Pic de Trémul, Cap de Pouech and Valieret

Route follows the skyline from right (pic de Trémul) to left, traversing

the

snow

apron beneath Mont Valier to climb the peak to its left Valieret

Two days in the mountains. The first day I set off from Pla Lalau climbing up through the woods towards the Cascade de Muscadet. When the path leaves the stream to head left towards the Cabane d'Aouen I crossed the stream to find the path that climbs steeply through the pine forest of Le Nères.

The stiff climb out the forest to reach the open slopes beneath the

pyramid of Pic de Trémul 2350m (on the skyline left of centre)

At 1800m the forest peters out and so does the path. There remains another 550m of ascent to reach the Porte de Trémul and it's a slog. A little over halfway I passed the Cabane de Trémul which was open and very well equipped with mattresses, blankets, firewood and a gas stove.

Cabane de Tremuls (ONF) open and well equipped

The Porte is a miniature "Breche de Roland" on the left side of the peak. I started scrambling from the directly out of the notch but the huge granite blocks and flakes are very loose and unstable. So after 15m or so I decided it was safer to gain the peak after passing through the Porte.

The trackless slog up to the Port de Trémul (the notch on the skyline)

From the summit I kept on the crest of the ridge for some very enjoyable scrambling and occasionally climbing high above the Riberot valley.

First part of the ridge after Pic de Trémul

The last gendarme - Cap de Pouech is very exposed and the most difficult part of the ridge. The wind was getting up by this time and I was glad for the easy terrain beyond.

The last two gendarmes on the ridge with Mont Valier beyond

Last and most exposed gendarme - Cap de Pouech 2489m

I continued on the same line until reached the North face of Mont Valier, disturbing some Ptarmigans on the way. A long traverse under the North face on fairly unstable scree and snow, then following the edge of the last terminal moraine placed me at the scree slope descended from the col between Valieret and the last part of the Crete des Antiques. Several rocks fell down the North face as I crossed and though they were some distance from me I decided to return by a lower route.

Two well camouflaged Ptarmigan

The crazy gendarme below Mont Valieret

The scree slope gains easy access to the ridge which is followed a short distance to the summit of Valieret, amazing views along the vertiginous ridge in both directions, but the Glacier d'Arcouzan as always is partially hidden from view.

Milouga from Valieret 2654m

Crete des Antiques above Valieret

I returned to the Col de Pecouch then descended to the Refuge Estagnous where I'd arranged to rendezvous with Sandrine, Hannah and Eric. The hut was full (60-70 people) but as always Stephan served up an amazing meal.

In the morning we returned via Milouga, Cap des Lauses and then my route of ascent at Muscadet.

The refuge Estagnous, Etang Rond and Etang Long

Cominac

The fields below Pentussa (Cominac)

The last few days have been balmy and warm and I've been busy making fence posts, fencing fields, logging more fallen trees (in the beech forest) and clearing the path through the forest between Gouteto and Courex.

Today I walked over to Cominac to see two local farmers - La Panchard and Le Gabach. The latter had a hay-tedder for sale and after seeing it I was invited for lunch. In the afternoon the clouds descended and the temperature dropped, so I headed for home.

Chateau Mirabat with Mont Valier towering behind from Icart (Cominac)

Here's the Tengboche/Ama Dablam version, which is how it looks to me!

Tonight I'm blanching some of the sweetcorn harvest prior to freezing.

Boeuf

Today was the "Boeuf" in Massat. An annual day of celebration when an ox is spit roasted in the park and all the inhabitants of the Canton are invited to partake. There are usually 500-600 people and everyone is amply feed. It was unusually cold this year but I met up with Justin and Emily, the twins, Alun and Breezy, and a host of other people for a fine afternoon.

Enough for everyone

...even the dogs

Aujourd'hui etait "La Boeuf" à Massat. Un jour chaque l'année quand il y a un Beouf mechouie dans le parc de Massat gratuite pour toutes les inhabitents du canton. Il y a d'habitude 500-600 persons. Il fait froid c'est année mais j'ai rencontré Justin, Emily, les jumelles, Alun, Breezy et quelques autres pour un bon fête.

Snow

A short spell of wet and colder weather has crossed the Pyrenees over the last couple of days. Cool enough for me to light the Rayburn for the first time and to bring a couple of inches of snow to mountains above 2000m. Hopefully, I'll post a photo if the clouds clear.

Un court period de temps humid et plus froid a été traverser les Pyrénées ces derniers jours. Sufficement froid pour moi a allumé le Rayburn pour le premier fois et pour quelques centimeters de la neige au dessus 2000m.

Pointing

A busy few days taking the woodburning stove and flue out of my house and installing in the house at Pont de la Taule. I have a smaller woodburner with a smaller diameter flue arriving soon. With the Rayburn and the thatched roof I just don't need such a big stove anymore.

