The dress rehearsal
The next Sunday hike became a test for (almost) all of us. We dream of doing the ‘Tour de Canigou’, the 5-day hike around the Canigou massif, together one day. We also want to find out if the girls could fulfil their wish to climb the Tres Vents (2,731m) soon, at the foot of which we live. That’s 1,800 metres in altitude!
As we don’t have a carrying saddle yet, Gardien was equipped with a riding saddle and saddle bags. With these he could carry almost all the luggage for a day’s hike and even one of the girls. Right at the beginning, as usual, we went steeply uphill. At the top, on the first level, we passed through a large herd of cows, which Gardien mastered calmly and with interest. At 1,380 m above sea level, we had our first drink break and enjoyed the view far into Spain. Because the air was cloudy in summer, we could only see the sea on the French side.
An hour later we reached Refuge La Devesa at 1,650m. We had been walking for three hours and were all very hungry, so we had an early lunch. Lucia’s heels were already starting to blister. Our break lasted an hour, because the herd of horses, which is stationed up there during the summer, approached, eagerly awaited by the girls. Refreshed, we continued upwards. On the one hand, we wanted to find out if there was a practicable access to the summit of the Tres Vents. On the other hand, we had seen on one of the maps that there should be a cabane (bivouac box) further up…
Although obviously hardly used, the path was quite easy to find. We were thrilled with our precious companion Gardien: even with Lucia on his back, he literally climbed over hill and dale, calmly, like a pro. It was clear that he would go everywhere with us.
And sure enough, there was a cabane at an altitude of almost 2,000 m, a tin box walled in with stones. But the view around the corner was sobering: the door was broken off its hinges and stood at right angles to the entrance, the window panes were broken and the entire interior was littered with rubbish. We had already observed the latter many times in the freely accessible shelters. People can carry full packages up the mountain but can’t take the empty ones down with them. Only recently we had taken a rubbish bag full home from La Devesa. But this one was a few sizes too big for us! We’ll need a saddle for Gardien. A little off the beaten track, we enjoyed the magnificent view. It is quite a different world, here above the tree line, so close to heaven. The human remains are all the more disturbing.
Before we started our descent again, we walked across to the back of the Tres Vents to explore the possible further ascent. A few marmots kept appearing at their cave entrances in the heat. Above us, about a dozen violins circled gracefully. There they are cautious, the marmots. It soon became clear that a further ascent to the summit would not be a problem, as endless grassy mats stretched over the crests all the way up to Tres Vents. But from up here it is still over 700 metres in altitude and thus another three hours of ascent. It was already clear to us beforehand that the summit tour would not be manageable in one day.
So we quickly set about descending the 1,000 metres in altitude to our home. At first. Back in the forest, without the fascinating and magnificent view, we all realised that we already had six hours of walking time in our muscles. Even Gardien was no longer so fast. We were, not surprisingly, lacking in freshness. After an extended snack break, we finally reached our home again after ten hours. There we saddled up and went down to the stream to refresh our bodies in the icy water. We were able to stay in the water for a long time this time. In the end, we thanked the mountain for its majesty and the water for its (re)invigoration. It was a beautiful day. In total, we climbed 2,100 metres. Greatest respect to our two girls!
