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Monday October 9, 33.3km/20.7mi

1mi South of Murray’s Lake Trailhead (37.4mi/8580ft) to East Rim Overlook (58.1mi/8860ft) (AZ)

I watched the sunrise from my tent, while I ate breakfast.

The morning was a little chilly, maybe 45ºF but there was no wind so it wasn’t bad. As I was taking down my tent I noticed a nice orange glow over the forest.

By 6:45 we had hiked out of camp, and into the morning sunlight.

The trail meandered through an old burn area for a few miles, which gave us pretty expansive views.

Eventually the forest returned, and I could hear squirrels running all over the place, probably gathering the last of their nuts before winter.

There were a couple of small dirt road crossings, which always had these trail signs. This trail is so well marked.

I walked along and enjoyed my last honeycrisp apple, which I had packed from an orchard back in NY. Yum.

At one spot we had a very long view to the east, and down into a canyon. We are too far north for the Grand canyon so I think that might be Paria canyon?

TopShelf in the lead.

For much of the day the trail paralleled the access road to the park. Usually we couldn’t see the road but we could always hear it.

The Aspens were reminding us that at this elevation, Autumn is almost over.

We stopped and got water at a pond, and pretty much right after, the clouds moved in and it started to rain a little bit.

Twenty minutes later it stopped raining and we entered a windy little valley.

We could see the trail for like the next mile ahead!

All afternoon the trail alternated between forest and open fields, which made for some pretty amazing views.

We had decided to camp at the East Rim Overlook, where there is a view thousands of feet down to the beginning of the Grand canyon. We arrived to the spot at 5:30, and by the time we set up our tents it was starting to get a little dark already. But the view was still really good!

The area is also legally protected as a Wilderness. Cool.

Amazingly, there was even a little picnic table nearby, so we made dinner there and enjoyed the comforts of civilization.

As soon as the sun went down it got pretty cold, so we did not linger at the table. I finished up dinner and went back to my tent, where it was a little warmer and less windy in the trees. I read my book for an hour and relaxed, it was a pretty easy day but I still fell asleep by 8pm.

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Sunday October 8, 34.0km/21.1mi

Navajo Trail Jct (16.3mi/6740ft) to 1mi South of Murray’s Lake Trailhead (37.4mi/8580ft) (AZ)

We woke up before sunrise (around 6:30am here), after a nice cozy night under the juniper trees. The sun rose just after we left camp, and there was an amazing view across the desert meadows.

It was an enjoyable morning, and despite it being a cold night, everything was dry, even the tall grass.

This section of trail had some special trail markers, showing the Kaibab squirrel. I hope to see one of these unique critters in the next few days.

After a couple of hours of gradual uphill hiking, we took a nice break at our first water source for the day, at a guzzler.

This one had really cold water, and it was actually pretty clear. The day was starting to warm up, which was perfect timing as the trail soon entered a ponderosa pine forest.

I hiked along, daydreaming, and lost the trail when it split off from a dirt road. Oops. I quickly backtracked the half-mile, and now TopShelf was way ahead of me. I tried to catch up, and made slow progress toward that goal. After awhile, I lost sight and asked a hiker who was headed the opposite direction if they had seen anyone ahead of me…nope. So I hiked to the next major landmark at a highway crossing, and waited there. I waited 10 minutes, and we reunited there, and then had lunch. It started to rain and thunderstorm, but luckily there was a bathroom building where we could sit under the roof. The storm passed after 30 minutes and then we returned to the trail.

There was another gradual uphill climb in the afternoon, following an old two track road.

We hiked side by side, chatting about various trail things, and then we noticed a group of deer.

It’s so cool to see this trail again in the autumn when the Aspens are changing color.

When I was here in the spring the trees were just starting to bud. After a couple hours of gradual uphill, we stopped at another water source which was a large tank.

The cover was a little hard to remove but once it was off, it was unlimited cold clean water. We took a nice long break there and then decided to continue on another four miles to camp. The Aspens continued to show off their colors all afternoon.