I have also completed pointing the front wall of the house - hopefully that will keep the wasps out and stop the wind blowing through it! Still a bit of the gable-end to finish pointing but as it's South facing it's less important.

Très occupé les dernier jours j'ai sorti la poele et tuyau de chez moi et emporter à la maison à Pont de la Taule. J'ai acheté une poele plus petite avec un tuyau plus petit aussi, ils arrivent bientôt. Avec le Rayburn et le toit en chaume je n'ai plus besoin une poele grande comme celui-ci.

J'ai fini les joints de la fa&ccedil'ade de la maison - j'espere que il soit empecher les geps d'entrer et le vent de souffler dedans! Encore un peu plus de faire.

Acute Mastitis

It's been a lovely day but there's a feel of impending autumn with the first leaves starting to fall and the trees heavy with apples and nuts. Some scything in the morning and then clearing out Larcher's barn where I'll probably put the sheep for some of the winter. La Panchard's cows have finally arrived and are in the woods for the time being.

In the early afternoon Alain and Guillaume drove by (this weekend is the start of the hunting season). I joined them below Pinsou at the Pouts Redoun but we saw nothing. On the way back Patrick, Michelle and Susan invited me for coffee and we spent the rest of the evening chatting.

Leia (the ewe who had the abscess on her mammary gland) now has further ones forming - she's almost certainly got acute mastitis. The outlook isn't good and she needs to be culled, but so too does Jean-Jeanie (who had such terrible trouble with trying to lamb) and at least one of the castrated male lambs (Luke or Damien). Seems I'll have less sheep but more hay and meat than I expected this winter. Leia was a good mother, it's such a shame she has developed complications.

Shrooms

After a hot bath and a good long sleep I am at last feeling better today.

After a bit of farmwork, a short wander in the woods gave a good haul of mushrooms - Hedgehog of the Woods, Chanterelle, Cep, Orange Birch Bolette, Shaggy Parasol, Giant Parasol and a Gypsy Mushroom. With a handful of dried Horn of Plenty from last year a mega wild mushroom risotto is in the offing.

Après un bain chaud et un nuit pendant que j'ai bien dormi, je sent mieux enfin.

Après un peu de travail au ferme, un court promenade au bois me donne quelques champignons. Ce soir un risotto.

Port de Salau to Pic des Mulats

Pic de Géu (right) and Mont Rouch (left in the far distance)

This was the planned route for today. There are only a few peaks and sections of the skyline here which remain unclimbed by me and the frontier ridge after Pic de Géu towards Mont Rouch has been long overdue for a visit.

Ben and I left at a reasonable hour this morning but in separate cars as Ben was heading home after the walk. Somehow we got our wires crossed: I thought he was going to wait at Kercabanac where I'd pick him up and we'd continue in my car. In fact he stopped at Castet d'Aleu. I drove past without seeing him or him seeing me, and when I got to Kercabanac and he wasn't there I assumed he'd headed on to Salau and the start of the walk. Of course he wasn't there and after much to-ing and fro-ing and driving around trying to find each other we eventually met up but started the walk later than we had planned from Alun and Breezy's place.

We made the Port de Salau 2087m in a little under 2 hours for the 1100m of ascent but I felt very hot in the sun and unusually weak. As we progressed along the narrow grassy ridge over the succession of peaks to Pic de Géu 2499m (this section I had done before) I began to feel weaker still and decidedly ill. We pressed on but I was getting slower and by Tuc de Bassibie 2524m I was feeling weak and pretty sure I was going to vomit imminently.

View from the ridge to Alos d'Isil in spain and the Encantados beyond

There remained only two more peaks and the best (narrowist) part of the ridge to do. Although Ben offered to descend with me I could see he was itching to continue. This was the second mountain trip in a row I'd had to "bail out of" so after a quick discussion we agreed that I'd descend and Ben would continue to finish the ridge.

I didn't want to return the same way (that would've been the 4th time on this ridge!) but quickly found a short down climb to the north and picked a very steep and sometimes precarious route down through the cliffs to the coombe of Lauzeron. I headed for a little cabin marked as ruined on the map but in fact in excellent condition.High on the mountain a slip on some damp gispet (a notoriously slippery grass) nearly spelled disaster but I managed to stop the slide snapping my walking pole in the process.
From the cabin I found a path down through the woods and emerged at the Cascade de Bégé.
I called in on Alun and Breezy (the agreed rendezvous with Ben) looking at their latest progress with the renovation of their barn/home and visiting their new tree platform. I still felt pretty nausious and tired. Ben arrived a couple of hours later. He said the last section of ridge was probably the best knife edge he'd ever climbed - better than the stuff he's done in the Pennine Alps and on better rock...Grrr, return visits to the this ridge and Mail de Bulard North ridge are now being booked into the diary.

