Damage on the path after flooding ?

[UnniElisabeth]

I am planning to start in Oloron Sainte Marie on 29th of April, and continue on Camino Aragonese from Somport. I have read that there are som damadges on the path, specially on the french side, after a big flooding in September. Has anyone got information about the conditions on the path on the french and spanish side of the border ? Is it duable to walk over the Pyrenees in spring, or do this damadge cause problems for the pilgrims ?
Thank you for your help!

 

[peregrina2000]

Has anyone got information about the conditions on the path on the french and spanish side of the border

Most of the information on this issue is in the subforum for the Arles route.


Check these threads.

Thread 'Urdos to Somport Advice'

Mar 25, 2024

Greetings pilgrims,

We are walking next September from Lourdes to Somport and would like to hear stories and adv ice about the section from Urdos to Somport, with the big incline. Is this route similar to St. Jean to Orisson? Are there services? What would be good for us to know? Thank you if you have something to post.

• Steve Mark
• Replies: 33
• Camino de Santiago Forum: 🇫🇷 Voie d'ARLES (Arles - Toulouse - Somport)

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Alert Thread 'Flooding between Accous and Somport - Path closed'

Sep 7, 2024

Hello,
Due to the bad weather we experienced last night, the Arles path between Accous and Somport is currently impassable.
The RN134 road is also closed above Urdos.
For the moment, I don’t know for how long, but given the damage, it’s going to take a while.
France Bleu Béarn - Inondation Vallée d’Aspe

• Urdos653Eric
• Replies: 72
• Camino de Santiago Forum: 🇫🇷 Voie d'ARLES (Arles - Toulouse - Somport)

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You will see a link to a fairly recent article about the reopening of the road after Urdos on the way to Somport.

Álvaro Lazaga walked after the rains, but he took the road for a large chunk of the way. Getting around the damaged part of the road after Urdos wasn’t terribly complicated and he explains it in his video, which you will see a link to on those threads.

As I understand it there is no road damage on the Spanish side. There is a damaged section before Urdos, but this predates the September rains. @trecile had a very hard time on that section, so maybe she will check in to give an update.

Buen camino, I’m hoping to do almost the same thing about a month later!

 

[BombayBill]

I am planning to start in Oloron Sainte Marie on 29th of April, and continue on Camino Aragonese from Somport. I have read that there are som damadges on the path, specially on the french side, after a big flooding in September. Has anyone got information about the conditions on the path on the french and spanish side of the border ? Is it duable to walk over the Pyrenees in spring, or do this damadge cause problems for the pilgrims ?
Thank you for your help!

And I will be a day ahead of you, so I too am watching for developments on the path.

 

[trecile]

. @trecile had a very hard time on that section, so maybe she will check in to give an update.

Indeed I did. I had read this account from @Juspassinthru who was a few weeks ahead of me.

Words to the wise, do not be fooled by this short stage. The climb out of OSM is fairly steep and on paved roads. We found nothing open for food or drinks the entire way so plan accordingly. The last 5k is beautiful but difficult in the mud and caution should be taken, a slip to the left could easily put you in the fast flowing river below

And this account, also from April

Thread 'Camino Aragonês notes and observations April '24'

Apr 28, 2024

I wrote this long-winded post to address some of the recent concerns, comments and questions regarding this route, and I hope some might find it useful. I flew from Dublin to Lourdes on the 18th of April, took the train to Pau and started walking from there. A few days on the Camino Arles through Lescar, Oloron, Sarrance and Urdos, before the climb up to Somport and the start of the Aragonês..


The washed away section of the path between Accous and Borce
Just beyond Cette-Eygon, where a small section of the path gave way and slid down into the river below, a new ledge has been...

• Flog
• Replies: 11
• Camino de Santiago Forum: 🇪🇸 Camino ARAGONÉS (Somport - Pte la Reina)

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I also read up on the stages on Gronze, and decided to take the road on the last part of the stage to Sarrance, which wasn't great, but I wasn't in danger of falling to my death in the river from a narrow ledge along the mountain. However, there was no such warning for the next day out of Sarrance, so I took the Camino route. I was mostly worried that day about the half km tunnel further on which would be pitch dark and had taken pictures of the bus schedules just in case.

Here's what I wrote on my FindPenguins blog that day:

I'm writing this the next day on Thursday morning. I had read about the trail being a narrow path next to a steep drop off down to a rapidly moving river for the last part before Sarrance the day before, so I opted to walk the road instead of that section on Tuesday.

Yesterday, my main concern was an over half km section through an old railway tunnel in complete darkness where I would likely be walking alone since the two other pilgrims at the monastery where I stayed last night were not going that far today. So in anticipation I took pictures of the bus schedule in case I decided to skip the tunnel as I read that the road was not an option because it's very dangerous.

What I wasn't anticipating was more narrow trail with the steep drop off to the river below, which is what I encountered after about 45 minutes of walking along a beautiful trail near the river. But then the trail started to climb and narrow. It was all okay until I came upon an approximate four foot very steep section less than three feet wide that was slick with mud. I felt like I spent twenty minutes (probably less than five minutes in reality) trying to decide how to get up this section which should have taken me three steps, but there were no good places to get a foothold, and a misstep could have sent me over the edge. I finally decided that staying low to the ground by literally crawling would be the best option. I set my poles down and clung to the vegetation to my left and slowly made it up. Once I was safely past the mud I had to then retrieve my poles which I had to drag up through the mud with my feet.

