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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3072 |
6th February 2017 Hiking - Walking: Gorges de la Caranca Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: snowy start then sunny but with gale force winds:( Max Speed: Distance Covered: Sunday 5th February – travel – 2 small walks and Mc Donald’s again! – Rain and strong winds. After enjoying some top episodes of Modern Family, we had a quiet night at Port la Nautique but woke to light winds and yet more rain:( Not in any hurry to do anything so read and relaxed in the van as the carpark around us turned into a lac. There was a steady stream of locals driving along the dead-end track for no apparent reason, they must have been bored and couldn’t think of anything better to do on a wet Sunday! The wind was starting to increase but there was no sign of any windsurfers so we decided to have a ride around to check some other spots. We took the picturesque route past Bages and Peyreic spotting loads of Flamingoes:) There was water everywhere, even some vineyards were flooded and when we got to the beach entrance to the La Franqui wooden pier speed strip the road was covered in water, we have never seen so much water on the beach! There is still a height barrier at Port Nouville north so headed to the Sigean McDonalds to work out what to do next??? There are several really windy days coming on the coast and the Dutch speedsailing contingent are on their way but my smallest sail here is 5.8 and we don’t fancy driving through all that water to access the beach so looked at the nearest ski resorts in the Pyrenees and the forecast is not ideal so we were thinking of driving straight into Spain where the weather is looking better. I did my Forces of Nature blog and added loads of pics on Facebook with a couple of coffees to pay for the wi-fi! Then we headed south past the large etang near Leucate looking for somewhere to stop for a late lunch. As we neared Perpignan we decided to take a chance with the Pyrenees and turned right onto the motorway and didn’t find a layby until we saw a chapel on a hill near Vinca. After a couple of rolls, we walked the short distance past the dammed off small lac to the little chapel with great views of the snow covered Pic du Canigou. This is a great road winding its way up the gorges towards the high mountains with a steady stream of skiers driving the other way heading home! It was getting late and we were looking for an overnight spot and didn’t fancy going too high in the strong winds when we came to the Gorges de la Caranca, a place we had had a top hike before so turned left up the steep road to a top carpark costing 5 Euros for 12 hours, got a ticket and went in and we are the only people here! Went for a quick walk up the gorge, filled the van water tank, rang our son Rob, texted the other Dan who said it is Superball tonight and he is having friends round. Also, texted our friends the Coles whose car broke down on the way home from skiing, lucky for them they were back in the UK:) Fingers crossed the weather improves so we can get some hiking, skiing and snowshoeing in the Pyrenees! Monday 6th February – hike ***** Gorges de la Caranca – snowy start then sunny but with gale force winds:( Despite the strong winds, we had a great night all by ourselves in the Gorges de la Caranca carpark being very sheltered. We woke to a covering of snow:) There was only an inch or so, so it wouldn’t affect our planned hike up the gorge! We thought the diesel heater was playing up last night being well under power only supplying warm air at a lower force and it was the same this morning, not great news when we are high in the Pyrenees:( We texted our garage owner friend Neil Hurrell just back from a week in Tenerife and he rang us back to try and help. It probably needs specialist diesel heater expert attention with diagnostic equipment which might be hard to find out here so we will have to wrap up warm in the evenings before we head south! With hot porridge and kiwi inside us we didn’t pack lunch, just took a couple of chocolate bars, setting off at 10.37 going under the mountain railway into the gorge. The path follows the stream for half a mile before reaching the first bridge, there are two ways to go here, straight ahead up the difficult left hand side which involves some serious rock scrambling, not a great idea with fresh snow on the path so we crossed the bridge. The path zig zagged steeply up and the hats and gloves soon came off, with the coats being undone! The trees were full of birds which were difficult to identify as they moved too fast but they were mainly Coal Tits, with maybe some crested tits, wrens,blue tits. After some serious up we came to a junction left to the passerole (that’s bridge to you and me) and the way we went last time or right to the corniche so we tried that this time. It took us back towards Thues where the van is parked and we soon found the corniche path which has been cut out of the rock with a big drop to the bottom!!! It was another pinch yourself moment, then the arched rock track finished as we reached the valley which the main road runs up spotting two Vultures quite close thermalling up as the sun came out. We turned back after a while heading back to the junction. The sun now full in our face but completely sheltered from the wind! Now came to the bit we really enjoyed last time - a long section of narrow walkway cut into the cliff with a metal rope fixed to the rock to hold onto with a huge drop to certain death to the left but with stunning views of the gorge below:) It is fairly level so easy to walk and then the walkway ends as the stream comes up to meet you again. It was then up a metal ladder and walkway to a weir that must be a small hydro-electric station in the middle of nowhere! It’s then just a short distance to the rope bridge which is very wobbly and Mag hates it!! So, I ask her to stand in the middle while I take her picture! We are then caught up by an Australian couple and we had a chat about our various adventures. I think they haven’t been to Oz lately as they have been driving around Asia and Europe hiking/camping in lots of mountains down to -15! They also do a lot of house sitting, while we were talking to them a couple of French hikers passed us, crossed the bridge and carried on. As we said the return path over the stream is difficult as we did it last time so we returned the way we came. After a couple of rolls back at the van we drove off the carpark which turned out to be free as the exit barrier was up and continued up the amazing valley road with the high snow covered Pyrenees mountains all around! Up and up we went before reaching Mont Louis where we have been before, famous for a large fort where commandos are trained. We parked in the camper aire under the walls of the old town and went for a slippery walk to the fort. We then decided to drive up and check out the ski resort of Les Angles and this was wild!! Loads of the cars coming down had their snow chains on and we found out why as the gale force winds were blowing snow everywhere!!! We passed a tiny ski resort and cross country area, plus a nice section for snowshoeing but you just didn’t want to get out of the van in the ferocious winds:( Then when we reached Les Angles we couldn’t believe it, it was bigger than we expected and was heaving, cars and skiers everywhere with the piste all but un-skiable in the winds, we couldn’t believe they were still open! We followed the sign toward the 600-space camper aire but gave up as the road became too steep and icy. We turned into a carpark where a couple with three small children were adjusting their skis, when the gust hit they all but disappeared in swirling snow, the kids could hardly stand let alone ski, it was tantamount to child abuse we thought! The poor little boy’s face was red raw :( We ended up in a steep one way residential section where the cars had been all but buried by the snow plough and were pleased to find our way out in the end! Although beautiful - this looked far too crowded and expensive to ski even on a nice day so we headed back to Mont Louis and parked up under the walls by the old town in the 7 Euro a night camper aire, fingers crossed we don’t have to pay! Lovely to watch the sun set behind the turrets in the town walls with the most amazing clouds with a lovely multi-coloured hue. Might have to give up with the idea of skiing here in the Pyrenees as we think it must be French half term and head into Spain, but there are a couple more ski resorts we can check out tomorrow on the way out. Corned beef from our ‘Mary’hamper, fried potatoes and mushy peas for tea, it doesn’t get any better:) Photo Gallery Here |
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