Dougal and his fundraising crew in the Ordesa Valley

 Last week Dougal and his fundraising crew came over for a challenging 4 days hiking in aid of Claire House Childrens Hospice. We had brilliant weather and tackled 4 fantastic routes.

Crossing a snowfield heading up to Pico Anayet

Our first days hiking took us to Pico Anayet – a spectacular, pointy peak of 2545m. There’s a lot more snow than normal in the Pyrenees this summer so we had to cross a few snowfields before tackling the chains and the scramble to the summit.

An airy ledge near the summit of Pico Anayet

Pico Anayet - we headed to the summit from the left

The Faja de Pelay in the Ordesa Valley was our objective on the second day. A steep two hour climb at the start of the day was worth the effort as we were rewarded with spectacular views of the Breche de Roland and over a dozen 3000m peaks including great views of Monte Perdido.

The peaks of Cilindro, Monte Perdido and Anisc standing at the head of the Ordesa Valley

Punta del Pacino (1965m) standing at the centre of the Valle de Tena was our summit for the third day. Superb views over Sallent de Gallego and the Embalse de Lanuza on the way up before getting panaromic views of virtually every peak in the valley from the summit.

The peak of Foratata, the village of Sallent de Gallego and the Embalse de Lanuza

Swallowtail butterfly seen on the peak of Punta del Pacino

Our finals day hike started from Panticosa as we passed through the beautiful valley of La Ripera reaching the 700m cliffs at the head of the valley before before climbing up and over the Col de Sabacos. Great views once again and dozens of marmots!

Overlooking the cliffs of La Ripera

Great effort by everyone – over 12,000 feet of ascent over the four days and well over £5000 raised for Claire House. Send me any photo’s and I’ll add them to the blog (unless they were taken by Helen’s camera in which case I’ll stick the prints on the fridge!). Thanks for a fun week and hope to see you all back in a couple of years for some more Pyrenean peak bagging and fund raising.

If you’re thinking of doing a charity hike or trek we can put together a bespoke itinerary for you – drop us an email at info@hikepyrenees.co.uk and we can give you some options.