Two Chamois were running across the hillside when we woke this morning. The sky remained brilliant blue as we open our eyes to watch their bounding silhouettes cross the ridge and remembered where we were. There was not a ripple on the lake.
On the opposite side of the lake a marmot was stood tall on the summit of one of the peaks whistling in a high pitched shreek. It was all so idyllic.
There was no rush to get out of our cosy down bags, so we just lay there and watched the morning unfold.
Clouds began to blow over the ridge while we enjoyed a morning brew in bed; before long all the views had vanished into the mists.
This made the lake look even more amazing as we now couldn't see the far side or even a horizon line. Clare got up to investigate...
And then put some ripples in the water while the clouds blew through.
I'd initially thought that it was probably too cold for a swim, but soon got talked into a morning dip too!
Afterwards we got straight back into our bags for more brews and warming up.
By now the skies were quite dark and a few spots of rain fell as we were packing up. A few hikers had now arrived and the spell of solitude was broken. We decided to hike up the peak on the French/Spanish border before making our descent back to civilisation. One of my favourite alpine flowers were growing everywhere.
In worsening weather, we cached our packs and made a lightweight dash for the summit and arrived at the top as the rain came in.
We were just in time for the views though...
It was hard to re-imagine just how hot it had been when we'd walked up this way yesterday. Good job we had our waterproofs.
But, half an hour later and the skies had cleared again! Unbelievable! And just as we arrived at a plunge pool that we'd eyed up on the way up the valley.
It was superbly refreshing. Our own outdoor jacuzzi again!
By the water were loads of butterflies. Every time we crossed a stream, we would disturb a little cloud of them.
Finally, the barrage dam came into view. Although it looked inviting, there were signs not to swim and in any case, there were lots of other people about which changed the vibe completely.
We carried on past, down the track and were both relieved that we'd not tried to coax the van up it!
The meadows were full of this cool purple flower along the road side.
We arrived in Gavarnie grinning from ear to ear and got given a perfect shady spot in the corner of the campsite. What an amazing mini-expedition. Right place, right time, right weather. Unrepeatable?...
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