Looking back from Pic des Mulats over the last section of the ridge

Champagne!

Another lovely day splitting logs in the morning and scything in the afternoon. In the evening Ben came over (mountain walk planned for tomorrow) so we decided to taste the 'just about ready' meadow sweet champagne - it's fantastic! Also I've found out that meadowsweet contains aspirin so the champagne even cures your hangover if you drink too much of it!

Ben brought some produce from his farm (beetroot, chard, runner beans and kohlrabi which I'd never tried before) which we mixed with some of my potaotes, an ox tongue fungus and an orange birch bolette, for a rather odd but home-grown dinner.

Les beaux temps encore, j'ai fendu les bouches le matin et fauché l'apres-midi. Le soir Ben est arrivé (une rando ensemble demain) et nous avons décidé de gouter la champagne de Reine du Pré - c'est formidable! Aussi j'ai découvri que il y a aspirin dans Reine de Pré - alors on peut boire comme vous voulez sans un mal au tête le matin prochain!

Ben a emporté des légumes de sa domaine (béterave, chard, haricots et Kohlrabi) avec mes pommes de terre, quelques champignons (langue de boeuf, bolette du boulou) nous avons fait un repas.

Reptile food

Another hot balmy day with fires on the flanks of Mont Valier.

In the afternoon million of flying ants (and other insects) - the air was thick with them. Easy pickings for the lizards!

Un autre jour, doux à chaud avec des feux sur les flancs du Mont Valier.

Dans l'après-midi il y a des millions de fourmis volantes (et d'autres insectes) - l'air était épais avec eux. une proie facile pour les lézards!

Wood

A very light dusting of snow on the mountains this morning above 2700m, but here it's still late summer/early autumn with the temperature in the sun in the low thirties.

In the morning I set to logging some of the beech trees which fell in the May snows in my bits of forest. the chainsaw is working fine again after a bit of TLC. I have a lot of firewood now...here's the stock take (1 stère = a stack of 1 cubic metre of wood).

Woodshed: 8 stère (acacia oak and lime)
Field 1: 3 stère (ash and walnut) plus some big bits of walnut to be planked
Field 2: 6 stère (walnut, acacia and oak)
Field 3: 1 stère (oak)
Field 4: 2 stère (ash and chestnut)
Field 5: 7 stère (chestnut and a little birch)
Field 6; 2 stère (cherry and oak)
Field 7: 2 stère (birch)
Field 9: 5 stère (birch, oak and ash)

About 36 stère in total a good 6-8 years worth of firewood!

The meadowsweet champagne is starting to develop a slight cloudiness just the like the last batch...I suspect boiling water isn't enough to sterile the bottles properly. Weirdly I kept some of the last batch (which was cloudy and flat) strained and re-bottled it and now it's fizzy! I might filter this batch immediately and re-bottle so it can finish fermenting.

Une sapoudrage très léger de la neige sur les montagnes, ce matin au-dessus 2700m, mais ici c'est encore la fin de l'été / début de l'automne avec la température au soleil de trente dégrées.

Dans la matin, je me mis à l'exploitation forestière certains des hêtres qui est tombé dans la neige du mai dans mes parcelles. La tronçonneuse fonctionne parfaitement après un peu de nettoyage. J'ai beaucoup de bois de chauffage maintenant ... voici le stock.

Woodshed: 8 stère (chêne, acacia et tilleul)

Champ 1: 3 stère (frêne et le noyer) et quelques gros morceaux de noyer à planches

Champ 2: 6 stère (noyer, l'acacia et le chêne)

Domaine 3: 1 stère (chêne)

Zone 4: 2 stère (frêne et châtaignier)

Champ 5: 7 stère (châtaignier et bouleau)

Champ 6, 2 stère (cerisier et chêne)

Zone 7: 2 stère (bouleau)

Zone 9: 5 stère (bouleau, chêne et frêne)

Environ 36 stère au total, assez de 6-8 années!

Le champagne de reine des prés est en train de développer un léger nuageux, juste comme le dernier lot ... Je soupçonne l'eau bouillante ne suffit pas pour steriliser les bouteilles correctement. Bizarrement j'ai gardé quelques-uns des lots dernière (qui était nuageux et plat) et apres épreuve et re-mis en bouteille il est pétillante! Je pourrais filtre ce lot immédiatement et re-bouteille afin qu'il puisse terminer la fermentation.

The end of summer.

After a reminder about my statutory rights, facewest agreed to refund the purchase of the faulty Suunto Lumi...glad to see the back of it. Shame the retailer takes the wrap for Suunto's incompetence.

