The Gabas to Gourette section of the GR10 probably falls into the category of “what were we thinking!”. On paper, it was big, over 13 miles, with an elevation gain of 5300 feet, and an elevation loss of 4600 feet. A mile up, a mile down!  Book time was 8-9 hours, but the GR10 signs were saying nearly 10 hours. We’d already learned to respect the signs. Reflecting back, this hike was Epic all around.  Besides the numbers, it had some radically different terrains.  Wooded and rocky leaving Gabas, alpine with vistas through the Gave de Soussoueou, elevation and scree field scrambles to the Hourquette d’Arre, and alpine trekking into Gourette.   Epic!

We were up and out relatively early, or at least certainly early judging by the darkened dining area at Hotel Le Biscau.  After a quick petit dejuener and collecting our brick of the infamous brebis cheese (frommage d’ossau) we’d purchased the day before, we were back on the trail by 8am, exiting the village and following the roadway a short distance before turning into the woods and gaining elevation.

The initial few miles seemed very familiar – wooded and dotted with a few rocks here and there – not unlike the terrain we often see in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  The woods walk was relatively short-lived though, because the elevation continued to get steeper and the rocks became more frequent. First, passing a hydro power station in a gorge, buried deep in the woods (how’d they do that?), and shortly afterward coming to a junction giving us a choice – a “short-cut” or a longer section – both meeting back up about 30 minutes beyond.

We chose the “short-cut”, though maybe we should study french a bit more. The short-cut came with a ‘warning’ passage vertigineux – the vertiginous passage was indeed that – a trail section skirting a rock wall carved by an old avalanche – the path not quite as wide as what we had on Chemin de la Mature, but equipped with a cable through it’s length.

Fortunately, my vertigo didn’t kick in (too much!) – maybe because of the trees on the lower slope – thought it was still slow going through the section. Soon enough we left the cable behind and continued on the rocky and wooded ascent, gradually emerging into the alpine zone again.

Beautiful and challenging as the wooded section had been, time-wise we’d only covered a bit over 3 hours, and still had 6 hours to go (remember, in the Pyrenees, hiking distance is measured by time, not by actual distance).    This was where the real hiking started!   The trail opened up, following along a slope headed in an easterly direction toward Hourquette d’Arre (the highest point of this GR10 section) and Gourette beyond, and which looked out into the Plain de Soussoueou carved out by the Gave de Soussoueou (see the pictures below).

Rather than blather on about the hike, the elevation gain, the views, the snow (!), let’s just let the pictures do the talking… Below are some pix, beginning from our emergence into the lower alpine zone, headed toward Hourquette d’Arre with a beautiful view of the Plain de Soussoueou.

In this entire stretch, we did not see another hiker – no one. A beautiful stretch of countryside, but also very isolated.

And before departing, a few words about Gourette.   It is a classic European ski resort area – earily quiet in this shoulder period between some summer months and just prior to their high season.  We stayed at a mountain hotel – La Boule de Neige – hosted by Claude and Isabelle Soule.   We were their last visitors before some well-earned vacation for them prior to what is undoubtedly a very busy winter season.    For us, it was perfect, very quiet, very welcoming, almost as if we were visiting friends.  It was just the right way to end some Epic hiking in the Pyrenees.

Read more: as we head to our Vacation in Arcachon