Slightly Perilous: Toms/Barnett Pyrenees Adventure

6-28-2019 DAY 10 Sleeping in the room in the hut worked out fine. It was a beautiful morning – even though we were surrounded by tall peaks that blocked the horizon line, we were still able to have an amazing sight by watching the sun hit the mountains across the lake. The sun hitting the mountains and the reflection on the lake was striking.  Breakfast was good and then we hit the trail early because it was supposed to be a scorcher again. My mom and I decided to do an extra loop around the lake while Maya, James, and my dad took the direct route and we planned to meet at the dam before heading down. The way my mom and I went ended up taking about 1 1/2 hours and a number of river crossings, but we both agreed the beauty and serenity we found was well worth the extra miles. We started off on the GR 11 which is a trail that goes from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean along the Pyrenees, then cut off and looped around the lake. Finding the route along the lak...

6-27-2019 DAY 9 Today, we took a ride on the highest train in Europe. We had to wake up really early to catch the train so we left Broto, Spain by 6:15am. From there, we headed for Artouste, France to take a gondola up to where the train leaves.  As we looked around at the others boarding the gondola and train, we realized we were surrounded by people of a demographic much older than us. For those who do not know, James has been increasingly resistant to hiking, especially uphill. So, as a compromise between the rest of our family’s enjoyment of hiking and his strong dislike, we decided to take the train up and have an easier hike to Respomuso. In short, James is our “granny” for the train ride. Before heading off, we noticed some cattle with large bells clanging about their necks grazing off down the track. The bells on animals such as sheep, goats, cows, and horses dot the mountainsides of the Pyrenees. The sound of the bells is amazing. Since we had a...

6-26-2019 DAY 8 Today was another day of double adventures. It started off with Canyon Gloces. We were told to do Gloces around noon because it is such a narrow canyon that it is only during the height of the day that sunlight reaches into the narrows. We hiked in and dropped into the canyon around 11:30. A decent rappel down a waterfall is the first thing you do in the start of the canyon. We have gotten much faster since the beginning of this trip at setting up and taking down rappels - even though a guided group came down to put on their gear as we were heading out, we didn't see them until very end! Once you have entered this canyon, there are towering walls reaching up into the sky on either side of us with curtains of vines and other greenery giving it a magical touch. Most of the canyons we have been in, there has been plenty of sunlight throughout the entire canyon and the clear water makes it so you can see all the way to the bottom even in deeper secti...