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Ayous Lakes - Winter
February 2008

Last year I walked a classic trail next to the "Pic du Midi d'Ossau", by the Ayous Lakes. For my first winter trek (well, first one intended anyway), I decided to do a route that I had done before, so that I would know the way. Although the snow does change the landscape quite a bit, it was still a big help to know what to look for.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, it was a delight to gaze at the shades of dark brown against snow white, set under a clear blue sky. There was not that much snow though, even at my highest elevation, between one and two feet, so I ended up using the snow shoes for only about an hour at the end of the first part of the trek, as the sun had made it a bit hard to walk, and that was a great help.

I slept at the Ayous Refuge, where I met a group of fellow trekers, who had brought with them everything that they needed for the "aperitif": bottles of wine, bread, fruit juices, dry sausage, crackers, even "Mont Blanc" sweet cream in... tin cans! (and they thought my backpack was heavy!) We had a very, very nice evening and night under the auspices of "L'Ossau".

Although I usually value being alone on the trail, we tagged along the next day on the way back, since we went the same route and seemed to get along well. It also ended up making it easier for me, as the cold night had made some of the route hard to walk on without crampons (which I now realize is a must have in this kind of treking), and following someone else's footsteps probably saved me a an hour or two, and made getting down just plain safer. Thanks to Michael and his friends for the help and the very nice company.

As usual, I made a bunch of pictures. For some of them I tried to photograph from the same spots as I had done the previous summer, this turned out better than expected (I was going from memory there).


The Pictures :
Click for higher resolution


Ice-coated rocks.


Half-frozen waterfall.


Roumassot lake, climbing next to the waterfall. Compare with summer shot.


Gentau lake, arriving at the refuge. Compare with summer shot.


Gentau lake, sunset panorama.


Fellow trekers.


After dinner, tea.-


Night on the Ossau


The next morning. One of us woke up early and wrote "I love you" on a heart-shaped patch of snow (Valentine's day was 2 days ago).


A panorama of the view by the refuge (360°)


Putting the crampons on. I did wish I had some of these.


Under the Larry peak, arriving at the Bersau lake (360°).


A panorama next to the Casterau peak. Compare with the summer shot.


Further down the col, time for a snack.


Walking on a rather strong incline. I would not have gone that way had I been alone ;).


Bious-Artigues lake on the way back to Gabas, where I left my car (360°).