P-O Life n°29 (11.8MB) - Anglophone-direct.com

Collioure and Canigou
The bluest blue I ever saw
Was sea surrounding Collioure
The whitest white you’ll ever view
Is snow-cloaked, sun-soaked Canigou
And from its peak along the shore
You’ll catch a glimpse of Collioure
The whitest white, the bluest blue
Collioure and Canigou
By Jon Benns
unusual to see the bright orange
rescue copters from Osseja doing
their low flying exercises.
At Estanyol, the stream that
feeds the source of the river Tet
comes down the slope from the
left but ahead the Porteille de
la Grave looms up at the head of
the Coma.
Cross the stream to the RH side
of the valley and start to climb the
final 700m distance and 130m of
height gain to the col, following
an ever steepening, rocky path.
Early in summer, banks of snow
tend to accumulate in this
east facing valley so take care.
The snow slopes can be avoided
by taking the rocky slope to
the right.
As you approach the col the
slope eases and a stunning view
explodes before you. Way below
is the Etang de Lanoux, subject
of a dispute between France and
Spain when, with the building of
the barrage, water was diverted
north to Toulouse, instead of
flowing into the Segre and into
Spain. Behind the Lanoux rise
the towering twin peaks of Puig
de Coma d’Or 2826m and Puig
Pedros 2842m, both involving
a scramble to the summit. The
western side of the col provides
a superb picnic site where you
can also watch the fully loaded
GR10 walkers, labour up the steep
slope from the W.
For the fitter walkers, it is a
simple but steep option to climb
the Puig de la Grava, 2671m.
We return by the same route
but the views are totally different
and the prospect of a cold beer at
the Auberge becomes more and
more appealing.
Mike Rhodes is an International Mountain Leader / Accompanateur de Montagne,
lives all year in Les Angles and specialises in guided walks in the high mountains and
Snowshoe trips in winter. He can be contacted on +33 (0)4 68 04 37 28
email: mike.rhodes@free.fr web site: www.pyrenean-trails.com
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