We passed by Murray Lake Trailhead which was a nice place to take a break. It was 5pm but we decided to hike only another mile since it gets dark at 6pm. For this last part of the day we exited the forest and followed along a small highway that leads to the North Rim.

The terrain was very sloping and also very open, so it seemed like it might be difficult to find a good camping spot. But pretty soon we found a tiny ponderosa forest, and setup our tents under the trees.

It was a good second day, and I feel like I’m starting to get back into the rhythm of things.

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Saturday October 7, 26.2km/16.3mi

Stateline Trailhead (0.0mi/4990ft) to Navajo Trail Jct (16.3mi/6740ft) (AZ)

After spending the night at the house of trail angels Deena & Steve, she drove us an hour to the start of the Arizona trail. It was already pretty warm when we arrived at 10am, and TopShelf and I got a few starting photos at the monument.

Everyone loves a desert selfie.

The trail started off with a big but gradual climb up onto a wide plateau.

An hour later we were at the top enjoying the view down to the valley to the east.

As we progressed up onto the plateau, we left the open scrublands and entered a sparse forest, which thankfully had some shade.

Sometimes the trail would walk up a small wash, and I had flashbacks to the Hayduke trail from this past spring.

Pretty soon we came upon a guzzler, which sounds like a Dr Seuss name. It’s a water collection system unique to Arizona, where a large flat roof collects water in the rainy season, and stores it in a tank underneath.

It was some good water, especially by desert standards! We filled up a liter and continued onward. My hiking partner, TopShelf, loves juniper trees and we stopped to admire a few.

It was an uneventful afternoon on a mostly flat and easy trail. We did encounter this neat little geode next to the trail.

As it got hotter, the miles seemed to come more slowly. It felt like it was in the upper 70s (25C) in the sun.

In mid-afternoon we passed by the Winter Road trailhead, which supposedly had a water cache but all the bottles were empty. It did have a couple cool signs though.

It showed the entire Arizona trail! The nearby gate was also pretty unique, with the trail symbol on it.

We walked along easy trail all afternoon, which alternated between shady juniper trees and open meadows.

The flowers were very brightly colored, more than a photo can show. I’ll have to download a book of desert wildflowers…

With our later start today, we stopped to camp after only 16 miles. Plus, the next section is in an old burn area, where it can be difficult to find safe campsites. We setup under some juniper trees, and within a few minutes it was dark.

Now that we switched to Pacific time (Arizona is on Pacific time most of the year, and mountain time in the winter), the sun sets at 6pm. We made our dinners and I was in bed reading my book (“Mud, Rocks, Blazes”) by 7pm. We will have an “early” wakeup tomorrow morning at 6am when the sun rises. Though the time on my watch is relatively meaningless out here, we basically have 12 hours of daylight for hiking….

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0.0km/0.0mi, Banyuls-sur-Mer (France)

Saturday August 19

I had a small surprise after I got settled into my campsite yesterday. A hiker I had met on day one, Lea, just happened to be finishing the same day and needed a place to camp, so I offered a spot on my campsite. We had a good time catching up on everything we had seen and done, since parting ways way back on day #3. I got a fun photo of her packing up her tent, shaking it out.

After Lea left, three other HRP hikers arrived and I got to hang out with them. Jan, Harry, Sandy were a fun bunch!

We hung out and socialized at the campground’s little cafe, which had surprisingly good food.

In the afternoon I went to the aquarium in town, it was pretty impressive for a small exhibit.

After the aquarium, I went back to the beach and had a longer swim. The Mediterranean Sea is a little saltier (higher density) so it’s actually easier to float. Afterwards I walked back to the campground and had dinner with my new group of friends.

Sunday August 20

I packed up and left the campground in the morning, and met up with a US hiker that I had met before. Dirtmonger and I had hiked the CDT in 2016, which is where we first met. The long distance hiking community is a small world, and it just happened that he was hiking the HRP about a week behind me. He is a speedy hiker and ended up finishing only two days after I did, and we split a hotel room in town to take advantage of the nice cold AC.

