HRP 22: Refuge de la Porteille Rojta to Refuge de Batere - Canigou did not give me the view...

Really short today – it’s already 11pm. Two hours past hiker’s midnight!

Got up at 2.400m this morning and it looked clear again.

But when I started hiking again and the sun gained power to heat the system again it looked more like this. I walked on the high plateau for a few hours in the changing game of viel and clouds. But not too bad at all:

Then I had to drop down to the Refuge de Mariailles at 1710m. From here it was supposed to be 4h to the top of Canigou – the last real climb and mountain on the tour with the chance to see the sea already. But when I got an update from the guardian he said rain and possible thunderstorms from 3pm on. It was 12.15pm already. I looked at him and he said if I was really fast I could do it in 3 or maybe 2.5h – but then I should leave and run now! And that’s what I did. I really didn’t want to skip the last mountain…

The clouds came up the valley pretty fast and kept pushing me even more. My shirt – as so often – was soaked again and I had to wring it out a few times to stop the dripping.

Last little bit was a straight chimney.

After 2:10 I was on the top. No chance to be faster with my pack on the back. I gave everything but when I got on the top…

The clouds were faster than me – maybe 10 minutes. So no view for me. But I tried! And they even put a sign up for me 🤣

I wanted to get down from the top as quickly as possible. A possible thunderstorm up here wouldn’t be fun at all. So I ran down the other side again into the mist.

Since I didn’t see much I had more time to concentrate on the little things. Beautifully designed markers on this trail today:

A short coffee and cake in the misty Refuge des Cortalets.

And another 15km traversing through the forest to the Refuge de Batère at 1500m.

It cleared up a bit and the hike was pretty ok. Since I didn’t see much I could concentrate on my steps. Took me longer than expected though. I only arrived at 8.30pm and had to look into the next days a bit more detailed. It’s only two more days to Banyuls-sur-Mer… 😳