hiking

Randy’s last bucket list item before leaving Saint Drézéry was to hike Pic Saint Loup. This limestone mountain became a terrain lighthouse for us. Every trip we took we looked for the Pic to give us an estimate of time remaining until we reached home. Below are pictures containing the Pic throughout the year.

Our favorite castle ruins stood adjacent to the Pic. The wine we enjoyed was grown in the Pic Saint Loup region as well. Researching the Pic brought me to the history of its name. “Three vaillant knights, Guiral, Clair and Thieri Loup were in love with the beautiful Bertrade; the one that would marry her was to be designated as the bravest after the saint war. All three came back with high feats, but unfortunately the beautiful Bertrade had died meantime. Feeling hopeless, they all retired to a mountain. Guiral went to mont Saint-Guiral (near Aigoual), Clair to mont Saint-Clair (near Sète), and Loup to Pic Saint-Loup. Each year, on March 19th they lit a fire on top to celebrate her. Saint-Loup is the one of the three that lived the longest.”

Randy and Cody ventured off on their own one morning. The pictures he sent back had familiar vegetation and backdrops. The guys enjoyed their hike.

Pyrenees Hike with Blantons

Rise and shine with eggs, sausage, fruit, pastries and cousins!

Today’s adventure started in the small village of Gavarnie….We walked along a babbling brook for quite a while.

Each stone bridge we crossed was a passageway to further natural beauty.

We stopped for lunch upon this amazing rock with perfect areas for sitting.

Cirque-de-Gavarnie was absolutely breathtaking. Snow was still present. As we sat and admired God’s creation we heard snow falling as it was being melted by the sun’s warmth. Hearing mini avalanches caused a little panic with our younger crowd. It was fascinating to hear and see the mounds of snow fall. With each landing snow powder sprayed into the sunlight.

Glacier sledding anyone? Ok, so not a glacier but still fun and different.

A higher view gave us dry ground to rest upon without other spectators.

I am famous for taking us on different routes to see different views. Sometimes this works in my favor, other times I may have ended up in a French hospital on a Saturday night. This notion must run in the family because Jan mentioned taking a different route to the car.

Game on! We hiked and hiked until we could not hike anymore safely. Ike and Randy scouted it out and concluded we should not continue on the shady, icy, narrow, cliff path covered in snow. We concurred and retreated safely without injuries. Aunt Jan and Mazie even rolled down a green hill together.

On our way out Keeler looked back and noticed a new waterfall. We sat and watched the seasonal birth of a waterfall from ice to falling water. We were all mesmerized.