Travelling on foot
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Note: you can read a bit about the planning stages. That was fun.

For those of you non-Euro people, let me introduce you to the Pyrenean massive. You most probably know of the Alps. Everything "Alpine" comes from those mountains in the middle of Euroland where recreational mountaneering had its early developments.

The Pyrenees probably stand as the Alps' little brothers (or should it be "sisters"? I'm confused here...). Not as high, not as wide, not that much in the middle of urban Europe but still high, rugged and, in a way, still wild (I'll get to this later). The Pyrenees are usually the destination of choice for those visitors who want to try something different from the Alps, who are tired of the overcrowded, overurbanised world of the Alps or who simply want to backpack without having to worry about crossing glaciers.

Location: east to west along that tiny (in the atlas, at least) isthmus between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of the continent, sprawling from Atlantic to Mediterranean along around 300 km. as the crow flies. It doesn't sound as that big a range but, hey, Europe is small. That's big enough for us.

A word of caution: there's no real wilderness in the Pyrenees (actually, there's probably no real wilderness anywhere in western Europe safe for the arctic regions). No matter how wild and rugged it looks, civilization is never too far. There's bound to be a village down on the valley below and stuffed huts dot the landscape. There are trails everywhere so bushwalking is usually not needed and during a lengthwise traverse such as the HRP, you're bound to cross a road every single day and you're hardly ever more than a few hours walk far from one.

First views of the central Pyrenees from the col de Peyreget

You can find solitude but not on the popular trails or routes (which the HRP mostly follows) not at least during the high season. Most of the hikers you'll meet on the trail will be out there for the day, even in the most remote areas. This is definitely not the place for the ultimate wilderness experience and anyone who looks for that will probably be deceived.

All that said, this mountains are a terrific place for backpacking. The scenery is fantastic and there's the added value of the cultural experience in the rural areas where life still resembles that of centuries ago. Not in the touristy spots, of course. I'd sat avoid those.

Background - The HRP

The HRP is The Pyrenean High Route. HRP stands for Haute Randonnée Pyrenéenne and the name is clear evidence of its french origin. It was Georges Veron, a french guy I don't know much about but obviously a lover of the Pyrenees who knows them well, who had this idea of an alternative way of traversing the range along its length.

So "alternative" to what? There are two established routes for travelling along the Pyerenees: the GR10 on the french (northern) side and the GR11 on the spanish (southern) side. These are over well worn paths and are consistently waymarked. They visit the valleys (and the villages in the valleys) on a regular basis and are easily trekked village to village. The wildest place you had to spend the night in (unless you choose otherwise) would be a stuffed mountain hut. They're both beautiful routes where you can have a taste of the local culture (which includes gastronomy) together with your mountain backpacking experience but they probably lack that wilderness feeling you can only get when you're on your own (and you have no option but being on your own) for a more or less extended period in the mountains. So came the idea of a route along the deepest of the range.

The idea itself was probably nothing new but it needed a deep knowledge of the massive to become a reality and it was this Georges Veron who put it in a guide book that became the HRP itself. That is, the HRP has basically no existance in the ground or anywhere but in the guide books that describe it. There's at the moment another author's effort in the bookstores, that of dutchman Ton Joosten, originally published in dutch and later translated into english. As far as I know and at the time of writing (2005), Veron's book can only be found in its original french version.

The HRP is not an off-trail route though. It goes mainly over existing trails (and quite often over the waymarked GRs 10 and 11) or mountaneering routes when in the highest reaches, where there's nothing we could call a trail.

Some pyrenean wonders: the Barroude wall and lakes

The Pyrenees stretch between Atlantic and Mediterranean. While the mountains create quite a weather of their own, the influence of the two seas clearly shows. The western Pyrenees are wetter and greener and since the atlantic weather systems usually approach from the northwest, the northern side is also damper than the south.
The vegetation also reflects these different climatic zones. In the lower, wetter areas beech trees create the most beautiful forests. In higher ground or where the weather is drier, pine trees are found. And I don’t mean the pine forests are any bad looking but beech trees create that magic atmosphere. Tree line is a faint concept here. Human activity has so much modified the landscape that's difficult to say where the trees have their limit and the distribution is quite random. Too frequently, valley bottoms have been devoid of trees to make room for pastures so forests are most usually found on the slopes. In the eastern half of the range, it's nor rare to find trees well over 2000 m. while the tree line lowers towards the west where the weather is more severe.

