A day of highs and lows! We were warned of bad weather and possible rain last night so this morning we left early at 7 am. Staying in refuges in this part of the pyrenees usually means a morning descent instead of a climb.We came down to a road, where I saw a sign for cheese. Since I had not had breakfast yet I was easily tempted. I convinced my friends to stop here for a bit while I went to buy some.When we knocked on his door, the shepherd was still wrangling some sheep so he told us to wait. Before long we were all invited to his table, given a cheese tasting, and served some extra treats for stopping by! Continuing on, we climbed into a valley where the weather began to deteriorate. In between bouts of rain and fog, we caught glimpses of beautiful blue lakes.Some time later, we stopped to have lunch by the closed refuge d’Arrémoulit.The next part was a tricky section of boulder fields and navigating two Cols. We followed cairns up to the Col du Palas, and then traversed the steep rocky hillside to Port du Lavedan.This was the highest elevation of my trip so far, and also the biggest gain in a day–perhaps why the ensuing descent felt more grueling than previous days.I made it down to Larribet around 5pm and pitched my tent in a field below the refuge. Dinner at the refuge was another 3 course meal, and Jacques kindly treated us with a bottle of wine. It had been a long day, but a good one!

Refuge de Pombie to Refuge de Larribet - 19.21km and 1601m gained.