Of course we headed back to the beach and then we did some shopping in town before having dinner and then heading back to the hotel.

Monday August 21

I got up at 7:30 to get showered and packed up, so I could walk across town for a train that departed at 9am.

I rode the train all day, changing trains a couple of times before I finally arrived at my destination in Chamonix. Time for a mini-hike!

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Friday August 18, 23.2km/14.4mi

Col de l’Ouillat (773.6km/935m) (France) to Banyuls-sur-Mer (796.8km/4m) (France)

I was awake at 6am and left the campground at 6:30. The trail immediately started uphill through a nice forest in the cool morning air.

After half an hour I emerged above the trees on a big grassy ridge. The sun was just starting to come up!

It was a pretty neat looking sunrise over the hillside…

…and over the Mediterranean Sea.

I stood on the summit of Pic Neulos, where there were views in all directions.

After I left the summit there was a little junction, and the sign said I’m getting very close to the finish!

Much of the morning was hiking on an open grassy ridge.

I passed by a little cabin, which was the last one of this trail, and I noticed the door had some odd graffiti on it. It’s in French, but when translated it’s a little… disturbing.

I passed through a small forest where there were cows roaming around, and it had another signposted junction.

The walk along the open ridgeline was a really nice way to end this trail.

In the distance I could see the town of Banyuls-sur-Mer, and the finish.

After hiking on the open ridge lines all morning, I started dropping down in elevation towards the sea.

The signs were saying I was getting really close!

After I had dropped down in elevation I had an even better view of Banyuls-sur-Mer, and all of the surrounding vineyards.

And pretty soon I hiked right by the vineyards and saw them up close.

I went up to the edge of the field, to see what kind of grapes they were.

It was hot and dry down at this low elevation, but there were vineyards everywhere!

There were also a ton of cacti too.

And finally after descending down, down, down… I was in Banyuls-sur-Mer.

I walked through the village, winding through residential streets and eventually a small commercial district.

I crossed the final street…

…. And I was at the beach!

A couple of obligatory finish photos.

Across the street at the hotel there is a sign for the finish of the GR10. I hiked the HRP, not the GR10, but it still has the same start and finish towns so I thought it was a good photo.

After getting all of my finish photos, I decided it was time to get some food. Unfortunately in France the restaurants seem to only be open during lunch and dinner hours. It was 2:30pm, so I went around the corner and got some ice cream instead.

Then I went to a convenience store to buy a new SIM card since my old one had expired, as well as some snacks and drinks to enjoy at the beach. I spent a couple hours at the beach and even swam a few quick laps in this swimming area. Eventually I walked to the campground which was a kilometer away, and got settled in for the evening. What a long day!

The HRP was a beautiful trail, and I highly recommend it, but it’s not an easy one either. There is a lot of elevation change, and you really earn every kilometer. But it’s a grand journey thru Spain, France, and Andorra!

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Thursday August 17, 36.1km/22.4mi

Mouli Serradou Ruins (737.5km/830m) (France) to Col de l’Ouillat (773.6km/935m) (France)

I was awake pretty early to get started before the heat. I hiked uphill for an hour to the Col Cerda, where I have my first view of this morning’s high point, Roc de Frausa.

The path climbed steeply up the ridge, through brush and then into a nice forest.

After an hour of uphill I was at the top!

The views south into Spain were pretty neat, but the views north into France had this amazing undercast layer of clouds.

I descended thru a nice beech forest, which kept the temperatures nice and cool.

After awhile I emerged onto a small paved path, which continued all the way down into some farmland.

At this lower elevation it was a little warmer but still not hot, which was a nice surprise.

For about an hour I was on a wide 2-track through a dense forest, and I was just enjoying the morning in the shade.

Just before lunchtime I came into the small village of Las Illas. The first building I passed was the Hostal dels Trabucayres, a nice little refuge.