In the HRP, you won't be walking in the forest for long. Either because you're above tree line, whatever that means in terms of actual height or because the forest has long disappeared from where it once was. This means wide panoramas of unobstructed vistas but it also means nowhere to hide from the sun or the bad weather. You won't be camping under forest canopy many times.

Hiking the HRP

Let's see some insight on the Pyrenean High Route:

The trails

And I mean that 's' as the HRP is not a trail but an idea built over existing trails. You'll find any kind of terrain. Every kind. From well groomed trails (not to mention long stretches over dirt or even occasional tarmac roads) to off-trail mountaineering routes. You'll find any kind of markings: from paint stripes, dots or other shapes in varied colours to rock cairns to nothing at all.
In general, the route follows established trails and these are usually good, easy to follow but not necessarily well-graded, some are steep! When in the really high country, you'll be in a rock world where trails just don't exist but there'll usually be a row of cairns to guide you... or to misguide you! so pay attention, routes criss-cross, the same as trails in the lower areas. Some trails are not that good usually not due to lack of maintenance but to the poor design of the trail. These are found in less travelled areas. They’re harder to follow in every sense and in comparison with the good trails but they’re not a big problem if you manage to mentally adapt.

The terrain

You'll be going up and down valleys and rigdes for virtually the whole way so be prepared for some huge elevation gain and loss. Well over a 1000 m. (3000 ft.) climbs are usual. Passes will be well over 2000 m. (6000 ft.) for a good part of the route and even quite close to 3000 m. (9000 ft.) in the highest sections. A couple of 3000+ m. peaks are easily accessible in a short time from a pass along the route.

The weather

It will be generally good in summer with nicely warm days and cool nights and early mornings. A typical good weather day in the central Pyrenees while hiking around the 2000 m. area may get to the mid twenties C (mid eighties F) during the day, 5 – 10 C (40 – 50 F) at dawn. Usually warmer in the valleys. Mid day temps down in a valley can typically get a bit too warm but nothing serious.
It is warmer towards both ends of the range, particularly in the east end due to the lower elevations and the Mediterranean influence in the latter case. It may get uncomfortably warm near the eastern end and the high humidity may make hiking near the western end quite a sweaty experience.
Thunderstorms are common following the usual pattern that leads to them in the mountains. The more to the east the higher probability of them happening.
Bad weather systems are not the norm during summer but they do happen. They usually approach from the northwest bringing damp air, clouds, rain and cold temps to the mountains. If this is the case, northern slopes are the most affected. Sometimes, if the weather system is not powerful, the sun may be shining in the southern side while rain falls on the other but usually you’d have to travel south further from the mountains to find blue skies. Bad weather systems usually stay for one day or two during summer. Their effect is more notorious in the western Pyrenees where low clouds jam against the mountains forming the much dreaded fog. No doubt why this area is so green.

Route finding

People have been known to traverse the HRP with a 1:200.000 map of the whole range but I’m a map junkie and I love my 1:25.000 topos. I had to fight hard against myself to force me to take mostly the 1:50.000 series, leaving the most detailed only for the potentially tricky sections.
Route finding should not be difficult in good visibility conditions. Some sections can be travelled in poor visibility without problems, wherever the trail is clear enough, but constant attention is needed as there’s usually not a single trail or waymarking to follow: where the trails are good there usually are several trails with plenty of junctions.
There are many other sections I wouldn’t like to hike in dense fog but I won’t say it can’t be done. If low visibility is set before you get to a high section with basically no trail (a common happening in the higher areas) it’s probably better to wait the weather.
In the Pyrenees, geographic and magnetic north are quite in line: declinations usually vary between 1 to 3 degrees depending on the particular map.
Gps sets work ok and as stated in previous comments, tree cover shouldn’t be a problem and there’s usually a good view of the sky.
The abundance of trails may be a problem sometimes, particularly in the more inhabited east and west ends of the route. Many of those trails will not even be recreational ones but rural paths in use by cattle, shepherds or even vehicles in the case of dirt roads. Don’t just assume it’ll be easy and take care of choosing the right one. Don’t hesitate to take a second look if in doubt, it may save you some hassle.

