First Snow

First snow in Laruns for the Autumn - we are absolutely entranced by snow - the way it falls and appears in the morning, the way it transforms the landscape in appearance and in the dampness of the soil, the growth of the plants, the water in the streams and rivers.

We had Hadley and his mates Elliott and Harry with us, fresh from a camel safari in Morrocco, so we went straight up into the snow - up to Bious Artige and walked up the Valle de Bious. As we drove higher our excitement mounted - we reached the snow line and snow is everywhere - on all the trees, the ground, the rocks, the logs - the entire landscape is softened and rounded. The outlines of the rocks are smoothed, rounded and whitened with inches of snow, the leaves on the trees are laden with bright, white snow, hanging low, every now and then a large soft lump falls to the ground and blends with the thick snow on the ground. Sounds are muffled - a soft white world, clean, clear and cold. We could see a little bridge over a creek all white with snow, the stream running clear through the white.

As we came into the valley we came across a shepherd coming down with a troupeau of sheep - it turned out to be Anna, the shepherd we walked with on the transhumance in July - time now to descend. I spoke with her for a while and the sheep moved on and grazed, I said do you need to go with the sheep and she said no they will stop and feed, they follow me. A little further on we came across Joseph with his lyre horned Bearnaise cattle also descending - time to move lower down into the valley.

We walked up the valley all covered in snow and climbed the little hill at the top of the valley, following the tracks left by Anna and Joseph's sheep and cattle. On the edge of the gorge an Izard leapt out and bounded through the snow up the hill, a few bounds and it was well away and watching us, just as we exclaimed and excitedly followed its progress another appeared and we watched them both move quickly and easily up the slope, both with short summer coats, dark and shining. Is it my imposition but I imagine the Izard surprised by the deep, fresh snow.

We had a cold lunch in the snow with swirls of hard sago snow flying around us, by the time we had eaten patches of blue were appearing above the mountains and there were shadows on the bright white snow - white snow, grey rock, green and brown trees with patches of yellow, red and gold, blue sky above - moments of beauty, spellbinding, indescribable - the power, wonder and pure magnificence of raw nature.

The snow was already melting as we walked back across the valley floor and when we reached the trees large lumps of snow were dropping from the tress, the entire forest was dripping with melting snow, mossy rocks and logs were reappearing, pools of snow melt on the track.

patches of blue
sharp shadows on bright white snow
grey rock rising straight
trees green and brown
with patches of autumn - yellows and reds
white snow, deep, clean and pure

The landscape is completely transformed in shape, texture, colour and sound by the snow and as the snow melts it is transformed again, not quite back to the way it was as the memory of the cold remains as the onset of winter, the loss of another fragment of summer.