GR10: Our story
Part 1: Hendaye - Lescun
During the first two weeks of September 2001 we did the first part of the GR10: from Hendaye at the Atlantic Ocean to Lescun.September 5th, we drove from Doetinchem to Hendaye, where we spent the night at one of the campsites. Next morning we drove to the beach.
Here we first dipped our shoes in the Atlantic Ocean, just like we should have done when we started Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk in 1998. Here after we parked our car at a safe place near the railway station of Hendaye Plage we walked along the railroad and picked up the GR10 where it passed the small tunnel.
From here the route climbs up the hill side behind Hendaye. The climb is hard but fortunately not too long, because we did not have much practice in the weeks before.
Unlike the French Alps the hills and mountains in the Basque country are full with all kinds of heather and they all were blooming. Just after lunch is the first time that we meet Emily, an American girl from New York. When we meet again she tells us that she wants to do the GR10 at one go. We are currious if she succeeded, but we think that she did not made it because of what happend in her home town on September 11th, 2001. That day we spent the night in the woods near a small current between Col d'Ibardin and Venta d'Inzola. When we had pitched our tent we saw Emily for the second time. We asked her if she wanted to spent the night at the same place, but she prefered to continue for a while.
Next morning we saw her tent on a spot very close to ours. After we have passed Venta d'Inzola we go up to Col du Grand Escarga and down again to Olhette. We have a break at Olhette before we continue our way to La Rhune. At Col des Trois Fontaines we have another break. When we continue we take the wrong path to the top of La Rhune. We noticed that when the path kept on climbing, while it should go down a little, so we had to return to the col and find the right path. Near the train station we take our lunch break.
After a while Emily joins us. The horses which left us alone till than, now become currious, so we had to change their mind and spent there time somewhere else. During lunch it started to rain a little. After lunch, the three of us continue descending to Sare. In Sare Emily went to a post office to sent back stuff she can do without during the rest of her walk. This way her backpack became more than three kilogram less heavy. After a break in Sare in two groops we continue and after two more small breaks we pitch our tent between the threes again near a small current just after we have passed what's left of la Venta Galza Gorri.
This morning we had to walk a little longer before we see Emily's tent again in the middle of a pasture. The first hour the walk is very relaxing. In Ainhoa, a very picturesque village with a lot of beautiful Basque houses. Unfortunately we did not take a picture from the main street to show you how nice this village is, so you have to go yourself to Ainhoa to see it. After we have left Ainhoa we climb to the col with the three crosses (Col des Trois Croix). We pass three crosses long before we reach the col.
After the col the path goes down a little and up again. On the way up when we look behind we see Emily again and by the time we reach col Zuccuta Emily joins us again. After a small break, the weather is not too well, we continue together towards the Esteben farm. The path to the farm is really very comfortable, so we make good progress. While Emily descides to stay at the farm for the night, we decide to continue. And no sooner said than done. After a nearly two hours walk we pitch our tent along the French-Spanish border.
Next morning shortly after we broke up, we see Emily again, but she joins us not until we all have descended a very steep slope and reached Bidarray. In Bidarray we all do some shopping. Because in the next kilometers there will not be any water supply, we bought a large can of water. After filling our bottles and water sack we give what is left to Emily. Next on the route is a firm climb to pic d'Iparla. Before we reach the pic, we take a short lunch brake; short because it is raining. During this break Emily joins us for even a shorter while. By the time we reach the top, it is heavily raining. Just before we reach the top we see Emily sheltering in the lee of a rock. She had decided to spent the night here, but we convinced her to continue with us. - The booklet says that when the weather is good and when we look to the right side, we could see the Atlantic Ocean for the last time. Edwin, my husband, noticed that it is clear that the ocean is at our right side, because there is so much water coming from that side. - After a difficult climb and descent, the three of us pitched our two tent at Col d'Harrieta.However, next morning the sun was shining again, we descided to leave the GR10 and take the path down to the hamlet Urdos and from there the metalled road to Saint Etienne-de-Baïgorry in order to let our shoes get dry. Because Emily has two enormous blisters, one on each foot, she will stay at the campside of Saint Etienne-de-Baïgorry. And because we wanted to reach Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port that day, we say goodbey.
From Saint Etienne to Saint Jean we again follow the metalled road, because our shoes are not fully dried yet. The road goes through a extensive valey and offers great view on the surounding mountains. Close to the village Anhaux we see an orientation table and so we can determine where we had walked last day and spent last night.When we reach the campside in a suburb of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, we still have some time left to pay a visit to Saint-Jean, do some shopping and tell the home front everything is going well.
Next day the sun is shining again. At Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port the GR10 meets one of the pelgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. The road from Saint-Jean to Caro is good. After Caro, when the route goes through the pasture, we take the wrong direction, but we notice that soon. So we did not loose much time to return to the right path. After the pasture the GR10 follows a path that climbs toward col d'Handiague. Just before the col we take a short break, thinking we are there allready. However, when we continue we notice we still have to do a few steps before we are at the col.