I walked a minute further to the village’s central park, which had free camping and even a shower for hikers!

It was a cold shower but after a few minutes of bravery, I was nice and clean. Afterwards I sat and ate my final lunch on the trail. The afternoon went by quickly since the hiking was mostly on old dirt roads.

There isn’t any mountainous terrain or even public land in this area, so the route sticks to old roads.

Sometimes those old roads are popular with migrating animals as well, haha. I followed these guys for at least five minutes before they decided to turn off into the forest.

I had been descending all afternoon, into a valley with another town. This one was actually pretty big, Le Perthus.

I passed by this neat old stone building and I have no idea what it is, but it just looked cool.

I got into Le Perthus at 4pm, and it was a shocking experience. There were people, cars, and noise everywhere and I couldn’t wait to leave.

But first I had to buy a couple of groceries for the last day on trail. When I was entering the grocery store, some employee kept saying something to me angrily in French… I asked if she spoke English or Spanish…nope. Eventually a customer came by and translated, she didn’t like my backpack. I wasn’t leaving it by the front door to have it stolen so I just left the store. I bought a cold gatorade and some snacks at a store nearby and then left town as quickly as I could. There was a neat border stone in the middle of town, I have been seeing these stones since the start of the hike, they mark the boundary between Spain and France.

I had a couple hours of uphill hiking to get to my planned camp spot at a refuge. Along the way some generous locals (trail angels) had left a table and cooler with cold drinks for hikers. Awesome!

Since it was later in the afternoon, even the uphill climb didn’t feel hot.

I came upon two other guys from France, and hiked with them for the rest of the day. The time flew by and before I knew it I was at Col de l’Ouillat. The two guys had dinner reservations and joined their friends at the refuge there, and I went over to the meadow to set up my tent and make dinner. Afterwards I went over to the refuge to charge my phone, and one of the employees offered me an ice cream! Amazing final night on this trail.

I finished my dessert and had a nice evening in the refuge chatting with some of the other people who could speak Spanish. I went back to my tent at 9pm, and fell asleep pretty quickly.

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Wednesday August 16, 31.9km/19.8mi

Maison Forestière de l’Estanyo (705.6km/1480m) (France) to Mouli Serradou Ruins (737.5km/830m) (France)

After a nice night in the cabin, I had breakfast outside at the picnic table and then said goodbye to my new Polish friends who departed just before I did. I had some more uphill forest walking to do, and it was a pleasant morning.

After an hour I came to the top of the climb at the Col de la Cirère, where I could see the route ahead of me down in the valley.

It was pretty windy up there, so I started down the descent without taking a break. Along the way I noticed I herd of sheep all huddled up against a cliff which I thought was hilarious.

It was a pretty wide trail, almost like a road, and it looked like I still had a long way down to go.

When I saw a herd of cows standing on the top of a hill, I just had to get a photo. With the undercast valley in the background, this is a very typical scene in the Pyrenees.

An hour after the col I was at the Refuge de Batère. I took a nice little break there and recharged my phone and had a hot tea.

I loved the poster of the Marmot that welcomed hikers into the mountains. For hikers heading in the opposite direction as me, this is their first mountain hut.

As I was leaving the refuge I noticed it looked like a regular commercial building, instead of a mountain cabin.

I continued the long gradual descent, heading towards the town of Arles-sur-tech.

I passed by this strange looking half-built structure, which made an eerie whistling noise when the wind went through it.

At one point, the trail got a little steeper and slippery with little pieces of gravel.

I could finally see the village of Arles-sur-tech, it’s neat how many villages here all have matching orange roofs.

After about 3 hours of descending, I arrived in the village. It felt pretty warm, probably because the elevation was only 300 m.

I walked thru the village, and it only took about 10 minutes to get across it.

It was a pretty hot day and I knew I had a steep uphill climb after this, so I stopped at the little grocery store and bought some refreshments.