No sign of La Panchard's cows even though André said he'd put them in fields 4, 5 and 6 and I have kept the "regain" for them (the growth after the first cut of hay that would be the second cut). So I've put the sheep in there instead, much to their delight.
The other fields are all one by one being topped and the next job will be starting to collect the wood which is stacked in them.

Field 1

Field 2

With the summer compressed into the last few weeks the vegetable garden is finally producing - I must have 25kgs of tomatoes and they are still coming. The courgettes are finally doing well, the carrots are big but they're staying in the ground this year until I need them and the sweetcorn will soon be ready.

Après un rappel de mes droits légaux, facewest accepté de rembourser l'achat de la mauvaise Suunto Lumi. Tant-pis que le détaillant souffre pour l'incompétence de Suunto.

Aucun signe des vaches de La Panchard, même si André a dit qu'il avait de les mettre dans les pres 4, 5 et 6 et j'ai gardé la "regain" pour eux . J'ai mis les moutons il y a lieu, à leur grande joie.

Les autres champs sont tous un par un faucher et le prochain travail sera de commencer à recueillir le bois qui est empilé en eux.

Avec l'été compressés dans les dernières semaines le potager est enfin produire - je devais avoir 25kgs de tomates et elles sont encore à venir. Les courgettes sont finalement bien, les carottes sont grands mais ils sont rester dans la terre cette année jusqu'à ce que j'ai besoin d'eux et le maïs sera bientôt prêt.

Those bastards at Suunto....never buy a Lumi!

In the morning chainsawing the last of the trees in field 9 (Paul's field) which fell in the May snows, a large oak. The chainsaw despite being cleaned yesterday was playing up - not enough bar oil getting on the chain...seems to be an intermittent problem with my ageing Husqvarna 350. I'll strip it down tomorrow and try to solve the problem but maybe a new saw is in the pipeline? The husky has had really heavy use for nearly 6 years and maybe I should get a professional level saw next time and maybe.....a Stihl!

The middle of the day was spent trying to get a refund on the Suunto Lumi, checking out my consumer rights and sending e-mails. No luck yet. One thing is for certain, the Lumi has major design faults. I've looked on sites all over the net: web sites, blogs, forums, retailers sites with customer opinions, ski-touring sites, climbing sites, watch sites and they're all full of the same negative experiences of the Lumi and the log function/altimeter inaccuracy is a recurrent theme.

I'm really annoyed that Suunto:

a) Launched a product they hadn't tested properly particularly when peoples' safety depend on it
b) When they realised it was faulty did nothing
c) Have now stopped production of the Lumi but continue to let the stock of faulty watches be sold by retailers
d) Seem to have got away with it

In the afternoon Mike and Henri came over with a recoil pad for Mike's rifle that I said I could shorten the stock on. I did the work in the afternoon and they came to collect it in the evening. Forgot to take a picture for the blog.

After a lovely morning a cold front has swept in this evening and we have some rain falling - all good for the winter vegetables - cabbages, cauliflower, chicory and spinach.

Le matin j'ai abattre la dernière des arbres dans le champ 9 (pré de Paul) qui ont tombé dans les neiges de mai, un grand chêne. La tronconneuse dépit être nettoyé hier n'a pas marché bien. La chaine monque de la huile... ca semble être un problème intermittent avec mon Husqvarna 350 recentment. Je vais démonter demain et essayer de résoudre le problème, mais peut-être une nouvelle tronconneuse est proche. Le "Husky" a eu l'usage vraiment dur pour près de 6 ans et peut-être je devrais obtenir une nouvelle de niveau professionnel et peut-être ..... une Stihl!

Le milieu de la journée j'ai essayé d'obtenir un remboursement sur la Suunto Lumi, vérifier mon droits des consommateurs et l'envoi quelque e-mails. Pas de chance pour le moment. Une chose est certaine, le Lumi a des défauts de conception. J'ai regardé sur des sites sur le net: websites, blogs, forums, sites avec les opinions des internautes, les sites de ski de randonnée, sites d'escalade, sites de montre, et ils sont tous pleins de la même expérience négative de la Lumi et le inexactitude fonction log altimètre / est un thème récurrent.

Je suis vraiment fâché que Suunto:

a) A lancé un produit qu'ils n'avaient pas testés correctement particulier lorsque la sécurité des montagnards en dépendent

b) Quand ils ont réalisé qu'il était défectueux n'a rien fait

c) Ont maintenant cessé la production de la Lumi, mais continuer à laisser le stock de montres défectueuses être vendus par les magasins

d) Semblent être sortis avec elle

Dans l'après-midi Mike et Henri est venu avec un talon de recul pour la carabine de Mike que je dit que je pouvais réduire le stock. J'ai fait le travail dans l'après-midi et ils sont venus le récupérer dans la soirée. J'ai oublié de prendre une photo pour le blog.

