frontier ridge and strange miniature rainbows would appear before us.

We saw the usual wildlife - marmots, isards, vultures, and a Pyrenean frog. After the scramble along the ridge in cold swirling clouds, the sky cleared a little and Valier appeared above the 'cotton wool' sea.

It took us 6hrs to reach the summit (including lunch stops) but the views with the many layers and types of clouds were fantastic and worth the effort.

David on the summit

With visibility still poor below 2500m in France and Yaron and David looking tired (too long sat behind desks), I decided not to return via the Couloir de Peyre Blanc so we returned the same way.

Col de Peyre Blanc

The return leg was at a much slower pace and we finally got back to the car after 11hrs.

Back at the house David removed his boots to reveal some horrific open blisters - amazingly he'd felt no discomfort until the last hour of the descent.

Ouch!