Pyrenean Way (GR10) Links

Claude Azémard’s site Balades dans les Pyrénées is one of the most extensive websites on the Pyrenees.

Also in French, PyrénéesTeam.com has walking itineraries for all the classic summits.

The GR10 Trail - A Trekker’s Guidebook - a guide book in English.

The bi-monthly Pyrénées magazine is an immense source of information. There are two editions, one for each end of the range.

Guided walk on sections of the GR10 are available at Tour Adventure Trekking

The FFRP (French Rambler's Association) publish the definitive Guides to the GR10 (in French)

Traildino has an overview and pictures of the GR10 and many other trails.

from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean

• The official site of the Friends of the Chemin de St Jacques.
• The Pyrenean National Park has both English and French versions.
• For avalanches see Christophe Ancey (1998) Guide Neige et Avalanche Connaissances, Pratiques, & Sécurité (3rd electronic edn).
• The Official site of Saint-Lary-Soulan
• Although scathing of any other views, the pro-bear La buvette des Alpages contains much useful information.

Glaciers: Association Pyrénéenne de Glaciologie, Morain

• For a passionately anti-bear stance, see: V. Berot (2006) Pourquoi Nous Disons non à la Réintroduction de l’Ours dans les Pyrénées.

• The official gouvernment Bear Site gives details of the latest known positions of those re-introduced bears which still have working transmitters. However, it doesn’t release the data for at least a week after it has been collected. This is supposed to prevent disturbance by people keen to see the bears (or by hunters keen to kill them illegally). Unfortunately this also means that shepherds cannot use the information to protect their sheep, and that walkers and legitimate hunters who wish to avoid the areas are also kept in the dark.
• Sheep Walking Trails in the Pyrenees. Brad Kessler writes about the annual transhumance in the Ariège
• The Mines of the Biros valley
• The Parc naturel régional des Pyrénées Ariégeoises [Pyrenees in Ariège Natural Park] is in the process of being set-up.
• Olivier Cazes et Jean-Jacques Castella took over the Refuge at Mariailles in November 2008
• On the 23rd of June every year there is a bonfire at the summit of the Canigou at the eastern end of the mountains.

Books about the Pyrenees in English

• If You Only Walk Long Enough: Exploring the Pyrenees by Steve Cracknell. Published November 2008.
  It turned out to be a 1000km walk, taking in the Aneto, at 3404m the highest peak in the range. This is a book about the Pyrenees and much more. A cornucopia overflowing with cowgirls and shepherds, bears and vultures, rack railways and iron mines, the ghosts of soldiers and frenetic consumer worship… See also the pages on this site.

• Rob Mason and Emma Todd walked the path in the summer of 2002. They now live in Barèges, about half way along and organise walking holidays.
• Life in a Postcard: Escape to the French Pyrenees (2002) by Rosemary Bailey. Rosemary Bailey and her husband moved to the Pyrenees in 1998 to restore the monastery which became their home.
• The Man Who Married a Mountain: A Journey through the French Pyrenees (2005) by Rosemary Bailey. This is partly a biography of Count Henry Russell, one of the greatest Pyrenean explorers of the 19th century. As the title suggests, Russell was more than usually fond of a mountain, his Vignemale, writing: ‘The Vignemale is my wife and my seven caves are our children’. It is also partly an exploration of the Pyrenees themselves and the people who have shaped our conception of them: in search of the Sublime, the Picturesque and the Beautiful.
• Clear Waters Rising (1996) by Nicholas Crane. Starting from the Cap Finisterre in northern Spain, Nicholas Crane walked across every mountain range between there and the Black Sea, including the Pyrenees. In itself this was a remarkable achievement by a remarkable man, and his book does justice to it.
• Backpacks, Boots and Baguettes: A Walk in the Pyrenees (2005) by Simon Calder and Mick Webb. This is the “other” book about walking in the Pyrenees. Re-reading it recently, I was filled with nostalgia, reliving sore feet and sumptuous vistas. The two friends - a journalist and a TV & radio producer - walk, hitch-hike, bus and taxi their way from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Their busy lives oblige them to walk long stretches at a frenetic pace, habitually in fear of missing their evening meal, but enjoying themselves nevertheless (mostly). They don’t exactly follow the GR10, but it doesn’t matter: BBB is a backpack stuffed with anecdotes about walking and interesting tales about the mountains and the people who live there.
• Terry Cudbird has just completed a trek on foot around the circumference of France (including the Pyreneees) and is writing a book about it.

Picture galleries

• Peewiglet’s walk from Borce to Gavarnie on the High Level Route. This takes in some of the same ground as the GR10 and gives a good idea of the landscape.