Après une belle matinée d'un front froid a balayé le soir et nous avons un peu de pluie tombant - tout bon pour les légumes d'hiver - choux, choux-fleurs, endives et les épinards.

Meadowsweet Champagne

Quélébu Champagne take 3. This time no added yeast and no metal containers and meadowsweet flowers rather than elderflowers. Smells divine, already fizzing - fingers crossed they don't explode this time!

Champagne de Quélebu essaye 3. Cette fois pas de levant, pas de cuve metallique et reine-des-prés plutot que fleurs des surreau. Une belle aroma, deja gazeuse - j'espere qu'il ne va pas exploser.

Update

It's been a beautiful sunny weekend, with the temperatures in the mid-thirties. On Saturday I was rushing around collecting sand and cement for some further works at Pont de la Taule, before a trip around the market in St Girons to buy winter and spring cabbage and cauliflower plants (I've been too busy and too late to plant seeds). I met loads of friends in the market and finally after a slice of pizza with Ian and Nina, met up with Justin, Emily and the twins for lunch.

This morning I topped field number one. In the afternoon I just RELAXED and played my guitar in the sun...it's been a while.

A stroll in the evening looking for mushrooms and I soon bumped into André and MarieRose just before Bauch. Eventually we wandered back to their house in La Bordasse for l'Apero where I identified all the peaks they can see from their terrace for them.

C'etait un beau week-end ensoleillé, les températures dans les trentaines. Le samedi, je me dépêchais de chercher de la sable et du ciment pour certains travaux complémentaires au Pont de la Taule, avant un voyage autour du marché de St Girons à acheter legumes d'hiver et les choux de printemps et les chou-fleur (je l'ai été trop occupés et trop tard pour semencer les graines). J'ai rencontré d'amis dans le marché et, enfin, après une morceau de pizza avec Ian et Nina, rencontré Justin, Emily et les jumeaux pour le déjeuner.

Ce matin, j'ai fauché le champ 1. Dans l'après-midi je viens détendu et joué ma guitare sous le soleil ... ça fait du temp.

Une promenade dans la soirée afin recherche de champignons et je me suis vite tombé sur André et MarieRose juste avant Bauch. Finalement, nous avons erré à leur maison de La Bordasse pour l'apéro où j'ai identifié tous les sommets qu'ils voient depuis leur terrasse pour eux.

Suunto Lumi - a piece of junk

When my old Finnish built Suunto X3 HR watch/altimeter died this spring after years of abuse I decided to buy another and the Suunto Lumi seemed to fit the bill, offering all the functions I wanted.

Alas within a couple months the altimeter had started to go wrong (I was getting crazy readings on the altitude log). Suunto boast a 7 day repair service with free collection and delivery. In fact the collection and delivery ended up costing me 16 euros and the repair took nearly 3 weeks. The watch arrived this afternoon and it is a 'new unit' as replacement for the faulty one. But this one doesn't work either (same fault as the last one plus the compass is 110 degrees out and won't recalibrate). What kind of company would send you a new faulty watch as replacement for a old faulty watch? Clearly one with no internal quality control.

After some research on the net, I find out that "Lumi" and it's brother the "Core" are the first two Suunto models to be fabricated in China, further both are plagued by problems. Even the Suunto watch forum has posts from hundreds of disgruntled owners. Someone has even suggested a class law suit against Suunto as these products clearly do not work and from the frequency of many identical problems it may well be the Finnish design which is at fault and not the Chinese assembly (in fact the build quality appears excellent). I'm only on watch number 2, but some people have had upto 6 replacements and are yet to receive one which functions.

Apparently manufacture of the Lumi has been discontinued, but the masses of watches which have already been manufactured are still being sold to an unsuspecting public. The Core has undergone some internal changes to try to reduce the number of problems but there are still loads of the older watches out there with retailers as Suunto didn't do a recall, so buyer beware.

I'm going to send mine back to the retailer I bought it from - facewest - and hope that they will refund me. This is definitely a product that doesn't do what it says on the tin.

Thinking of buying a watch/altimeter? I'd give the Suunto Lumi and the Suunto Core a miss.

Mail de Bulard

A trip up Mail de Bulard from Pucelle via the Port d'Orle today with Ben and Ollie. After an 8.45 start from Pucelle we made the Port d'Orle (2318m) in about 2 hr 45mins. Just before the Port I caught up with a journalist and a photographer from Pyrenees magazine who were walking to Montgarri with a white bearded man in late sixties. He was very knowledgeable and telling them everything they needed to know for an article about the Port. Blimey he was fit - I could barely keep up with him!

