Gourette - Estaing

Statistically, the walk from Gourette to Arrens-Marsous is not a tough one. So during planning, I lengthened it to Estaing in order to even out the daily toil. The hot weather effect did not come into my mind.

Just like the day before, brilliant sun, no cloud. The 500 meter climb out of Gourette to Col de Tortes was a steep and taxing switchback. Soaked in sweat, we stared at the signature view of Gourette, the giant stone column rising atop the col. With the impression the toughest climb behind us, we started the descent with good spirit. As we zigzagged on the narrow path into the pastoral valley, the sun quickly heated up the air. Even though we carried extra bottles of water, they went down fast. The undulating terrain morphed into a gradual climb. Heat and fatigue weighed on us. Cows were hiding in the bushes. The barns and stables were locked. We had to fill up our water bottles from the cow trough even though the water had to be filtered and wouldn’t be ready for 4 more hours. Normally this would be a beautiful, idyllic walk through the pastoral land, but dehydration knocked out our confidence and we grew agitated.  We were moving in such slow pace that we didn’t know when we would be done with this grinding slope. In fact, we were not far from Col de Saucede. Passing the col, the path descended along the green plateau. Then houses and villages appeared on the horizon.

It was not meant to be an easy day. On the outskirt of Arrens, we encountered a Patou, the fierce Pyrenees guard dog, except it was guarding a farm house by the GR10 path! Not knowing much about how to handle patous, we retreated and walked around it. Exhausted, we had to get a drink in the town before we could head on to the final destination. The last push was another 300 meter climb through a confusing forest detour and a section of long walk on a quiet country road. Yet, when we reached the tiny, lovely village of Estaing, we were greeted with great hospitality by our host J.B. at Reve de Gosse.