At this point I was pretty shaken, not to mention muddy. I sat on a rock for a while to settle my nerves and hoped that I didn't encounter another area like that. Fortunately, I didn't but decided that I would definitely skip the section further down the trail which I had read was more of the same. At this point, that tunnel didn't seem so scary at all - at least there was no chance of plunging to my death!

I got to the town of Bedous, which thankfully had a little cafe, where I could sit and think over my options.

I decided to walk to the next town to get the bus, and quickly found the bus stop and shelter where I waited for two hours for the bus, which I missed because I found out that that particular bus stop was seasonal and I was supposed to catch the bus by the road.

I caught the attention of a man walking by and asked him about the bus. He showed me where it would stop - in another two hours! I also asked him about a taxi, and he called a couple of places but got no answer.

There was a local hotel, but their restaurant was closed, so I booked a room at Chez Michel back in Bedous which was only a half hour walk on the road.

The owner Annie was wonderful. Breakfast was included, and I was offered dinner of a lovely salad, beef burgundy, dessert and wine for €23. I said "oui!".

Today is rainy, and I have decided that perhaps these French trails are not for me, so I'll take the bus to Somport and walk from there.

If I weren't alone, I wouldn't be so trepidatious about the trails here, but being and feeling safe is more important than completing this section.

This was the only time on any of my Caminos where I felt like the trail was potentially dangerous.

 

[JabbaPapa]

What I wasn't anticipating was more narrow trail with the steep drop off to the river below, which is what I encountered after about 45 minutes of walking along a beautiful trail near the river.

Oh, so spots like that do still exist.

Was why I decided in 2014 after a couple of encounters with mud and damaged portions of the trail inches wide next to precipitous drops to keep mostly on tarmac until the turn up towards the Somport itself.

The tarmac option is actually not as bad as it might seem ; either there's a wide hard shoulder to walk on with little danger, though of course it's rather noisy ; or you will walk on quite a few sections of the old road with almost no traffic, or on some secondary roads where the valley widens out somewhat.

But then the trail started to climb and narrow. It was all okay until I came upon an approximate four foot very steep section less than three feet wide that was slick with mud. I felt like I spent twenty minutes (probably less than five minutes in reality) trying to decide how to get up this section which should have taken me three steps, but there were no good places to get a foothold, and a misstep could have sent me over the edge. I finally decided that staying low to the ground by literally crawling would be the best option. I set my poles down and clung to the vegetation to my left and slowly made it up. Once I was safely past the mud I had to then retrieve my poles which I had to drag up through the mud with my feet.

I came across worse once in Portugal, in 2022, thankfully dry though and not muddy, and like you, after I had crawled and scraped my way out of it and on to the next village, I gave up on "walking" that whole section but instead I got a taxi to get out of those particular mountains.

Had I been younger and non-disabled it wouldn't have stopped me, but I'm not so it did.

But up to the Somport in my present state of health, I would still choose tarmac rather than bus, though having been in similar circumstances as those that you came across, albeit actually worse and elsewhere, then taxi'd out of them, I fully endorse your own choice.

 

[Juspassinthru]

While I have limited experience on this route, O-S-M to Somport the beginning of April this year, so a limited snapshot, my takeaway is this. If you’re expecting something like the CF, this is very different. Some of the GR routes, this one for sure, are less traveled, often more rugged and if you go early in the season, you may not encounter other pilgrims/hikers except at the albergues. We encountered exactly 2 others until Candanchú.

While we were on this section, there was still considerable snow on the ground (Bedous to Somport) and the runoff was substantial, often the trail was a running stream. Approaching the pass, what appeared to be lovely green meadows were often bogs which I sunk into mid-calf (so much for white liner socks and dry feet). The last hour, even in the glorious sunshine and nice temps, we took the road as the path was indistinguishable.

Please don’t let this discourage you, it’s a beautiful route but as we’ve all seen/read, flooding and washouts are common. My experience was quite early, @trecile was about a month behind me and her experience may be a better barometer of what the OP could expect.

Be prepared, adaptable and realistic about your ability. Others have posted great info, read that. If you can, communicate with anyone along the route to get current info.

After all the buzz-kill, I loved this route. It was beautiful and for a brief moment I was 19 and backpacking in Wyoming again. The Aragonés is stark, solitary and ruggedly beautiful. Puente la Reina came as a shock because of all the people. The 4, 5 or 10 pilgrims you’ll meet will become your tribe for a while.

I hope this helps and I hope you enjoy your journey.

 

[Hans-Georg Goebel]

I am planning to start in Oloron Sainte Marie on 29th of April, and continue on Camino Aragonese from Somport. I have read that there are som damadges on the path, specially on the french side, after a big flooding in September. Has anyone got information about the conditions on the path on the french and spanish side of the border ? Is it duable to walk over the Pyrenees in spring, or do this damadge cause problems for the pilgrims ?
Thank you for your help!

I can't say anything about the current condition of the path. I also made the route in 2012 at the end of April. There was still plenty of snow away from the path up in the ski areas, but the Camino was completely clear. If your time allows, you should consider starting in Lourdes (the Marian pilgrimage site) and walking to Oleron in 2-3 days.