From the Port we had planned on gaining the ridge to the west of the Port and following it all the way to Mail de Bulard crossing Pic des Cingles en route. I had seen the route described in a Spanish book and apparently it would take 2-3 hours and it was mostly grades II and III. The ridge is mostly schist and horribly loose, we wasted nearly 50 minutes trying to find a safe way onto the start of the ridge. Ben managed to get up but it was clear that it was going to take a lot longer than 2-3 hours and that the terrain was not great. We decided to bail out and returned to the Port.

The ridge between Mail de Bulard and Port d'Orle

From here we followed the old mining tramway of the Mine de Fourcail to the little lake at 2323m and then climbed up to the larger lake at 2496m before making the summit via the South-West ridge.

The summit (top left) and the upper lake

The views from the summit are the best of any peak in the Couserans and the atmosphere was crystal clear today.

View towards the Encantados in Spain - click on image for a closer view

We had a vague plan to descend the north ridge, but in a quick search on the Internet and in my books I had failed to find any descriptions for the route, only tales of people retreating. I descended to the subsidiary peak at 2646m for views to the old mine buildings and to try to see the way ahead. As is often the case looking down a towered ridge much of the route was hidden and it was difficult to see how difficult it might be. I climbed back up to the summit where Ben and Ollie were keen to give it go, but it was already nearly 3.00 and had we got stuck at the bottom of the ridge where the main difficulties are, we would have had to climb back to the summit to return home and face possible benightment. It had been a great day so we left the north ridge for another occasion.

We descended the West ridge towards the Col de Villeneuve before striking back South-East to the abandoned mine de Fourcail and it's tramway. We followed the route of the tramway from Spain through the Port d'Orle to France, then through two more short tunnels to discover the ruined "station de cables" where the contents of the carriages on the tramway (zinc, lead and silver ore) were transferred to a cable car and transported down the mountain. Although the mine is in Spain it was actually a part of the mines on the French side of the frontier (mines des Bentaillou, Mail de Bulard and Montoulieu) the mine closed after the first world war. At the station beneath Pic des Cingles we startled some isard which ran down the mountain.

Isard in flight

A long descent back to the car, collecting some flowering meadow sweet on the way (which might make a nice champagne).

Pic de Cornave

Close up of the folded rock beds under the summit

A hot day with 2100m of ascent and 22km distance in about 11 hours.

Une excursion au Mail de Bulard de Pucelle via le Port d'Orle aujourd'hui avec Ben et Ollie. Après avoir commencé a 8,45 de Pucelle nous avons fait le Port d'Orle (2318m) en 2h 45 min. Juste avant le port, j'ai rattrapé un journaliste et un photographe du magazine "Pyrénées" qui se promenaient à Montgarri avec un homme à barbe blanche il a peut-etre soixante ans ou plus. Il a été très bien informés et il les dire tout ce qu'il faut savoir pour un article sur le port. Il était en forme - je pouvais à peine tenir avec lui!

Depuis le port, nous avions prévu de gagner la crête à l'ouest du port et le suivant à Mail de Bulard via Pic des Cingles. J'avais vu la route décrite dans une livre espagnol et, apparemment, il faudrait 2-3 heures et il était quelques pas de II et III. La crête est principalement de schiste et horriblement lâche, nous avons perdu près de 50 minutes à essayer de trouver une façon sécuritaire sur le début de la crête. Ben a réussi à se lever, mais il était clair qu'il allait prendre beaucoup plus longtemps que 2-3 heures. Nous avons décidé de sortir et retour au port.

De là, nous avons suivi le tramway anciennes de la mine de Fourcail vers le petit lac à 2323m, puis monta au plus grand lac à 2496m avant de faire le sommet par l'arête Sud-Ouest.

La vue depuis le sommet sont les meilleurs dans le Couserans et l'atmosphère était de tres clair aujourd'hui.

Nous avions un plan vague de descendre la crete nord, mais dans une recherche rapide sur Internet et dans mes livres je n'avais pas réussi à trouver aucune description de l'itinéraire, seulement les racontes que des personnes en retraite. J'ai descendu à la pointe filiale à 2646m pour les vues de bâtiments de la mine ancienne et d'essayer de voir la voie à suivre. Comme c'est souvent le cas regardant vers le bas d'une crête dominait une grande partie de la route était caché et il était difficile de voir comment il pourrait être difficile. Je suis remonté jusqu'au sommet où Ben et Ollie ont tenu à lui donner aller, mais il était déjà près de 3.00 et a nous nous sommes enlisés dans le bas de la crête, où les principales difficultés sont, nous aurions eu à remonter à la Sommet de rentrer chez eux et le visage benightment possible. Il avait été un grand jour et nous avons laissé la crête nord pour une autre occasion.

