Accous

June 8, 2014

Keeping a long-held promise

Today's ride satisfied a promise we made to each other 15 years ago when we passed through the Basque Pyrenees on an earlier bike trip. In planning that trip we came across a photo of Lescun. We knew we couldn't fit it into that tour, but we vowed to each other that if we ever came back to the region we would go there and see if it is as impossibly scenic as it looked in the photo. I've probably mapped out dozens of candidate tours over the years that included Lescun, and then wistfully shredded them; not yet, maybe next year.

Well, we've finally made it here, it really is impossibly scenic.

First though, we have to catch up a bit. The day began with an unusual sound outside our window - there's a marathon afoot, and a steady procession of runners and then joggers and then speed walkers and then the rest snakes its way through town. After a satisfying and filling breakfast at our hotel (the Astrolabe, by the way - great little place, very good value, very congenial hostess) we went back for a second look at the cathedral. After reading up on it last night, I wanted to look again at the portal and see if there really were salmon in it. There were, and they're huge! They don't come like that any more.

From Oloron we cycled gradually upriver through the Aspe valley the short distance to our hotel outside Accous, our base camp for two days, and dropped off most of our gear. We were glad of the luxury of riding with less weight as we trudged our way up the stiff 1300' climb to the village. The village itself is colorful enough, but the main thing is it's setting at the base of a great cirque rimmed by jagged peaks.

To appreciate the setting you have to get out and up a bit, so we locked up our bikes and set off on a loop walk to Le Belvedere, a viewpoint above the town. A thousand feet up, that is. The loop is actually a pretty short distance - perhaps 4 miles - but we spent about three hours at it, stopping seemingly every few yards to look around and soak in the wonderful views. It really is that scenic, and worth keeping the vision for the last 15 years. We are excited to have the whole day up here again tomorrow to hike off in a different direction, and grateful that we found clear skies here and can fully appreciate it all.

Net elevation gain: 3,000' today, 86,000' total.

Video clip, the climb into Lescun: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=73ED18EEC8BA7424!565&authkey=!ALz_6JUnJorNrzM&ithint=video%2c.mp4