Ice cream, Gatorade, applesauce, and some pasta for dinner tonight! I stuffed myself with most of that food, and then I left town, on a bridge over the Tech River.

I climbed steeply up the trail out of town, in some places it was so steep that it had eroded a deep channel.

Further up the hillside, the grade lessened and the trail became much more pleasant to hike.

Somewhere near the top of the climb, I stopped and chatted with Simon, a hiker from France. We talked long enough that I managed to stop sweating, ha! Even after that steep climb, the trail was still at a pretty low elevation. There weren’t many views in the forest all afternoon, though there was a funny sign about free-roaming goats.

And at one point there was a fun swingbridge to bounce on!

In late afternoon I came to a tiny Hamlet called Montalba d’Amélie. It’s really more just a collection of like three buildings.

It was a nice little peaceful spot so I took a break, and also refilled my water at the fountain.

I hiked uphill another hour to the spot I planned to camp at, the Mouli Serradou ruins.

When I got there, there was already a group camp by that old mill ruins, so I backtracked 100 m to a nice flat spot under some old spruce trees. After setting up my tent, I realized I probably only have one more night of camping on this hike. It really seemed to go by fast towards the end!

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Tuesday August 15, 27.6km/17.2mi

Refuge de Pla Guilhem (678.0km/2275m) (France) to Maison Forestière de l’Estanyo (705.6km/1480m) (France)

I was awake at 6:30 with everyone else, and it was a nice easy morning to pack up since there was no tent to put away. As I was packing up, I got to watch the sunrise over the ridge.

I love morning hiking, it’s the best time of day.

For the first hour, I hiked downhill into a valley and a refuge. At first it was on a steep trail…

…. And then it was on an old dirt road.

The Refuge de Mariailles was a pretty big building and seemed like it would fit a lot of people.

I think because it was near a road and parking lot, it felt like a more civilized refuge. It even had a bunch of these cute little signs all over the place.

I refilled my water and charged up my phone a little bit and then headed out. There was a long climb up to a peak, Pic du Canigou (2784m). The first half of the climb was mostly in a nice shaded forest.

I passed an old cabin and pretty soon afterwards I was in an open meadow again.

Looking back on what I had just hiked up:

Pretty soon the climb got steeper, and I started to climb on switchbacks through a talus field.

Surprisingly, there was a little water fountain at one of these switchbacks. Ha!

The very last part of the climb was up a super steep chimney, which was basically a 3rd class scramble.

It was a lot of fun for me, but I think a lot of people don’t like the heights or exposure, and move very slowly through the area.

Of course the safest way to move through there is to move quickly, since it minimizes the chances that rock fall will hit you. I scrambled through there in a few minutes and enjoyed every moment. Looking back down the chimney:

And with that I was on top of the Pic du Canigou, an iconic peak in the Eastern Pyrenees.

It even had a little navigation table on the summit.

The trail up the other side of the peak is far easier, and there were a lot of people on top from that direction.

I ate my lunch, and enjoyed the views and perfect temperatures on the summit.

I also got to enjoy this random dog cuddling up next to me where I sat.

I spent almost an hour on top, and then I descended down the other side of the mountain on some very nice switchbacks.

Each switchback had a post which was labeled with the elevation. I think this would annoy me if I was heading uphill, and was constantly reminded of how slow my progress was.

An hour later I was at the bottom of the descent and another refuge. This one had a little pond nearby.

I had just descended almost 1,000m, so it was much warmer down here and I bought a cold drink at the refuge. After the refuge I continued to descend a little, on a cool trail that was cut into the side of a hill.

My guidebook had mentioned there would be some wreckage from an old plane crash in 1961, but I was surprised to find it literally in the middle of the trail.

Yup, still going downhill, and still getting warmer.

It felt pretty warm down at this elevation, but fortunately I had entered a nice shady forest.

Just before 6pm I came to a little cabin called the Maison Forestière de l’Estanyo.

It was pretty nice inside, and I think it slept six or eight people.

