Button moon

Very hot and a full moon!

 

Etang Bleu depuis Coumebière

DIY, work, haymaking, sheep shearing, dance workshops and poor weather have all prevented us from getting into the mountains for far too long. My initial plan had been to have a solo day out visiting Pic des Trois Comptes, Pic Puntussan and Pic Près Puntussan, but on Friday night Susie decided she wanted to come after all and so Saturday morning we both set off from Coumebière.

This route of getting to Etang Garbet is new to me and reduces the ascent and saves about 25 minutes compared to the normal starting point closer to Aulus. The path is clear enough, though with a lot of small ups and downs and it never really allows you you to get into a rhythm. 

Half a dozen tents at the Etang Garbet but no other walkers.

After going around the lake we climbed steeply up to the tiny Etang Bleu, hemmed in on all sides by steep cliffs where we had lunch. A very hot day, Susie was tired from her run up Joubac a couple of days ago and I didn't feel on top form. The humidity was building and we decided to put the peaks off for another day.

The clouds built and followed us down the mountain on a rather exhausting descent despite the modest 14km and just 800m of ascent.

We saw some isards, a golden eagle and single male Bearded Vulture. I hadn't taken the big telephoto on this trip, but the wildlife was all quite a distance away.

 

Bathroom and porch

Almost done after a couple of mammoth days, even had a shower!

 

Hay and bathroom

It's been a very changeable May and June - great for grass growth but not so good for finding a dry weather window for hay making. It was beginning to look like the grass would be flattened by the rain or go to seed before we could get it in, but meteo-france predicted a four day weather window so on the Tuesday I cut the hay. By the afternoon it was raining! Wednesday morning it was cold and damp and I was starting to think what my plan B would be? But in the afternoon the sun finally came out and I got to work turning the hay. 

Nat said he would swing by on Thursday with Michel's andaineur to make the winrows if he could borrow my tedder on the Thursday afternoon. I had arranged to hire a van and collect the plasterboard for the bathroom on Thursday afternoon and by the time I had finished I returned to find Nat and Patrick raking the winrows by hand! We finished them together and we decided to try try and bail that evening. The bailer was a bit temperamental for the first few bails but then decided to work and we bailed the hay into about 165 bails (larger and denser than last year). After a beer and cake break we trailed a 150 bails safely into the barn, leaving a few needing repair for the following morning. Patrick's tractor got stuck on the steep track from the barn but I towed it out with mine. 9.30pm before we were finished.

Next day Barry and Caroline came over to help with the last few bails and have lunch and in the afternoon I reciprocated the help, aiding Patrick and Nat to rake, bale and load their hay from the orchard.

The next couple of days was spent fixing the plasterboard in the porch and bathroom. A trip to Toulouse on Monday to get the last few materials and today the tiling in the shower is done. This bathroom has been the longest, most troublesome project, so it's good to see the end finally in sight!

 

Pic Seron(10)

As Al and Breezy are out of confinement and we missed the last walk with them, we planned a "catch-up" walk. They chose Pic Seron and although Pic de Mont Rouge was an option, on arrival we decided to stick to plan A. The clouds were clearing, the sky was blue, but the grass was decidedly wet which made for slippery moments on the granite!

We headed up to the quarry then on to the Crête de Seron (West ridge), which has become the "voie normale" in recent years. It's the best way up the mountain for sure.

The weather was warm with a cool breeze, a welcome rest-bite from the normal high humidity of June. We were above the clouds, but they pursued us through the morning eventually engulfing us just after the summit.

Me scrambling up "the canon" reminiscent of Tryfan

Clouds chasing us up the mountain

Lunch on the summit

Looking down to the Etang d'Aubé

Descent into the clouds

We descended from the summit after lunch via the Etang d'Aubé and the col de Cerda. Still some old snow between the summit and the Etang.

A pleasant 6 hour walk including lunch and stops. On the return from Gerac we spotted some vultures watching us from Freychet.

 

Sheep shearing

Sheep shearing is always a stressful time. First we have to get all the sheep into the bergerie and at this time of year they know what that means, so they resist! This year we got them all in except 4. Donnie (who has the best wool), Thelma (who is the most cautious having been terrorised by dogs before we bought her), Laurie and Fudge. After much enticing with sheep nuts, I got Laurie and Donnie into the entrance...Donnie crashed through the fence to escape and Laurie jumped the gate to land in safely in the bergerie with the other sheep.

