- Distance: 17.1km (154.4km total)
- Ascent/Descent: 496m up, 1418m down
- Time: 6 hr 51 min
Nice cool morning to start and a moderately steep (yet easier)
uphill. Then just hot, on a south-facing slope, with an unwelcome
bonus of a 700m drop to our sleeping spot.
An easy walk down the road, then up the hill, and we were at the high point of the day, 1400m. Lots of other hikers around as well--so different than the first few days. There's still quite a bit of haze in the air from the forest fires north of Barcelona, but it's not that terrible. Just blue haze.
Then down along a ridge, and up and down along that same mostly shadeless ridge, taking breaks in the shade as the temperature moved into the low-30s. Some wildflowers and a vulture on the ground provided some scenery but it was getting hotter and hotter and we were both glad we carried 4.5 liters of water on this 17km walk.
There wasn't much of a breeze either; we just looked out at the views, down to the valleys where the buildings no longer had the red tile roofs of Basque country, but the gray roofs I'd expect in the France. To the east we can see the first big peak of the Pyrenees, the Pic d'Anie at 2504m, looking like a child's drawing of a mountain peak, just pointy.
We slogged along--the sandwich today was great, more salami/cheese/mayo than the standard dry ham-cheese we've been getting--and the trail wasn't too horrible, even on the last 500m drop to Auberge Logibar at 400m elevation. It was just the heat, hovering in the 32-35C range (90 to 95F), and we both finished off all our liters of water as we arrived.
Dorm-style accomodations, two bunk beds in our room, a cool shower, and beverages then dinner will round out the day. A bit too many flies, no screens on the windows, but we'll make due.
Dinner was good and basic, though it was an hour long battle with flies.
Then bed.