The GR10 Trail. Brian Johnson

      

      About the Author

      Since taking early retirement from his career as a physics and sports teacher, Brian Johnson has found time for three through-hikes of the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2700-mile round-Britain walk, six hikes across the Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, a hike along the Via de la Plata from Seville to Santiago and a single summer compleation of the Munros (Scotland’s 3000ft mountains) as well as climbing all the Corbetts (Scotland’s 2500ft–3000ft mountains) and most of the Grahams (Scotland’s 2000–2500ft mountains). He has also completed a 2200-mile cycle tour of Spain and France and done multi-week canoe tours in Sweden, France, Spain and Portugal.

      In his younger days, Brian’s main sport was orienteering. He competed at a high level and coached both Bishop Wordsworth’s School and South-West Junior Orienteering Squads. He also surveyed and drew many orienteering maps. He has walked and climbed extensively in summer and winter conditions in Britain, the Alps, the Pyrenees and California, often leading school groups.

      As a fanatical sportsman and games player, Brian competed to a high level in cricket, hockey, bridge and chess. His crowning achievement was winning the 1995/96 World Amateur Chess Championships.

      Other Cicerone guides by the author

      The Pacific Crest Trail

      Walking the Corbetts Volume one: South of the Great Glen

      Walking the Corbetts Volume two: North of the Great Glen

      The GR11 – La Senda: through the Spanish Pyrenees

      THE GR10 TRAIL

      THROUGH THE FRENCH PYRENEES

      by Brian Johnson

      JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS,

      OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL

      www.cicerone.co.uk

      © Brian Johnson 2016

      First edition 2016 Reprinted 2019 (with updates)

      ISBN 9781783624010

      Replaces guide of same title by Paul Lucia

      ISBN 9781852843649

      Printed in China on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

       Route mapping by Lovell Johns www.lovelljohns.com

      Contains OpenStreetMap.org data © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI

       The routes of the GR®, PR® and GRP® paths in this guide have been reproduced with the permission of the Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre holder of the exclusive rights of the routes. The names GR®, PR® and GRP® are registered trademarks.

      © FFRP 2016 for all GR®, PR® and GRP® paths appearing in this work.

      All photographs are by the author.

      Updates to this Guide

      While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/773/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time. We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal LA9 7RL.

      The route maps in this guide are derived from publicly-available data, databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a published map from an official mapping agency, although naturally we have reviewed them closely in the light of local knowledge as part of the preparation of this guide.

      Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers and GPX files where available, register your book at www.cicerone.co.uk.

      Front cover: Mont Valier from below Bouche d’Aula (Stage 34)

      CONTENTS

       Overview map

       Map key

       Mountain safety

       Author’s preface

       INTRODUCTION

       The stages

       The route

       From the Atlantic to the Mediterrean

       Wildlife

       The weather and when to go

       Getting there and back

       Equipment

       Culture and languages

       Accommodation

       Camping

       Fuel

       Water

       Swimming

       Using this guide

       Section 1 Hendaye-Plage to Etsaut

       Stage 1 Hendaye-Plage to Olhette

       Stage 2 Olhette to Ainhoa

       Stage 3 Ainhoa to Bidarray

       Stage 4 Bidarray to Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry