Rain Stops Play - Briefly
Days 3 and 4 - Tour de la Montagne d’Ax
Day 3 of our Pyrenean odyssey.
We had seen the forecast for this particular day before we left Ax les Thermes. Storm overnight, yep, got that, followed by a day of rain. The forecast wasn’t wrong. Lots of crashing and banging in the firmament overnight followed by an ominous silence as dawn broke and light returned to our narrow view of the inside of the tent. No rain could be heard. “Maybe the forecast was wrong.” Said Mrs P.
With some trepidation I unzipped the tent and peered out. The surrounding mountains had disappeared. Even the refuge was swirling in the mist. A mist filled with rain.
We went back to sleep. “Maybe it will improve?”
It didn’t.
Some donkeys appeared late afternoon and Mrs P popped out to say hello.
We’d had a tough first two days and spent some time discussing using this dreadful weather as an excuse to bail out back to Ax. But that would’ve been too easy, so we spent the day lying in the tent, sleeping and eating. The thinking being that the more we ate the less we would have to carry.
Chillin’ out on a rainy day 3
Me, throwing caution to the wind and using the stove inside the tent.
Mmmmm! What’s for dinner tonight chef?
The meteo (weather forecast) said the following day (day 4) would see “…retour du soleil.” (Return of the sun) and it wasn’t wrong. We awoke to a beautiful, nay glorious, morning and after our day of rest, set off with a new found spring in our step.
Little did these two happy campers know that they had to go over that mountain range in the background today. Ah, ignorance is bliss!
Could we have done this day in the rain, with poor visibility? Of course. But it would’ve been miserable. And we would’ve missed such sights as this…
Ooo! Now there’s lovely.
And this section would’ve been somewhat slippery…
Ah, scrambling with heavy backpacks. What’s not to like?
Our plan was to do a shortish day and camp near another refuge, but when we arrived we decided that it was a silly place and so moved on.
Many things cause a place to be declared a silly place, uneven ground, too many people, mosquitoes, grumpy staff, weird staff, no staff etc. This one was a mix of many of those. We were also a bit early, so set out over our second 2,400 metre pass in search of our campsite idyll.
The only way is up… and then down… and up again… and… oh, you get the idea.
And we found it! The backpackers idyll.
Our new backyard (for one night only)
A beautiful flat spot overlooking the most stunning of small tarns (small lake).
But, where there is an up there is all too often a downside. It wasn’t long before the mosquitoes found the only two warm blooded mammals in the vicinity and put out a message to all their mates to come and feed on our tasty flesh. Warm though it was we wrapped up as though it were 20° degrees below freezing in an attempt to present the least possible flesh on which to feast.
Me, AKA Mosquito fast food restaurant
I wish I had taken a photo of Mrs P’s ensemble. Trousers tucked firmly into her socks, coat zipped up tight, buff pulled up over nose and a hat pulled down so she could just about see. All topped off with a bright red pair of gloves. A picture of not quite mosquito proof sartorial elegance.
The tricky bit was getting into the tent without taking all the mosquitoes with us. This involved one person whacking the other over and over with a light foam sit mat and wafting the air around their heads as they unzipped the tent and hurled themselves inside. Once one was inside the tent, the other then partook some self flagellation with the same light foam sit mat while the other, now inside the tent, quickly unzipped the tent and then frantically beat around the open area with whatever lay to hand.
The local marmots may have been looking on in puzzlement at our antics, but this method worked and we had soon collapsed in a sweaty, but mosquito free heap in the tent.
Of course, five minutes later, both of us thought, “I really need to pee!”
Look out for my next blog, in which we finally get to jetison a large bag of rubbish, which pleases us more than you can possibly imagine, and get our first shower for over a week!
Thanks for tuning in.