After the col the GR10 starts to decend to the village Estérençuby. Before we reach the village we take our lunch break. After lunch we continued decending and on the other side of the village, the GR10 (and so do we) takes a very steep road up to a larger less steep road to Phagalcette. It's quite a long climb and we are getting hot. Finnally after more than two hours climbing and two short breaks, the route becomes relaxing again, so we can catch up some time, that we have lost during the climb. The last climb of that day, towards col sur la croupe d'Ithurramburu is luckely not too hard. At the col we take our last break before we pitch our tent in a pasture in the valley. We had to pitch our tent inside the fences, because the cows are outside the pasture on the hillside and we did not want to repeat our first night on Wainwright's coast to coast path, when we were woken up by a cow that is bumping her nose against our tent.
Next morning our tent is soaked of the dew and because it is a narrow valley the sun did not have time to reach our tent and dry it before we break up. When everything is packed we start with a long climb to the Occablé summit (altitude 1456 m) and by the time we reach it, it is already lunch time. On the way to the top we see some remainings of a car accident near a small col at 1300 m just before the summit. After lunch we decended towards Pedro chalet. The valley looks very pretty and we think that some day we want to return to this place. After a short break in that lovely valley we start climbing first towards a small col and we continue climbing toward col Bagargiak. At the col we make another phonecall home. It is at that moment that we hear of the disaster in New York and in a French journal we see the terrible pictures. We fill our water bags and continue for a little while before we stop to prepare dinner. After dinner we continue decending to Larrau. It is not a very easy decend minding the time of the day. And again we pitch our tent in a pasture.Next morning we continue decending to Larrau. Because we do not like to decend along narrow stony foothpaths, we take the metalled road for the last part to Larrau. In Larrau we do some shopping and continue along the road towards Logibar (altitude 375 m). Here we pick up the GR10 again, that immidiately starts climbing. Again the climb is not easy and takes a long time. When the GR10 enteres the woods of Saratzé, we lost the GR-signs and like some chamois we had to find our own way through the woods to the road to join the GR10 again. During the section along the road we make good progress, but as soom as we leave the road again and start with the last part of the climb we make less progress, but after all we reach col d'Anhaou (altitude 1383 m). At the bifurcation we ask a farmer which variant we best could take along the gorge. We decide to take the shortest route and that seemed to be a good decision. For the third time in a row we pitch our tent in a pasture. Although pasture, it is more like a small fenced square of ground covered with weed.
Next morning (Sept 14th) it is raining. We continue decending and again the route goes along some narrow stony tracks, but this time we have no choise that to follow them. By the time we reach the metalled road towards Saint Engrace our shoes are wet on the inside. In Saint Engrace (altitude 630 m) we take a break inside an inn. Here we decide to take the road towards la Pierre-Saint-Martin. It is a 12 km walk all over metalled roads, so by the time we reach the refuge at la Pierre-Saint-Martin we have (altitude 1650 m) really sour feet. Because of the bad weather we decide to spent the night at the refuge. That evening the hostess prepared a delicious pie for dinner.
Next morning we see that we are above the clouds and that the sun is shining. After la Pierre-Saint-Martin the landscape changes; limestone cracks and gorges. The GR10 continues climbing till it reach an altitude of 1900 m, and than it stays at the same altitude more or less. Because of all the crackes you have watch carefully were you go and that is time consuming, so we do not make good progress. To get to the pas d'Azuns (altitude 1873 m) we have to climb a short but very steep almost vertical track. After the pas the route goes down to the cabins of Azuns and d'Ardinet. After the cabins the GR10 goes into the woods, still decending. It takes relatively a long time before we reach the Labérouat refuge, every time we go over a small top or around a 'corner' we hope that we see the refuge, and finally we do. After the refuge we take the road down to Lescun for a while, because it's shorter and of a better quality which has a positive influence on the velocity. When the road makes a sharp turn we join the GR10 again, and continue decending along a footpath. An hour after we had left the refuge we reach Lescun; that means we reached a rate of almost 550 m in an hour! After Lescun we take the D239 towards the busstop along the N134. Here we have to wait about two hours before the bus comes and brings us to Oloron-Sainte-Marie. In Oloron we buy a train ticket to Hendaye. We take the 19:00 train to Pau. Because the first train to Hendaye leaves next morning at 8:00 and we are not allowed to spent the night at the railway station in Pau, we spent the night on a place just outside a campside. After a few hours sleep, we had to wake up, because we did not want to miss the 8 o'clock train to Hendaye. ... hours later, we left the railway station of Hendaye in the direction we came from, back to the railway station Hendaye Plage where we parked our car. From there we drove back home, where we arrived at 4 o'clock in the night.
Continued in part 2
Last modified November 2003