Perdiguero

Perdiguero - 3221M

654M Prominence

42.69195, 0.51874

July 9, 2025

HRP Day 19 stats

1292M Ascent, 1706M descent

19.64 KM

This morning I woke up after a cold night in my bivouac next to Refuge du Portillon at 2260M. The objective for the day was to climb Perdiguero, and then head into town to get new shoes. I had originally planned to drop my bag and do it as an out and back, but after making my way up to the col Portillon Inferieur, I realized that I could make one continuous path over the North Ridge and down the East ridge of the mountain, which might save me some time, and I  prefer a continuous path rather than an out and back. The trek up to the col required a bit of off route hiking, maybe because I lost the trail for a bit, or maybe the trail was not very established. Just before gaining the Col Inferieur, I had to climb up one snow patch, but it was full of melted out pockets, so I never even bothered to throw my crampons on. From the col I traversed South West and bypassed Tuca Literola by traversing via the South East side of the ridge. The rock was fairly solid and the route only felt moderately class 3 at times. From the ridge I made it to the Col Superieur Literola at 3050M. This is the col between Tuca Literola and Perdiguero. From this col it was only another 200 meters ascent of light scrambling up Perdiguero's North East ridge, and I promptly found the summit. For the first time since the summit of Vignemale there was someone else on the summit. I chatted with him a bit, and he told me he was going to climb Mont Blanc later in the week. I didn't linger for too long even though the views were superb on such a clear morning. The descent route down the East ridge was significantly easier and more established down to Ibon Blanco de Literola. From there I climbed slightly up to Portal de Remune, and then down the valley alongside the Barranco de Remune until I arrived at Hospital de Benasque (a hotel), and the highway. I hitchhiked into the town of Benasque to buy new shoes, as the first 20 days of rugged mountains had already chewed up my trail runners. I resupplied on food for the next three days, hung out with some hikers in town, then hitchhiked back to the Hotel. From the hotel I casually made my way up to Refugio Renclusa and set up my tent nearby. Refugio Renclusa is the main basecamp for climbing Pico Aneto, which would be tomorrow's objective, and one of the highlights of the HRP traverse as a whole.

Bivouac by Refuge du Portillon

Lac du Portillon

Nearing Perdiguero, a look at the steep face on it's north ridge, and the ridge I followed

Looking West, Tuca de los Gorgas Blancas, Pic Gourdon, Spijeoles (Center from left)

Perdiguero summit

Looking down Perdiguero's East ridge, with Aneto massif in background

Ibon Blanco de Literola

The striking Pico de Remune

Descending to Hospital de Benasque

The biggest herd of cattle I have ever seen on my way to Refugio Renclusa

Camp in front of Tuca de Renclusa, a false summit in the Aneto massif

HRP Day 19 route

Perdiguero route close up