I Would Walk 500 Miles
Pete and Carol's GR10 Page
Welcome to our GR10 Blog
Mar 12th
Carol and Pete at Mount Cook
On 7th June 2010, we will be setting off on an exciting journey – to traverse the Pyrenees, walking from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. The 900km walk, including some 49,000m of ascent, will take us approximately 7 weeks. As well as having an epic adventure we hope to raise lots of money for Cancer Research in the process.
Being a professional photographer, Pete will not only be weighed down by the usual camping equipment but also by his camera equipment, in the hope of capturing some truly amazing landscapes. The person who donates the most on our JustGiving page will receive a free signed print!
You can follow our preparations and the joys and agonys of our adventure online here.
28 Days in
Jul 7th
Hi Folks,
Think this is only the 2nd time we’ve managed to get to the internet so I’m sorry if posts have been a little sparce. We have made it to a the small village of Seix, about midway through the Ariage. We were a bit worried about this section (days 24-38) as the ariage is a bit less populated an the guide books paint it in a similar light to Mordor! There is a small population of European Brown bear wandering around this area but we have yet to meet any. We managed to get our hands on the route guide for this bit too which is handy, people are quite surprised when they learn we don’t have a ‘proper’ map but to be honest the waymarking is really very good and we rarely go off path. There was a hurricane here in Feb and some of the route might be closed (or so we hear) due to felled trees, oh getting over these is a right laugh, especially carrying a 16kg sack, in the rain! So we thought a guide book might be prudent if we have to find a different route.
The weather has improved by some margin so it’s pretty sunny all day, which is nice as putting on the wet socks, trousers and boots everyday was starting to get us down. We are over one of the hardest days (Lucheon to Fos) which was a bit of an epic, at the end we had a km of steep, wet and slippery cobbled path to descend, with the odd downed tree for good measure, not what you need after 11 hours on the trail. Terms like “Another day on the Dix” (pronounced dees, french for 10, GR Dix) have been used quite excessively, my own favorite would be “There are no easy days on the Dix” which is now a well known fact. Our spirits are quite high now, especially after our 2nd rest day, the final 10 days to the coast look a little easier but we’ve said that before! There are lots to see and do providing you have the time and energy after the days walk, which we rarely do! I’m looking forward to getting back and posting some recent photos, I have taken to doing quite a few ‘quick’ panoramics when we sit down for 5 minutes at a pass (or col as we have come to call them).
Thanks for taking the time to read this and a big thanks to anyone who has donated to our just giving page. Hopefully we will get to post again soon, until then take care folks!
A 3rd of the Way there!
Jun 24th
Well after 16 days on the trail we have made it to Cauteret. We have covered over 300km a 16000m of ascent and have decided it is time for a rest. Cauteret seemed like an ideal place to stop seeing as it is decribed as a trekkers oasis (read has a launderette and a food shop open for more than 3 hours a day!) No seriously it is a lovely place.
The first 16days has been filled with many highs and lows – unfortunately we have had about 7 days of constant rain but weather has brightened up now so fingers crossed it will continue. Have dabbled in snow trekking over the high passes (hopefully not to be repeated – still feeling the knocks and bruises!) Now the weather has improved the scenery is amazing and lugging heavy bags up mountains all day doesn’t seem so bad. Plus the photo opps are improvingg with the weather, though we won’t be able to post them until we get back.
We’ve seen vultures, eagles, marmmots, red squirrels and loads of horses cows and sheep; Here’s hoping we avoid the bears in the days to come!
We’ve met some interesting characters along the way and look forward to meeting many ,ore.
New JustGiving Page
Apr 2nd
Our JustGiving page is now up and running.
Give generously for Cancer Research and you could be the lucky recipient of an original Pete Barnes Pyrenean landscape!
3 Peaks Training Walk
Mar 12th
Completed our first training walk last weekend. 6.30 am start at Horton in Ribblesdale. We had fabulous weather – although it was so cold to start with our water started turning to ice! Snow and ice on the peaks made it quite tough going, as did our little photo project – we stopped every minute or so to take a picture of each other to show the changing landscape along the walk. The results worked out quite well – take a look for yourself below. The only section we didn’t manage to capture was the final part of the Ingleborough ascent – the steps had turned into an ice cliff so all our care and attention was required to climb safely in the absence of crampons and an ice axe. And the less said about losing the path in the pitch black and ending up at a scary deserted farm the better!