Just a few minutes after I started to unpack, a nice couple from Poland showed up and setup in the top bunk. It was pretty dark inside the cabin, so we all ate outside at one of the picnic tables. They spoke Polish and English (and even Russian), and it was easy to communicate with them. I have some ancestors who came from Poland, so we looked at a map to see where those little towns were. Apparently those regions of the country are still known for being agricultural areas that many people immigrate away from. Since they are hiking the opposite direction as me, we also exchanged information on water sources and campsites that were coming up. Another fun social evening!

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Monday August 14, 34.0km/21.1mi

Vallée d’Eyne (644.0km/2060m) (France) to Refuge de Pla Guilhem (678.0km/2275m) (France)

I was awake early and started hiking up the hill , while the valley was still in the shade.

Pretty soon the trees disappeared, and I could see the morning Sun making its way into the valley.

The sunlight made a surprisingly crisp line of shade and Sun.

An hour later, I was at the top of the pass.

It was a little windy on top of the ridge, but in a good way.

The rest of the morning was on ridgelines, and I took a ton of photos for all the views.

Looking down into Spain:

This was one of my favorite days on the whole trail. It was a cruise, hiking the boundary between Spain and France.

And I saw a few herds of the Isard creatures too.

And a kilometer later, I saw a lone Isard, looking down upon everyone else.

There were a few little summits along the ridge that I would briefly stop at and have a snack.

Most of the time the trail would be slightly on one side of the ridge or the other, which was a nice balance of wind and calm.

And despite it being on a rocky ridge, the trail was surprisingly smooth and enjoyable to walk. It felt like being on the Colorado Trail again!

Later in the morning, there was a creepy little trail junction that had nine crosses/crucifixes at it. Weird.

All morning the trail just kept going along this ridgeline. Amazing.

There wasn’t much wildlife up there except for grass and these little flowers.

As I approached a little bump on the ridge called Pic de la Vaca, I could hear mooing in the distance.

Sure enough, as if on cue, there were cows laying on their namesake peak.

After this point I left the ridge and descended into another valley….

…. Which of course was also full of cows. Hungry baby cows.

This part of the trail was in Spain, and I think it was more accessible from a nearby trailhead somewhere, as I saw more hikers and even a few mountain bikers.

I climbed a small pass and then dropped down into another valley which contained a ski resort.

Also in the valley was Refugi d’Ull de Ter, where I stopped for lunch.

For some reason, they didn’t want people sitting inside so I sat at one of the outside tables and ate.

As I was leaving the refuge after lunch, I noticed this hilarious sign. Apparently you are not allowed to shake your fist at the birds.

Pretty soon after leaving the refuge, I hiked through the ski resort, and then up a small climb.

And I was back up on the ridge line!

At the top of the ridge I had crossed back into France. They usually post a sign with all of the rules, which few people seem to obey.

Within an hour of seeing the sign I saw people walking a dog, picking the flowers, and smoking. The afternoon flew by on an easy trail, with more amazing ridge views!

Yup, just easy walking and soaking in the scenery.

I have no idea why there was a stone picnic table in the middle of nowhere, but I’m never one to turn down a good picnic table.

After having an impromptu snack break, I walked for another half hour and then arrived at my planned camping spot for the evening.

The Refuge de Pla Guilhem was an old stone shelter that had been fixed up recently. I could see that it had a new roof and new windows, and somebody had put a fresh coat of white paint on the inside walls.

When I arrived there was a woman inside napping, eventually she woke up and we talked for a bit. Lou is from France, and neither of us spoke the other’s native language, so communication was a little slow. As we were making dinner, two other girls from Barcelona showed up and stayed as well. After dinner we all went outside to watch the sunset, which I noticed has been happening a little earlier nowadays.

After doing all the usual evening chores, a few of us went outside to look for shooting stars, and we actually saw quite a few! We also saw a few swarms of those Starlink satellites, which was a little unsettling. It was a great day of hiking, and a fun evening of socializing… kinda a perfect trail day.