Next morning an early start to prepare for the day ahead and the arrival of the sheep shearer (who was 1hr30 late!).  Apaché our largest sheep (pictured below) we have decided is claustrophobic. All the other sheep quickly chill out when shut up in the bergerie, Apaché gets more and more agitated, knocking the other sheep over, pacing around and trying to either jump the gates, crash through them or lift them up. By morning she was becoming impossible and in the end I had to hold her head tight and stroke her cheeks to keep her calm while we waited the shearer to arrive. She was of course the first sheep to be shorn and with good weather and a late in the year shear, the wool was quickly off. An added bonus was that we could shear them outside.

Things went much quicker than in pervious years and by 12.15 all 26 sheep were shorn. The three escapees had not ventured close to the bergerie, but amazingly one by one I caught them in the open field and within 10 minutes all was over.

 

Pic de Portabere et Pic de Montaud

Susie is in Chamonix for the next three weeks doing her 200hr yoga teacher training. I m holding the fort, trying to complete the bathroom rebuild and mostly likely doing the hay-making and sheep shearing before going to collect her at the end of the month. The weekend and the first half of the week were spent working on architectural projects then Thursday and Friday I collected and laid the floor tiles in the bathroom and porch - progress at last, plasterboard next!

Saturday, time in the mountains with Sheri, Michiel (returned from the ship) and Ian who hasn't been on walk with us for probably 10 years! Alun and Breezy are back (from the UK) but still in self-isolation, though we waved and had a socially distanced beer with them on our return.

It's hot and humid (June) so we planned a walk up to the Port de Salau (which usually catches the wind). 

Rather than head to the port we veered right to the col between Pic de Portabere and Pic de Montaud before striking up the narrow ridge to land on the summit of Montaud (2496m). The original plan was to descend the ridges over Lane Formente (a reverse of the route Susie and I did with Alun and Breezy last summer), but the clouds were building over Mont Rouch and scraping the summit of our Pic and we decided to descend the same way, continuing this time to include the Port de Salau.

On the descent we met some dutch walkers who had spotted what they thought were deer, a closer look with my telephoto lens revealed that they were in fact Iberian Ibex.

 A cold beer at Alun and Breezy's concluded our walk of 14km and 1400m (4600ft) of height gain.

Tuc de l'Etang depuis Mourtis

The red billed Leiothrix are still here but harder to spot - the french call them "rossignol japonais" - japanese nightingales, unfortunately they are neither nightingales nor found in Japan!

A visitor to the meadow

A short walk with Susie, Sheri and Sandrine above La Mourtis ski station to a cluster of 6 tops with great views to the Luchonais Pyrénées and the Maladeta/Aneto massif. A short walk with just 500m of ascent.

Arête Salenques, Margalide, Tempêtes, Aneto - a big day out to traverse with climbing to IV

Pico Maldito behind Pico Maladeta with clouds blowing in

The maladeta massif

Kite

 

Drainage works

Unable to find anyone with availability to dig the drain behind our house, I decided to hire a digger and do it myself - I m quite handy with a digger these days. It is a tricky operation because of the depth, the overhanging eaves and because you have to dig at right angles to the digger. All started well digging down through the rock and clay backfill but at about 90cm (3 feet) depth I found an old concrete drainage gulley running the length of the back of the house. It was too thick to break through with the digger. The water has been coming into the house deeper than this on the inside of the bathroom so...Was all the clay above the old gulley stopping it from working? Or is there a subterranean water course deeper down? There was no way to dig deeper without a bigger digger so I decided to install a perforated land drain at the level of the gulley surround it with clean gravel and a geotextile and make a proper exit pipe for the water forward of the house and hope for the best. I might not know if it has worked or not until we get very heavy rain again! Meantime I've added plenty of RIW to the inside of the bathroom wall, hoping that may also help.

Platon sheet, perforated drain and geotextile in place ready for gravel

 

Col de Portech to Cap de Bouirex

Another middle mountain walk with Sheri and Susie and a part of the skyline from Quélébu that I haven't completed before. Nice weather and surprising views on a long and slowly rising ridge heading to Cap de Bouirex. I made a sprint for the summit so that we could get back in time for an appointment Sheri had at 5pm. A part of the ridge path near the col de Portech has been chewed up by forestry vehicles but we returned through the woods following our noses to avoid it on the way back.

Looking west, Pic des Cingles, Mail de Bulard, Pic Maubermé, Pic de l'Homme and Pic de Crabère hidden from our skyline by the ridge of peaks heading North from Mont Valier

Tuc d'Eychelle and surrounding peaks, we descended the left ridge last week

Cap de Bouirex (left) and the last part of the route of ascent

Looking back along the last part of the ridge from just below the summit