Camping in the snow

Camping in the Fresh Snow

Big snow falls overnight - in the morning the snow was the lowest on the surrounding mountains we have seen and deep, so deep. The weather prediction is for the clouds to clear in the afternoon and clear skies but cold for the rest of the week - absolutely ideal for a few nights in a mountain cabane. We put together some provisions, packed our packs, borrowed snow shoes and off we went to the Cabane de Cherue - a shepherd's cabin that is also used by walkers. It is just above the tree line, beside a little creek and just below the Crete de Lavigne (Crest) from which you can see pic du Midi and the Valle de Magnabeight.

Sue drove Skye, Hadley and I to a little car park where ordinarily the track can be seen winding up the mountain. Today the snow is so thick there is no track in sight and everything is covered in beautiful white snow. We fit our snowshoes, wave goodbye and up into the trees, the track is a little difficult to follow but the indentation can be seen and with care we can follow it. We are the first to walk through the new snow - so exciting, fresh, clean, pure snow. The ground is covered in over two feet of snow, all the trees are covered, even the bare branches hold snow all over the upper surface - all is white, pure white except for the occasional rock and the trunks of the trees which are black and grey. It is as if the world is now in black and white. Everything is muffled and still - another world - white and silent. Branches weighed down with snow block the track and if you bump them going under there is a mini avalanche of cold snow. The snow is soft and for the leader it is very hard work, even with the snow shoes with big packs we sink up to 10 inches into the snow - going up steep slopes is difficult and we change the lead regularly. It is not too bad for the second person and for the third it is possible to stay on the surface for most of the time. Slowly and steadily we zig zag up the slope - it takes about 2.5 hours to do the walk Sue and I did in 1 hour, 10 days earlier with no snow.

We cleared the tree line, up one more steep slope and there is the cabane in a protected valley deep in snow, the mist is beginning to roll in from the valley so we are just in time. Izard bound away up the slope as we approach, quickly gaining height through the deep snow, then they pause on a rock outcrop or ridge to gaze at us - their favourite position, looking down from a position of height. How do they survive when any feed is covered in snow ? We watch while an Izard digs at the snow with a foot and nibbles on the bush it uncovers - a tough life. As it gets colder they descend into the trees but obviously they think it is still ok in the open mountains for now.

The cabane is a stone structure with a concrete floor - one room, two beds, a triple bunk, a table and benches and a cast iron stove - a couple of old saucepans and a fry pan and a small supply of wood. The windows leak a little and there is a wind rattling the shutters - cold !!!! We get a fire going and search for more wood. Smoke is a big problem as the wood is green and wet and to get rid of the smoke we need to open the door - outside it is well below zero with a cold wind, so our choice is smoke, or cold. We opt for variations and spend a cool night having dinner and playing cards until it is time to hop into our very warm sleeping bags and listen to the mountain mice scratch around the cabin all night.

The next morning is clear, blue and cold. The sun hits the hut about 10-00 am and warms it for a couple of hours before disappearing behind the mountains. Sue and Ash climbed up with snowshoes for a quick picnic before returning through the snow with Skye. Ash is light and with the snowshoes floats on top of the snow - he is having a ball, for Sue it is a bit harder but the snowshoes are wonderful, without them it would be impossible. The snow is just spectacular, there is so much and it is deep, soft, clean and so, so white.

Had and I spent the afternoon collecting firewood and spent another night in the cabane. The next morning, clear and still, we walked through the snow to the Crete de Lavigne. The deep snow makes it possible to go anywhere without the need of a track - it is impossible to find the track anyway, all features are muffled, rounded and disguised. We know roughly where to go and find our way to the crest reasonably easily. It is possible to use the snowshoes like crampons and we climb up some very steep slopes, slow work but exhilarating. The snow breaks up as we climb and pieces fall and slide down the slope 100 - 200 metres without stopping - time to take care !! The view from the crest is stupendous - we can see across the Vallee de Magnabeight to the Pic du Midi in all its winter glory - black and white against the dark blue of the sky. Beyond the Pic du Midi is the Pic d'Ayous, the Col d'Ayous, then the peaks of the Vallee d'Aspe and beyond that the Pyreneean mountain chain runs all the way to the Atlantic. A clear, clear morning, we stand on the crest and look across the peaks, everything is still and very, very quiet, no wind, no people, the bears are asleep. There are Izard moving slowly across a ledge below. The landscape is sleeping under the snow, beautiful, cold, still and resting - a time of repose, of rejeuvenation and regeneration, absorbing moisture and light in preparation for the growth of spring and summer. We sit, eat mandarins and absorb the peace and subconsciously some of the energy as well. Eventually and reluctantly, but refreshed we turn and follow our tracks back to the cabane.

It is important to have the beers cold

Some people will go to any lengths to ensure the beer is cold.

Winter is here

Sunday afternoon in Castet

We sat one Sunday afternoon on the little hill that rises above the Plateau de Castet, in the afternoon sun of a perfect still blue November afternoon. Below the small green fields gradually whiten towards the northern edge of the hillside and the tree lines until at the edge of the trees it is pure white and frozen as it must have been all day where the sun doesn't reach. Above the green and white fields rises the dark forest. In full shadow the grey and white trunks standing out now among the bare trees, the occasional dark green of a pine, grey of rock. Above the forest the white snow and black rocks with the pure blue sky above that and floating in that perfect blue is a clear white half moon. A wet moon, standing on its side, so the water could flow out across the sky - more snow or rain coming soon. The sound of cow bells drifts up from the plateau below as the cows move trying vainly to keep ahead of the lengthening shadows and the cooling afternoon.

A late autumn landscape with a little colour left in the trees, the white frost, bare trees and long shadows have a distinctly wintry feel, the air is clear, still and sharp. The high landscape, the ridges and the peaks appear perfectly still in the distance, immovable and eternal against the blue.

The Plateau de Castet drops in the western sun into the Vallee d' Ossau, across the valley is the village of Bilhere catching the late sun and above the village the Plateau du Benou with a snow capped ridge above the plateau. Many of the trees have lost all their leaves and their shadows are skeletons marching across the fields, browns, greys and blacks, the colour in the landscape is provided by yellow left in the birches and blue smoke rising from a chimney. A very still quiet afternoon, time to reflect on the changing season, the coming winter.