I was so tired today.

In the morning I got a pastry and a curry chicken suedois from the bakery Fournil de Louise in L’Hospitalet. There I met a talkative Dutch guy who was beginning his HRP westbound trek today, having just gotten off the train. I wish I had his energy as I climbed out of town on the steep forested hillside.I went so slowly that many families passed me. Even after I stopped to eat my lunch early, I still felt sluggish. The fact that I could constantly hear the cars on the road down in the Ariège valley reminded me that I wasn’t making a lot of progress.

Eventually I felt so exhausted and sleepy that I laid down on a large flat rock to take a nap. It was not my day, but at least I wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere.

Around noon I woke up and continued to the climb, still feeling slow.Finally after 5 hours I made it to the Refuge des Besines, situated above a narrow lake. I was going to get a coffee, but fearing the eventual crash I opted for an omelette instead. This helped a bit on the next part of the climb.

Two Belgians and a Hungarian guy arrived as I was finishing my food. Since their english was better then their french, we got along. I left before them to continue climbing to the col.

I had some more energy now, and the trail followed the GR 10 so it was pretty easy. I still went super slowly on the steep parts.As I dropped down to the valley with the gigantic Lac de Lanoux, I considered my options for tomorrow. Climbing Pic de Carlit was an option, but I felt so tired today that it didn’t feel good to attempt it, as epic as it looked from the col.

After I passed a shepherd herding his flock, I reached a small cabin where a some hikers, all French, had set up camp. I asked them where they had gotten water, and they directed me to a trickling stream. I sat for a while next to a group of horses and did some route planning on my phone.

After some time, I decided on a plan. I would not do Carlit the next day, and instead take the GR 10 over a small col.This final climb felt okay, maybe because it wasn’t so hot. I played music from my phone as the sun passed in and out of clouds.After the col, I entered a new valley. As usual, horses were present near the top, but as I descended further, cows replaced them.At a marshy plateau, I saw some families with tents set up along a network of streams. I found a nice peninsula nearby to pitch my own tent. There was water on three sides like a moat so hopefully no cows could disturb me at night.

As the sun set, I cooked dinner. It was a long day, but it was ending on a good note! I felt progressively better during the last few kms of the hike.

L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre to Valleé de la Grave - 19.37km and 1405m gained