The Valle de Acumuer

Beautiful weather in the Pyrenees last weekend after a week of rain and cloud. On Sunday I went to explore the Valle de Acumuer which I’d looked at lots of times but not walked in before.

The church in Acumuer

We started in the village of Acumuer which is in a lovely location with a pretty church. The valley is long – we’d already driven 12 km up a winding road to the village and the valley then carries on for another 13km.

Initially we walked through woods of oak and scots pine. We passed a group of landrovers with dog trailers on the side of the track – hunters out looking for jabali (wild boar). Several sets of hunting dogs ran across the track giving us a cursory sniff as we walked but I didn’t hear any shots so I think it was a good day for the boar

Liliana on the snow

As we approached the head of the valley the scenery got more rugged and impressive with steep cliffs surrounding a rocky cirque. We reached snow about 4o minutes from the end of the valley. There is an Ibon (mountain tarn) at the head of the valley but time was running a bit tight with the short winter days and we had to turn back before we reached it.

Just after we’d commented that we’d hardly seen a bird all day two lammergeier appeared from behind the cliffs and soared high overhead.

Near the head of the valley

A nice route and a good day out although the walk in is a bit long! I think we’ll try it again in the spring with bikes so we can cover the first section much quicker and give us time to explore the great scenery at the head of the valley.

The Rio Aurin