Tuesday 31st July 2018. An ascent of Crête de la Serre 1595m/52m, Pic de Cantau 1642m/109m and Pic de Berbeillet 1633m/58m, Val d’Azun, Hautes Pyrenées, France. 20.0km, with 490m of ascent and 950m of descent. 7hrs 20mins.

The weather forecast for today was not the best, with hill-fog predicted to quite low levels. Nevertheless, no rain or thunder was forecast. I resolved to carry out my plan to complete all the remaining summits on the main ridge that runs north-east from Col de Soulor (1474m) for some 23 kilometres. I had three left to reach.

ALT dropped me off at the Col de Soulor, where the cloud-base had lowered to around 1600 metres. It was to remain around this altitude all day. However, the mist was light and shifting, so I hoped for easy navigation and the occasional view.

I headed north from the col on the GR 101 (see at https://www.gr-infos.com/en/gr101.htm) around the west flank of Cap d’Aout 1654m, the summit of which I had visited in August 2016. The trail then bent north-east to reach the reedy Lac de Soum, above which loomed in the mist Crête de la Serre, my first objective of the day. The path continued up its easy-angled ridge to a grassy summit. As I ascended, I passed only one person – a man resting on a rock who made apologies to me for his rather lively canine companion.

I could see Pic de Cantau, my next objective, from the summit of Crête de la Serre. It presented a serrated limestone ridge above a series of crags. I had intended to leave the GR 101 where it swung east, to climb directly to the summit. However, I could detect no breach in the crags that would take me safely to there. The best option seemed to be to continue on the trail up to a col, where it breached the ridge. From there I hoped to follow the crest for about a kilometre to the summit, returning the same way.

The trail followed a circuitous route below and between the crags until it turned north to reach the Col de Berbeillet. I found a faint path rising west from this col and followed it. As I made my way up I could hear the bleating of sheep. Soon a large flock of sheep loomed out of the mist. Unlike most sheep I encounter in the UK, they seemed wholly unconcerned by my sudden presence among them. Confident sheep seems a contradiction, but that was what they were.

I caught a brief glimpse of Pic de Bazès as the mist briefly parted, at 1804m the highest peak along the ridge. I had scaled this steep peak two years ago (see at https://peakery.com/pic-de-bazes-france/summits/122406/). Picking my way with care, I continued along the crest of the ridge, dropping down onto the steep forested northern flank where the edge was too exposed. Clumps of stinging nettles proved an additional hazard, especially in shorts. I reached the point that the GPS informed me was the highest point. It clearly was not, so I continued for another 50 metres or so to the limestone block that looked to be the summit. There was not much room to rest and take a summit photo, so my visit was brief. Visibility was short, so there was no view to admire.

I returned east along the crest by my outward route without incident. At the col, I turned south-east to scale my final objective for the day – Pic de Berbeillet. This proved to be an easy summit to reach after a short pull of only about 60 metres of ascent. The summit sported a fine cairn, marking a fitting place to have completed all the summits along the main north ridge above Val d’Azun. My completion was witnessed by more confident sheep.

A long hike north and then east took me past Col de la Serre and Col de Couraduque to Col de Couret. There I left the trail along this fine and varied ridge to descend over 900 metres to Gaillagos and our gîte. A long soak in the outdoors hot-tub followed.