From St Nicolau hut to Colomers hut.

for map click here.

THIRD DAY,day off for me and George,so our wounds would heal.9am start ,down to La Besutra and on to the hotel.After lunch we phoned for a taxi to take us to the next hut, Refugio San Nicolau.Mike said that it was 2hrs away,the taxi driver did it in 1hr 15mins,what a ride!Off course the hut was closed untill 6pm so we dicided to explore the area around .We trekked up to the waterfall and the meadows below Tuc De Mulliere.It was a day off and still walked for 5hrs.By 7pm the others arrived.The refugio is located next to the Vielha tunnel, it has electricity,showers and a huge area of accomodation.FOURTH DAY 9 am start up to port de Rius where the HRP ends and we entered the national park of Aigues Tortes(land of twisted waters) an area of exceptional beauty.The area is full of rivers and thousands of lakes at high altidute.We were on more minor paths ,we skirted Lac de Rius and carried on to Lac Tort de Rius where we stopped for lunch and a swim.We carried on on the left side of the lake down the spectacular Lac De Mar and on to another steep path to the lake and refugio Restanza.It has very good facilities and the scenery around was quite stunning.FIFTH DAY,lesuresly start up the very steep slope next to the refugio on a zig-zag path.The col was below Montardo , with a flat area full of lakes and neadows.Three from the group dicided to climb Montardo while the rest of us explored the area and took photos.From there we carried on along more lakes and meadows up to Port du Caldes.The path then started descending along streams full of frogs up to the reservoir by the refugio Colomers.Another very steep descend in deep forest, over a bridge and we reached the end of the trek by a picnic area.Return journey by minibus through Val d'Arran over a high pass and back to Val De Lys and our lodge.The day finished with a BBQ and a raid to the bar for beer.SIXTH DAY, day off in Luchon ,we were given the impression that we were not wanted around the lodge , so we taken by minibus to the town,we watched two from the group come down from Superpagneres by paraglider,browsed the gear shops,paced up and down and drunk endlessly coffe.SEVENTH DAY,early ride by taxi to the foothills,we visited St Berdram De Caminges ,a small medieval town perched on a hilltop where the remains of a national French Saint "St Berdram"lie in an large cathedral.After lunch we walked down to the junction ,explored the Roman ruins and waited for our lift to the airport.