9 Août

9 Août
Sorgeat a Col de Palomère
About 125 km via
Col de Pailhères, 2001 m
Col de Moulis, 1099 m
Col de Garavel, 1256 m
Col de Jau, 1506 m
Col de Palomère, 1036 m
Total ascent: 3345 m
What a grand day out of the high Pyrénées! A bang, not a whimper. Woke to a blue sky with puffs of cloud whisking from the west to east. A cool, sometimes downright cold, wind urged me along all through the day. Was practically pushed up Col de Pailhères, where I sheltered behind a shepard's hut with a physics professor from the university in Toulouse and his three young companions. He rides up from Mijanès every year. I saw why as I traded in my potential energy for a LOT of kinetic energy. It has got to be the most serpentine climb in the entire range, beautifully paved, well loved by Le Tour, and well populated by cyclists. I counted more than 50 climbers during my descent.
I soon passed into much quieter, more remote country. The sheep owned the road. Rugged and much drier. Many narrow gorges and tall, forlorn pics.
Once over Col de Jau, it felt as though I had entered a different world. The massive Pic du Canigou dominates her surroundings like a queen directing her minions. It seems that one cannot escape her regal gaze, nor would one wish to.
She followed my progress down the gorges of La Castellana on the sculpted highway until I reached Prades.
Skipping quickly through Prades and heading up the shadowy canyon of the Lentilla, I had hoped to find lodging or camping in either Baillestavy or Valmanya, but struck out comlpletely. So much for flying by the seat of my pants! Therefore, seeing as it was my last night in the mountains, I used my
lack of planning as a justification for doing some "camping sauvage." At the summit of the col, I followed a side road leading further up. Quite steeply up. Finding a somewhat flat spot with a panoramic view of Perpignan and environs, I set up my tent where it did minimal damage to the vegetation and let the wind whistle me to sleep.