After finding out about our humiliating daily last place finishes yesterday, we decided to turn over a new leaf and not be the last ones out of the refuge today. We were actually on the trail before 8:30. Of course, we got a little stalled behind the refuge watching the sunrise, deciding on which route to take, so we were effectively eliminated from the “Earliest Start” award for the day.
Laura had told us about a plane crash on the trail (which was actually a helicopter, but it is a kind of plane). Our guidebook (may he Rest In Peace) actually had the trail with the crash listed as the official route while the shorter alternative is now the official route. We chose the longer route with an opportunity to witness morbidity.
No sooner had we started hiking than we got completely fogged in once again. We had managed to catch our first glimpse of the Mediterranean before the fog blocked our view. We were quite impressed with ourselves. After today, we will only be 4 days from finishing the GR10 and we will have hiked 8 full itinerary days in a row without a day off. Finally, at the end, we are starting to see some progress in strength and endurance (even if we aren’t up to French standards).
I’ve also noticed that all of my bitching early on about trail times has paid off in a big way in the Orrientales. Almost all of the trail signs have been replaced showing distances and NOT times to the next destination. My next crusade will be to get Europeans to use periods and not commas between the integer and the mantissa–“4,5 km” seems indecisive while “4.5 km” sounds and looks definitive. I might skip this crusade until our next European excursion.
The fog quietly turned to mist which annoyingly increased to rain. We went by a couple of cabins today that hikers are allowed to use. At the first, we started to go inside, but saw a large handwritten note “DO NOT SLEEP HERE. BED BUG INFESTATION.” Even with a steady rain, that destroys the desire to go inside. We opted to sit on the porch and have a candy bar with a couple of young French hikers heading in the opposite direction. They are planning to do the entire GR10 in 45 days. Their desire is to be able to turn pro within the next two years. The French are serious hikers and see all recommendations concerning time and trail days to be for those who are physically ill. If you are in good shape and healthy, knock at least 10% off for your goal. A 55 day trail becomes 45 to a healthy French hiker. Americans should automatically add 20% for being out of shape and stupid enough to elect someone like…
At the second cabin, we found it to be newly rebuilt and quite nice. We went inside to dry off and have some lunch. After we had been inside for about 20 minutes, Tobias opened the door. We thought that he and Martin were well ahead of us so we were quite surprised to see them. Our lunch break turned into a two hour escape from the rain.
Once we decided it wasn’t going to let up no matter how long we waited we all set out again. We had less than 4 miles to the next refuge. Martin and Tobias took off. Knowing how the French professional hiking circuit feels about us, they didn’t want to actually take the chance of being seen with us on the trail.
About half way up our afternoon climb of 1100′, I heard what I thought were sheep bells ahead of us. I never did see any sheep. When climbing, I usually get about 5-10 minutes ahead of Pam and then wait for her to catch up (she tends to stop a lot to take pictures, adjust straps, or just to annoy me). I heard her talking to someone as she was coming up the trail. She had managed to pick up 3 dogs will bells on their necks. All four of them were hiking single file up the trail with Pam in the “alpha” position.
As soon as they saw me, the “alpha” dog assumed his position right behind me, the obvious pack “alpha”. Pam did manage to maintain the number 3 spot in the pack ahead of the other two dogs. I found it very reassuring that the other two dogs remained behind Pam at all times. As long as I could hear their bells, I knew Pam was OK and behind me. I wonder if I could talk her into wearing a bell all the time so I know where she is.
By the time we reached the pass, the dogs had deserted us and the rain was now coupled with very strong winds. We pretty much ran the rest of the mile and a half to the refuge to get out of the weather. As we walked up to it, we saw Martin and Tobias in the hot tub outside. They had told us this refuge had a hot tub, but we thought they were kidding us. They had already told the manager inside to expect an elderly American couple so we were assured of spots in the gite.
I quickly dropped my pack, showered, stopped by the bar to get a beer, and hit the hot tub. I stayed out there for two beers until Pam told me to come inside an join her by the fireplace. After one more beer, we cooked our Ramen masterpiece and called it a night.
As of tonight’s entry, we only have 4 days and 58 miles left before we complete the GR10. We did catch a glimpse of the Mediterranean this morning, so we really do think we are going to finish this trail. At times, we have had our doubts. At other times, we have thought that our new home might just be perpetually hiking the GR10. We have enjoyed this trail, but we are ready to be done and to move on to the next hike.
