Refuge Oulettes to Refuge Bayssellance
We decided to take it slow and fully enjoy this enchanting place. Refuge Bayssellance is less than 3 miles from Refuge Oulettes. But to get there, we had to haul ourselves over snow covered Hourquette d’Ossau which is 600 meters higher than Oulettes. The adventurous ones could make a side trip to Petite Vignemale which is at 3032 meters. That was our plan. Petite Vignemale would be the highest elevation of our entire hike.
The 2017 heatwave dashed my hope for flexing my shiny new ice axe on the icy crags. In normal weather, passing this section in mid June typically requires ice axe for safety reason at the least. Not the case for us. We did use microspikes on a few sections where the slope looked a bit daunting. Z.Z. put them on so that he could be at ease taking video on my awkwardness on the slippery path. Wind blew hard. The path guided us towards one side of the giant colosseum we admired from a distance the day before, exposing details of its arches and pillars. Gradually, we were above the snowy enclave. Then came the dizzying switchbacks. We finally reached the col. We could see Bayssellance, a lonely but defiant structure in a sea of mountain peaks. To our right is Petite Vignemale, the summit 300 meters above. 300 meters did not sound much. Loose stones and snow patches, large and small, piled on the steep slope. Z.Z., little influenced by my excitement, peered at the summit wearily. We decided to walk to the Refuge and dump our bags first.
For a man fearful of heights, a little courage was needed to scale that summit. But I knew I should shut up and let him make the decision. Slowly he said he could try to reach that patch of snow midway to the summit. So we went. In the end, it was not as easy as I thought, but neither as difficult as Z.Z. feared, and the summit was nothing but spectacular. Descent was a bit trickier. The path was not at all clear and we were the only people there. Not born with good sense of balance, I was prone to slip. So we moved cautiously on the loose rocks. Then a lady in good shape walked swiftly on her way up. I said cheerfully: you are not far from the summit! She replied with a big smile: “great, then I don’t need to worry about the rain”. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps behind me. The same lady was already on her way down! She hopped lightly from one rock to another, as easy as an ibex! I nodded to her in astonishment and moved my awkward body out of her way. Less than 5 minutes, she disappeared in the clouds. I turned to Z.Z.: look at that! To her, scaling Petite Vignemale was an afternoon stroll. What do I have to do to get that kind of agility!?
Later we met the lady again in the refuge. She is a Norwegian, in her late middle age. She and her husband already climbed the big Vignemale earlier that morning. Scaling the glacier on Vignemale was apparently no extraordinary challenge to this couple from the north. As if it was not enough, she took that “stroll” on the petite one later. I was awed. Then Z.Z. chimed in: So Vignemale is only 200 some meters higher than Petite, guess I have to scale that one next time! I looked at him, eyes filled with wonder.
We ran into quite a few fellow hikers at this iconic mountain hut. We all became friendly with each other along the way. In the mountains, it is always pleasant to see someone you knew, even if you just met him/her the day before. The mountains have a way to keep us humble and generous towards one another. Dinner at the refuge was delayed for an hour due to overflowing late arrivers. But then we had the most satisfying meal of beef stew that night!