Today I teamed up with Thivo and Jade to tackle the two highest and most technical cols on the HRP. We got an early start from Refuge Portillon at 7am.The ascent to the first col was covered in a layer of fresh snow from the day before, so we had to be careful navigating the icy terrain. In about an hour and a half we made it to the top.A steep descent lay ahead. We traversed a short but crumbly ridge and found a way down the loose hillside. This was the hardest col for me so far, with a couple exposed moves near the top.After the technical part ended, we continued down the slabs following cairns until we reached the Remune canyon. Hearing greetings of “hola” from hikers coming up reminded us that we had crossed into Spain.

When we had descended about 1400m, we reached a touristy meadow known as Hospital de Benasque. Suddenly we saw a hotel, restaurant, and a huge crowd of people.

Our day was not over, however. After eating a big meal of tortilla and patatas bravas we decided to try and climb the Tuc de Molières, another 1400m up.The climb itself was not difficult, but my legs were already tired from this morning. As we got higher, the people thinned out and the views became grand. Through the clouds we caught a brief glimpse of Aneto, the tallest peak in the Pyrenees.The final 100m of the climb ascended to the top of Tuc de Molières, and here we reached the highest point of the HRP!A traverse to the notch brought us to the technical part of the Col, which was really not that hard. There were four or five moves down a steep section of rock, which felt way more solid than the Col de Literola earlier this morning.The sun set as we finished the last 600m of descent down to the Refugi Mulleres. It was Saturday and this cabane was full, so we found a nice bivy spot a bit further down the trail. We quickly made dinner and went to sleep, exhausted from the day’s activities. It had been my longest day so far, 13 hours total and 12 hrs of walking!Refuge Portillon to Refugi Mulleres - 27.15km and 1930m gained, 2111m descended.