Potential difficulties

I tend to think everything looks good and easy when the weather is good. That’s how I feel for the HRP too. The potentially trickier sections were easy for me in good weather while other much easier parts turned out treacherous because of the bad weather. This feels particularly appropriate for a route like the HRP that usually traverses quite exposed terrain so the effects of a bad weather spell may be sensible.
That said, there are a few spots were a word of caution is in order: snowfields, extremely steep terrain or both things combined.
Snowfields may be found in several locations depending on the season but in late summer usually only a few will remain. Only one of them is really worth mentioning: that one in the eastern side of the Col Inferieur de Literole. Despite the name (and I hope you can make out the French here), it’s actually the highest point of the whole traverse but it’s not actually that fact that’s important but the permanent snowfield on its eastern slope. It’s a very steep one and hopefully you’ll find no snow on the very first steps down from the saddle, which are the steepest. Then it’s probably around 35º for a short while, it eases later. In good weather, the snow should be soft enough not to be a problem but in cold weather it’ll most probably be hard enough to make it scary or even downright dangerous if you’re not carrying at least an ice axe.
The steepest terrain will be found in the eastern side of the Col de Mulleres. You’ll definitely have to use your hands here. It’s quite vertical and it may look scary for those not into rock climbing but it’s actually quite easy if you keep calm and proceed with care. The holds for both hands and feet are safe and abundant. This is a place though where you’d wish your pack is a lightweight one.
Bushwalking is not an issue. I only had to do it once and it was my fault.

Ressupply

Civilization is almost always at hand but that doesn’t necessarily mean an easy ressupply. Many of the villages along the route are very small and don’t have any kind of shop. You can have meals mostly any time of the day in the stuffed huts but buying food there can be trickier. I’m sure they’ll sell you something but these are not places for a full ressupply. Marginally you can find shepherds’ huts where you can buy home made cheese (yum!)
Five days is the longest I had to walk between ressupply points. Then, I was hiking faster than average. Then, too, I was avoiding anything not directly on route and avoiding also the stuffed huts.
If hitching a ride down a road is acceptable, there’ll always be a good size village with shops not too far and there are roads to hitch rides quite often, almost on a daily basis… but I guess hitching rides on a daily basis is not the idea one has of backpacking. If ressupplying strictly from en-route sources (but taking advantage of any of them), be ready for carrying a few days worth of food, two to three, I’d say. You may adjust for the kind of food (i.e., carrying mostly breakfast and dinner but not lunch if you plan on taking it in stuffed huts).
Mail delivery is a good option for freeze-dried stuff and other oddities you won’t find en-route. I’ve used it successfully. Just beware of weekends, post offices will be closed after saturday afternoon until monday. Some post offices in small villages may only be open in the morning.
For mailing supplies to yourself, just state “Poste Restante” after your name plus the office’s address in France or “Lista de Correo” instead for Spanish post. Getting your parcels delivered and kept for you at your planned accommodation while in town is also an option and it depends on your asking nicely and on the particular accommodation.

Maps

I love maps so I may be biased here but I personally feel the 1:50.000 maps are quite a poor representation of the complicated terrain that’s found in the mountains. But it’d probably be a bad deal to carry 1:25.000 maps for such a long traverse so I chose to carry these only for the potentially more problematic areas.
There’s no HRP map set available commercially so one has to dig in the map shops. To complicate things further, the HRP goes back and forth between Spain and France and, for a short while, also Andorra and many maps (typically, those made by governmental institutions) just stop at the borders showing a blank space beyond.
French IGN (Institute Geographique National) maps are popular beyond France (at least, in Spain) so I had access to the best of both worlds: the top quality French maps and all the Spanish ones.
The French maps come in 1:25.000 and 1:50.000 series and cover the whole territory. They don’t stop at the borders but just show a narrow strip of less detailed quality beyond them so they’re mostly useless for non French land. They’re excellent maps but I don’t particularly like them because of the information overload that makes reading the topography quite a torture but you can be sure they’re accurate.
Spanish IGN (same acronym!) maps are very good too but I’m afraid they’ll be difficult to get out of Spain. They can be tricky to get even in Spain because these maps have no commercial or recreational focus so you won’t find them in the souvenir shop. I like these much better than the French ones because the presentation is much simpler and clearer but that’s just me. They cover strictly Spanish territory and they’re focused on the topography and they’re excellent at that… but no focus on trails. Most trails are missing or not accurately depicted. This may not be a problem at all if you have a guide book that draws the route for you. The 1:50.000 series have basically the same problems (availability, non-recreational) amplified by the fact that it’s not the IGN who publishes them but the army. Lately, the IGN has started publishing a 1:50.000 series I quite like but not the whole lot is available yet.
Then, there’s the recreational maps. These focus on trails, routes or anything recreational. Their topographical quality (both representation and accuracy) varies but tends to be lacking. Some of them are actually quite poor. They’re typically available in 1:50.000, 1:40.000 or 1:25.000 scales depending on the area.
Finally, there’s this odd 1:50.000 series by the ICC (Instituto Geográfico de Catalunya). Odd because they’re published by Rando Editions, same publishers than that for the French 1:50.000 series and actually numbered after those but these are not made by the French IGN. These ones are interesting because they’re specific for the Pyrenees, have a recreational focus and are trans-national across France, Spain and Andorra so they’re almost perfect for the task. They cover most of the eastern half of the HRP and even have the actual HRP marked on them (not always corresponding to the description I was following though; see below under “Guidebooks”). However, I don’t like the representation, too colourist and choked full of symbols and drawings that hide the topography. I really prefer plain simple contour lines so that the interpretation is left to me rather than “helped” by the representation.

