Pyrenees 2011, 27/05-05/06, planning

[Graham]

Very nice photos,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Looks like you all had a great time.
Did every one arrive home safe, ?

Graham

 

[TonyP]

Later in the day (Tuesday still) we found a nice place to stop

so Gary could have his birthday lunch

EISH.... Gary those legs need some sun man!!!

Nice pictures, looks like a great trip.

 

[AndyCook]

On to Friday, a nice little overgrown track we nearly missed so don't take any shortcuts Andy

umm - ive been rumbled... its that the section wp 369-372? village of Sant Marti Sesserres? a while after Montagut?
where the roadbook mentions risk of bushes scratching the paintwork?

great photos Gary - thanks

 

[Gav Peter]

Who's this, I think he's an imposter because his passport picture shows someone completely different

Not too Shrek-like in that one JW!!!

 

[Gav Peter]

Great pics Gaz Severe camera envy here

That was a snug fit through that alley after a slight misread on the map by...

I could hear some quite animated natterings coming from the balcony above by the time I spotted Eric through in last place

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I could hear some quite animated natterings coming from the balcony above by the time I spotted Eric through in last place

I guess they're not used to having V8's rumbling along under their balcony!

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

umm - ive been rumbled... its that the section wp 369-372? village of Sant Marti Sesserres? a while after Montagut?
where the roadbook mentions risk of bushes scratching the paintwork?

Yep, where it tells you to look at the church? Just after the church it goes to what's pictured but I didn't notice if it was actually scratchy.

 

[AndyCook]

yeah - there is a church on map
i will give it a go then!

 

[Gav Peter]

I guess they're not used to having V8's rumbling along under their balcony!

Definitely not!!! More the clip clop of el burro hooves

but I didn't notice if it was actually scratchy.

Yeah me neither - I was too busy avoiding the incoming brambles & other sharp pointy vegetation!!!

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

some of those ford crossings look long, did you spec them out first or just go for it!

On the longer one there was a route to the side with less risk. Up to the reeds we could see the bottom and then I just felt my way through the reed lined section before dropping Gav off for pics and reversing back through

Not sure i will spend 3 nights in Andorra though, looks more developed that i expected.
will prob have 2 non-driving days on the trip, to do some mountain biking, one on RB1 and another on RB2 - so if there were any nicer campsites worth stopping at for 2 nights let me know.

Andorra was just one long urban sprawl not the seperate towns shown on the map or so it seemed to me. Saturday night we stayed at a site south of Toulouse which very nice - le moulin, Sunday night we stayed at the municipal site in Llavorsi which wasn't great, Monday night was Andorra which was ok but not a quiet site, Tuesday we wild camped at 42 15.951, 1 34.863 and there was another single truck slightly more exposed but better views spot at 42 16.143, 1 35.168, Wednesday night was the camp site at 42 13.025, 1 50.185 which had a resterant and was quite nice till the shooting started in the morning, Thursday was Camping Montagut at 42 14.728, 2 35.963 which was a very nice site, Friday was a site in Collioure that Gav can tell you about but I got a nice sea view from my tent

 

[AndyCook]

thanks for camp info Jon - located the spots on maps on oziexplorer

for RB1 we will probably camp at
Arties
Sort
Castellbo-Buchaca

but will be flexible and maybe wild camp if we spot somewhere good

was the itinerary hard-going - too much time in vehicles or just right?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

was the itinerary hard-going - too much time in vehicles or just right?

You should be ok as a single vehicle but it's not like laning in the UK, most of the route is very long tracks not short tracks with lots of tarmac in between so slower going, with 5 it was hard work trying to keep the pace up so was constantly trying to move things along instead of being able to hurry up for some sections so we could take more time in the nice spots. That's the main thing I would address on another trip, I spent nearly as much time looking backwards waiting for the tail of the convoy as I did looking forwards or at the scenery.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Good question. It's important I think to remember that the needs of a 5-vehicle group are vastly different to that of a single (or 2) vehicle. So at times we were probably on the go too long which wouldn't happen if you were on your own. It was probably just right overall - we made camp fairly late quite often, but that was simply because we were pretty slow those days as a group. You shouldn't have that issue

If we'd run it as a 'you-drive, follow this roadbook' event it may have been different. Depends on how often you want to stop and smell the roses

 

[Gav Peter]

Thursday was Camping Montagut

This site gets a 10/10 straight out of the box Andy - the pool was gorgeous; well worth using this site. Most of the others that had pools that were empty...

Friday was a site in Collioure that Gav can tell you about but I got a nice sea view from my tent

My god... I've never known booking a pitch like it... Its seven oclock at night, all you want to do is get on a pitch & crack a cool one & the dopey site doesn't have a system telling you where there are free pitches available??? The cretin on reception wants us to go on a half hour hike to find a pitch & even then won't take our money til we've got a pitch number so we still have to hike back to reception when we're camped up to pay... The pool closed early so we couldn't use it... Gav was cross Not my fave site...

The 'Le Moulin' site was lovely - vay helpful site staff, great croissants in the morning

 

[AndyCook]

cheers guys - i had already looked up camping montagut on web, looks good, and the mrs will like the pool!

did you all have CB's for communication on the road?

hope we have time to look at the sights and chill, as well as enjoy the driving

 

[Gary Stockton]

Aah - CB's - another good question. Yes we did. Mine seemed to be hinky - I could hear everyone but no-one could hear me unless I was about 5m away which pretty much defeats the object. Suspect there's a prob with coax or mounting method - I decided nit to use the tried and proven mag mount, and didnt take it with as backup either :-(

We should start a list of what went wrong / broke:

Me - CB issues, and I'm pretty sure I have an injector rattle now. And I pulled one of my makeshift drawers apart - ratchet strap sorted that. CB issue was a total pain ... And my aircon packed up - for the 4th time. A pain at 29 degrees on the motorway - ok on the trails though

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

thanks for camp info Jon - located the spots on maps on oziexplorer

for RB1 we will probably camp at
Arties
Sort
Castellbo-Buchaca

but will be flexible and maybe wild camp if we spot somewhere good

Gav had a look at the site at Sort and rated it about the same as the municipal one we ended up in at Llavorsi. I don't think we could find the site at 42 26.976, 1 9.022 and the one at 42 30.158, 1 12.243 was closed but maybe it will be open by the time you get there.

 

[SpinDrift]

Here are some of our photos ...

country lanes in France

approaching the Pyrenees

getting closer ...

magnificant views

 

[SpinDrift]

a few more ...

tracks with steep drops

heading through the forest

passing through small villages

and more views

having fun

there were lots of these signs which caused people to wonder what 'caca' means ..... it is Spanish for 'hunting'.

 

[SpinDrift]

some more photos ...

forest tracks

high altitude wild camping. There was frost on the ground in the morning but the bears and wild boar left us alone.

just to do something different we also drove under some of the mountains

some tracks were very leafy

having more fun

heading north on a French motorway

and we drove past this on the way home

we will publish more photos in an album