Pyrenean Refuges

High in the mountains away from the cares of life below…

Nothing quite beats sleeping up high, above all the movement and activity in the valley below, and definitely far removed from city life.  Of course it is more rustic than hotel or apartment accommodation, but there is nothing like watching the sunset, sitting outside in the cold clear high mountain air.

The first mountain shelters were simply caves and rocky overhangs before rustic shepherds’ cabins, “orrys” and “cayolar” where built into hillside using vegetation and local stone.

In the 19th century, with the age of mountain exploration, came the construction of refuges with the sole objective of being a shelter for mountaineers. The French Alpine Club began their constructions in the Pyrenees in 1874 with “Tuqueroye”, a small refuge built on an extremely narrow pass (really only a breach) between the Estaubé Valley and the high plateau above the Spanish Pineta Valley which looks onto the north face of the Mont Perdu. With the evolution in construction (most notably with the use of helicopters), refuges too have evolved and become more sophisticated. This is seen for many who would like to keep the mountains in their wilder form, as a great shame. Others, who like a minimum of comfort as they trek across the Pyrenees, are quite happy to see a shower from time to time, and most of all get a hot meal at the end of the day!

Refuges today differ greatly on their “level of comfort”! Some remain rustic with the certain charm this entails, some have become nearly  hotels in the mountains. Some have showers and several toilets, some have a lake to wash in and one lone toilet! Most have dormitories with baflan, long sleeping platforms, some have rooms for four with individual beds. In any case, if staying in a refuge has its disadvantages, it also has the great advantage of allowing us to be truly “up there”, immersed in the mountain atmosphere. Food is always generous and of very good quality….nothing like a 4-course meal in a warm atmosphere after a long day’s walking.

Most of our treks involve a combination of comfort levels in refuges. We usually have at least 2 nights where we can use a shower and have smaller dorms or individual beds.  Don’t hesitate to ask us more specifically if this is a concern for you. We can provide a number of suggestions about how to cope with the discomforts that refuge accommodation can entail, while taking advantage of their wonderful location.