Guidebooks

Two of them currently available as far as I know: George Veron’s is in French. Dutchman Ton Joosten’s has been translated into English from the original Dutch. The route differs slightly but I just know Joosten’s so I can’t say how different both routes are. I met several hikers following Veron’s book so I’d say both routes are very similar.
I only had the opportunity to take a look at Veron’s book, it looked nice and well organized. I can say nothing but good things about Joosten’s, it’s a very good book, accurate, informative, very well written and organized. I like how Joosten seems to love the place and makes precise recommendations beyond the basics like subjective views on where there’s the nicest camp spot or where not to spend your time.

Equipment

I can’t think of anything specific for this route other than what is already commented in the following sections. Just a few additional comments:
I used pressurized gas for cooking. One mid size canister and my policy of fuel saving and I had more than enough for the whole traverse. Alcohol can be a good option as it may be easy to find but I don’t know for sure. Pressurized gas is most probably not that easy to find on route.

Camping

As I've already said, civilization is never too far. That means, among other things, you could even avoid taking any shelter with you and sleep under cover every night even if that means stretching the days' hiking a bit... but you'd be losing a great part of the experience. I wouldn't recomend that and I don't think many people actually does that on the HRP. May be in the waymarked GRs but not on the High Route. So let's assume you'll be camping along.
Sleeping out in the Pyrenees can be a fantastic experience on its own. You'll be passing along such wonderful landscapes you'll wish you could spend the night in so many places you just traversed. A perfect meadow sided by a meandering stream, that's the average fine camping spot on these mountains. Out of the first (and last) three of four days, not many oportunities for camping in the forest though. This is good and bad news. You'll have all the views for you most of the nights but you won't have the shelter the forest offers. Even down on the valleys you may find nothing but meadows. Getting off-trail looking for lower ground may not be a solution to this either and many times the forest will only be present where the land is in a steep slope (and not by chance... that's actually the reason it remained).
What this means is you'll be quite exposed to the elements. Not a problem when the weather is good, which is usually the case in summer but you can be sure during such a long traverse as the HRP you'll have to face some not so ideal conditions.
You'll need a weather worthy shelter. This does not necessarily mean a full-on mountaineering tent though. As usually, experience is the key. It's perfectly possible to get by with a simple tarp if you know how to deal with it in alpine terrain and make it weather worthy.
Many people opt for a lightweight shelter by keeping the option of resorting to huts or even villages if the weather turns foul. Even if you have full faith in your shelter and your ability to use it well, the temptation can be strong when the winds howl and the next on-trail hut is just half an hour away but, again, you'd be loosing lots of brawny points if you do that.

Ultralighting the HRP

You can get ridiculously lightweight in the HRP by making use of en-route facilities (villages, stuffed and unstuffed huts...) but I won't discuss that here, not my way. The regular UL approach to unsupported hiking works perfectly well for the conditions one can expect in the Pyrenees in summer. Shelter may be a simple tarp with tie-out loops: beware finding vertical support can be tricky if you don’t carry your own (hiking poles) as trees won’t usually be at hand. Night time temperatures won’t go too far below freezing so a lightweight sleeping bag is ok: 5 cm. (2 in.) of loft plus some clothes for the coldest nights should be enough. Lightweight shoes are perfectly ok as long as they have good traction as you’ll have to use them on rocks big time. There’s no need to bushwalk as long as you stay on route so packs and garments built of lightweight materials are ok.

Note: This doesn't end here. I'll be adding more things as I have time. There's so much to tell, so little time...