During the night there was a dry thunderstorm with lightning. I experienced some of the strongest winds I’d ever felt while camping. One gust was so powerful that it snapped the end of my hiking pole and my tent collapsed!

I spent half of the night sleeping under a collapsed tent, because the winds were too strong for me to go outside and try to repitch it. Around 4 or 5 am a period of calmness arrived so I hacked together a new way to prop up my tent despite the broken pole. Finally I could get some proper sleep.Luckily today was a short day, and I had booked a stay inside Refuge de Pombie. The reservation included dinner, which I was pretty excited about. I began the day’s trek with a short climb to a col, which offered a great view of the famous Pic du Midi d’Ossau. This col was also the border and I reentered France soon after.Continuing the descent into some clouds, I met a Scottish family while trying to navigate in poor visibility. When I found the trail it was time to ascend again.Halfway up to Col de Peyreget, I caught up to Camille, who had stayed at Refuge Ayous the previous night! She was with Jacques, a section hiker whom I’d also met previously.The three of us continued the climb to the col, crossing a section of large boulders.At the col we stopped to have lunch. Since we could already see the refuge from here, we were in no rush.

Not interested in descending down into more clouds, Camille and I stopped to chill at a lake. I went for a swim and tried to read a french book I picked up a few days ago.

The final descent to Pombie took us into the mist, which would linger for the rest of the day and night. the refuge was small, but dinner was great and the company was interesting. I met one Hungarian guy who was trying to complete the HRP in 25 days.

The misty weather would continue into tomorrow, but at least I could sleep under a roof tonight!

Ibon de Escalar to Refuge de Pombie - 9.2km and 728m gained.