Trekking The Pyrenees

Gavarnie Cirque Hiking Trail.

Fancy trekking the Pyrenees?  In 2011, the Year of the Pyrenees, Pyrenean Odysseys will launch two traverses of the mountain range.

The trips will be west to east along the Pyrenean High Route and from south to north on a high return path from Santiago de Compostella.

Pineta Plateau in the Pyrenees.

A natural border between Spain and France, the Pyrenees stretch for 400+ kms between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The mountain range’s highest peak is 3404m and 128 other peaks pass the 3000m mark.

In this mountain playground, mountain travelers are active in ice climbing, glacier treks, rock climbing and paragliding and gentle hikes.

Here are more details of the Pyrenean Odyssey trips:

1. The Pyrenean High Route: “The route traverses an enormous variety of ecosystems and landscapes, switching back and forth between France and Spain and moving from the green rolling hills of the Basque country in the west to the drier, craggier mountains of the Mediterranean east.”

2. Pyrenean Pilgrimage: “The south-north traverse begins in the extraordinary monastery of San Juan de la Peña, and finishes in the fortified village and cathedral of St Bertrand de Comminges. This three week trek goes through the Spanish foothills, over one of the highest practicable border passes in the Pyrenees, the Port de Bucharo (2270m), down to Lourdes and then through the foothills of the French Pyrenees.”

Images courtesy of Pyrenean Odysseys.