Mt. Puigmal

Ok, back to our drive around France July 2010.........

During our time in the Pyrenees I was determined to leave the crowds of St. Tropez in our distant memory by finding an all day hike with beautiful views. No moped noise, no expensively dressed skinny people, no yachts or helicopters........just fresh air, blue sky, and big mountains. After doing some research at the local tourist office, we decided that hiking to the summit of Mt. Puigmal was the perfect hike for us. Its summit is 2,909.6 metres (9,546 ft) above sea level, one of the highest peaks in the eastern Pyrenees.
As you can see, we were blessed with the most amazing blue sky day.

Here we are at the parking lot/trailhead. Peter is pointing to our destination. It didn't look nearly as challenging then as it felt a couple of hours later.


Peter, of course, had map duty and made use of each rest time to double check that we were on the right path. The trail was pretty well marked with cairns, but better to be safe than sorry when you are hiking with a pregnant lady.


The climb became pretty aggressive after the first couple of miles. There were no switchbacks, just straight uphill climbing. But as we crawled our way up, we were rewarded with the most spectacular views.


We knew we were high when we found snow on the trail........snow in July....... oh, I love the mountains!


Here are more pics of the views as we kept climbing.......we couldn't stop taking pictures because it was so cool to be above the clouds in the brightest of blue skies.



Typical pregnant lady........I wasn't cold in my sleeveless shirt despite the 40 degree air temp and wind. I was probably the only person not wearing sleeves on the entire ridgeline.


Yae!! The summit! (notice I finally joined the sane people and put on my fleece.) The summit is actually the border between France and Spain, so Peter came up with the idea that I should stand in France and put the baby in Spain........Since I wasn't really showing that much yet, this was a challenge. But still a fun picture.


This cross was covered in prayer flags and was a really cool addition to the summit.


And finally, what I'd been waiting for.........lunch! Luckily the summit was covered with little half rock walls that protect from the wind......perfect picnic spot.


Here is the view as we headed back down........In sum, a perfect day!


Next stop: the charming seaside village of Collioure.