We left it late to visit the principle attraction. The weather forecast wasn't great but we wanted to avoid the weekend so Friday it was.
We left Saint Savin (post festival) at 6.30am. As planned it took us around an hour to reach Gavarnie. We'd passed through the Village before on our way to other sites, so we knew it had plenty of facilities. Unfortunately they all appeared to be closed at this early hour. We were hoping to have breakfast here before undertaking the significant hike. We drove down the main street and turned at the end on the one way system. One place had lights on. Louise practised her excellent French and within 5 minutes we were having an excellent breakfast in the dining room of the hotel!
This was a major stroke of luck and set us up nicely for the day.
After breakfast we parked the car and I had another futile look for Wallcreeper. A car park attendant informed me that there had been a sighting near the Cirque Hotel...10 days ago? While Louise sorted herself out I had a mooch around the car park. I managed to find a Dipper along the stream...
It was very overcast and looked like rain but we set off on the track nonetheless...
It took us around an hour to reach the hotel. It was tough going in the humid conditions but thankfully it didn't rain. We then had our first partial view of the Cirque and the magnificent waterfall (Grande Cascade)...
We had a drink at the hotel and it was then that Louise realised she'd forgotten her book. After a brief discussion she decided to return to the village for the afternoon and I carried on. I took a good look at the waterfall and said to myself...I'm going to make that...or at least give it a damn good try. I wouldn't be breaking any records but...with views like this ...who cares...
It's hard to convey the scale of this glaciated Corrie. The waterfall is 422 metres and the highest in France. Fortunately it started to brighten up and there was a fresh breeze...
The path was steep and uneven so I took my time with plenty of stops. It took me around 45 minutes to get to the last section...which was the steepest and loosest!
As I started the final section I could feel the waterfall and the wet stones. It seemed wise to move away. I eventually made it to the top. It felt good post-op!
The view from the top...
I scanned the rocks for 2 hours but I couldn't find a Wallcreeper and I didn't note any raptors? I downed a couple of bananas and enjoyed the atmosphere with the sound of the waterfall and the comings and goings of hikers...
Again plenty of Alpines...
As already mentioned (on probably more than one occasion) I was disappointed at the lack of birds. By now it was obvious that many breeding species had either re-located or started their migration. No matter.
Many people had their lunch by the waterfall...and that meant scraps...I wonder?
It seemed my bird of the trip was to be Alpine Accentor...
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