Nous descendons la crête de l'Ouest vers le Col de Villeneuve avant de frapper vers le sud-est de la mine abandonnée de Fourcail et de tramway. Nous avons suivi l'itinéraire du tramway de l'Espagne par le port d'Orle à la France, puis par deux tunnels court pour découvrir les ruines "station de câbles", où le contenu des voitures sur le tramway (zinc, plomb et du minerai d'argent) ont été transférés à un téléphérique et transportés vers le bas de la montagne. Bien que la mine est en Espagne, il était en réalité une partie des mines sur le versant français de la frontière (des mines Bentaillou, Mail de Bulard et Montoulieu) la mine a fermé après la première guerre mondiale. A la gare, sous Pic des Cingles nous surpris quelques Isards qui descendent de la montagne.

Une longue descente vers la voiture, mais nous avons recolté quelques fleurs de reines de prés sur le chemin (qui peut fait un champagne).

Une chaude journée avec 2100m de montée et 22 km de distance dans environ 11 heures.

Etang de Touetos

Cascade d'Ars

A lovely relaxed rando in and around the Cascade d'Ars today with Ian, Alun, Breezy, Emily and her dogs (Jaya and Sumba). We sped up to the Cascade d'Ars from Aulus in the heat of the morning then explored the upper valley visiting the three lakes: The Etang de Cabanas, Etang de Touetos and the largest lake by the Hille de l'Etang which doesn't seem to have a name on the map. We had a quick dip in the icy water.

Etang de Touetos

The largest lake

The weather was cooler in the afternoon and after copius amounts of bilberry and raspberry collection we returned via the Etang de Guzet. About 1350m of ascent

Une belle rando détendue dans et autour de la Cascade d'Ars aujourd'hui avec Ian, Alun, Breezy, Emily et ses chiens (Jaya et Sumba). Nous avons vite montée a la Cascade d'Ars d'Aulus, dans la chaleur de la matinée a ensuite examiné la haute vallée afin visiter les trois lacs: L'étang de Cabanas, Etang de Touetos et le plus grand lac de la Hille l'Etang qui ne semblent avoir un nom sur la carte. Nous avons eu une trempette dans l'eau glacée.

Le temps était plus frais dans l'après-midi et après avoir ramasser des myrtilles et des framboises nous sommes revenus par l'Etang de Guzet. A propos de 1350m de dénivilée.

Phew

Mega-hot again today but thankfully the urgent works at Pont de la Taule are all finished this evening. Only painting, a few small electrical odds and ends and a door for the bathroom remain to be done, jobs I can tick off over the coming weeks at a sensible pace.

Of course there's plenty to catch up with here at home - the tomatoes are ripening thick and fast as are the courgettes - more pickle to be made. The damsons are ripe so maybe there's some jam to be made. Plenty of farmwork too, not to mention fencing, hedging and collecting the firewood stacked in the various fields. The pointing of the house needs to be finished when the weather is cooler and there are some works to be done in the barn before the winter. The cherry vodka is bottled and just needs to mature for a few months before degustation!

Tomorrow a walk with various friends above the Cascade d'Ars.

Mega-chaud aujourd'hui encore, mais heureusement, les travaux d'urgence, à Pont de la Taule sont tous finis ce soir. Seule la peinture, quelques petites travaux d' électriques et une porte pour la salle de bains restent à faire, travaux que je peux cocher dans les prochaines semaines à un rythme raisonnable.

Bien sûr, il y a beaucoup de faire ici à chez moi - les tomates mûrissent comme les courgettes - plus de "pickle" à faire. Les prunes sont mûres alors peut-être il y a un peu de confiture à faire. Beaucoup de travaux agricoles et ramassant du bois de chauffage empilé dans les différents prés. Le pointage de la maison doit être terminée quand le temps est plus frais et il y a quelques travaux à faire dans la grange avant l'hiver. La vodka cerise est mis en bouteille et a juste besoin de mûrir pendant quelques mois avant dégustation!

Demain une promenade avec des copins au dessus de la cascade d'Ars.

Tomatoes

After the tremendous heat of the last few days, today it has been cold and rainy...but the heat returns tomorrow and Thursday looks like being a scorcher. My cherry tomatoes are at last turning red - there must be 20 kgs of fruit on the bushes but it's all been green for weeks and weeks. The first harvested fruit is fantastically sweet.

Works at Pont de la Taule continue, the end is in sight but I'm really getting sick of it! I hate doing the same thing for too long...and 4 weeks is too long.

