The Pyrenees Articles

Wallcreeper - Tichodroma muraria

Spotlight on the wallcreeper: bird of the year 2025

The wallcreeper, with its bright scarlet wing patches, is one of the Pyrenees most famous birds and prized sighting for ornithologists. It’s being celebrated as the ‘Bird of 2025’ by SEO/Birdlife to highlight the dangers it faces and why this small bird is so special.

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Pic du Midi d’Ossau (2884m)

Pic du Midi d'Ossau is one of the iconic peaks of the French Pyrenees. It´s a fantastic looking mountain with rocky walls guarding each of it's twin peaks. The 'via normal' is a pretty exciting scramble to the summit and another route I've been longing to do for ages....

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Pico Arriel (2822m)

Every time I open the shutters in my flat I see the Pico Arriel at the head of the Valle de Tena on the French border. I've wanted to climb it for ages but with the summit covered in snow for most of the year hadn't got round to it until this week. So glad I did as it...

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Pyrenees Charity Hike

 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. Our first days hiking took us to Pico Anayet - a spectacular, pointy peak of 2545m....

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Refugio Week – summiting Marbore

Fantastic Refugio Week last week with the highlight being summiting a snow covered Marbore (3248m) and looking the Cirque de Gavarnie far below. Clear blue skies and lots of snow made for fantastic hiking. Our first two day trek in the Valle de Tena took us to the...

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Lakes & Valleys and Discover Ordesa Walking Holidays

The walking season is in full swing here in the Pyrenees and we've had a couple of great walking holidays already this June with a Lakes & Valleys and a Discover Ordesa walking holidays. We've had some fantastic hikes visiting high alpine pastures, abandoned...

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Fuerte de Coll de Ladrones

Yesterday evening I went climbing at a venue called Coll de Ladrones north of Jaca near the French border. There has been a fort there since 1751 and before climbing I went for a bit of an explore. The original fort was built to defend the pass from France and had a...

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Lynx cubs at La Cuniacha

La Cuniacha animal park near Piedrafita welcomed 3 new Lynx cubs this spring. Apparently they were born very early and the park wardens are concerned that they won't make it through any cold spells. Keeping my fingers crossed for them as they look incredibly cute in...

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Space Shuttle above Biescas

Just watched footage of the shuttle Atlantis take off which reminded me of some interesting pictures I took last summer of the space shuttle and the International Space Station orbiting above Biescas. I'd seen that they were due to pass over that evening about the...

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The Bath Boys Hike the Pyrenees

Thanks to Len, Phil, Julian, Peter, Alan and Trevor - our first guests of the summer. They walked  a new village to village itinerary staying each night in different villages in the Valle de Tena. Hope you had a great week guys. Bit unseasonly cold at the beginning of...

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