Après la chaleur de ces derniers jours, aujourd'hui, il fais froid et il pleut... mais la chaleur revient demain et jeudi s'annonce très chaud. Mes tomates de cerises sont enfin mûre - il faut 20 kg sur les buissons, mais c'etait tout vert depuis quelques semaines. Le premier fruit récolté est fantastiquement douce.

Les travaux au pont de la Taule continues, la fin est en vue mais je suis vraiment tomber malade d'elle! Je déteste faire la même chose depuis trop longtemps ... et 4 semaines est trop longue.

Hot at last

For the past few days the heat has been building and yesterday and today the thermometer is stuck on 36 in the shade (97 fahrenheit). Too hot to do much in the afternoons/evenings.

On Saturday I had to do the changeover on John and Sandrine's gite, in the evening Ian, Nina, Alun and Breezy came for dinner. Gazpacho, pork and aubergine then a Dorset apple cake. After the sun had set we sat out in the relative cool watching the shooting stars.

This morning early I tidied up the crown of the huge walnut tree which went over in the May snow. A much bigger job than I had imagined. There are now another three big bonfires of branches to burn. At lunchtime I descended to the village which is "en fete" at the moment for l'apero. Dédé and Minsou invited me for lunch with their daughter, son in law and their friends. A lovely drawn out lunch in good company which didn't finish until after 5.00pm.

Pour ces derniers jours la chaleur a été agrandir et hier et d'aujourd'hui, le thermomètre est bloqué sur 36 à l'ombre (97 degrés Fahrenheit). Trop chaud de faire beaucoup dans l'après-midi / soirée.

Le samedi, j'ai eu à faire le transition de la gite de John et Sandrine, le soir, Ian, Nina, Alun et Breezy est venu pour le dîner. Gazpacho, porc et l'aubergine puis un gâteau aux pommes. Après le coucher du soleil nous nous sommes assis dans la fraîcheur relative en regardant les étoiles filantes.

Ce matin j'ai rangé la couronne de l'arbre énorme qui tomber dans la neige de mai. Un travail beaucoup plus important que ce que j'avais imaginé. Il y a maintenant trois feux des grandes branches à brûler. A midi, je suis descendu au village qui est "en fête" pour l'apéro. Dédé et Minsou m'a invité à déjeuner avec leur fille, son gendre et leurs amis. Un beau repas en bonne compagnie qui n'a pas fini qu'après 17h00.

Fighting wasps and lancing boils

All this week I'm working at Pont de la Taule. It should all be done and dusted by the end of next week.

For the last week or more I've been fighting a battle with a huge wasps nest that is within the front wall of the house. Over several days I pointed the wall to try and block all the holes which gained access to the nest. Copious amounts of insecticide were also squirted into all the holes. As quick as I can block the holes they find new ones or get in via cracks between the window frame and wall. I resorted to mastic to block some smaller holes. Every evening when I get back from Pont I stand next to the wall and swat about 80-100 wasps. I'm not sure if I'm winning yet.

Leia (the sheep) had a lump on her breast some months ago, it finally revealed itself to be an abscess which I had to lance a few days ago. It was a bit bigger than a golf ball and a huge amount of puss came out of it...yuk. It seems to be healing well but I'm keeping a close eye on it.

Toute cette semaine je travaille à Pont de la Taule. Il sera finir la fin de la semaine prochaine.

Pour la dernière semaine ou plus, j'ai été un combat avec un énorme nid de guêpes qui se trouve dans la mur avant de la maison. Pendant plusieurs jours j'ai fait les joints dans le mur pour essayer de bloquer tous les trous qui ont eu accès au nid. Une grande quantité d'insecticide ont également été jeté dans tous les trous. Aussi vite que je peux bloquer les trous qu'ils trouvent de nouvelles ou de mettre en travers des fissures entre le cadrement de la fenêtre et le mur. J'ai eu recours à mastic pour bloquer certains petits trous. Chaque soir, en retour de Pont j'ai tape environ 80-100 guêpes. Je ne suis pas sûr si je gagne encore.

Leia (la brebis) avait une bosse sur son mamelle il y a quelques mois, il s'est finalement révélé être un abcès qui je devais lance il y a quelques jours. Il était un peu plus gros qu'une balle de golf et une énorme quantité de pus en est sorti ... beurk! Il semble être la guérison bien, mais je garde un œil sur elle.

Google Translate

With all the work at Pont, I've got very behind with my French translation of posts. Thought I'd try "Google Translate" to help speed up the clearance of the backlog. My French must be getting better as I can see how awful the translations are. I've made a quick trawl them to try and tidy them up, but I think they're still dodgy!

Avec toutes les travaux à Pont, j'ai eu du retard dans les traductions. J'ai décidé d'essayer "Google Translate" afin m'aider. Souvent les traductions sont terribles! J'ai les corrigé rapidement, mais ils ont encore des erreurs.