Pic du Canigou

July 20, 2025

Pic du Canigou

Pic du Canigou - 2784M

555M Prominence

42.51898, 2.45658

July 20, 2025

HRP Day 30 stats

1430M Ascent, 2812M descent

36.62 KM

The 30th day of my HRP traverse started off when I woke up at Refuge Pla de Guilgem, a sturdy and spacious un manned hut, which I spent the night alone at. I began by making my way down to the Refuge des Marailles. From the Refuge I could start my ascent of Pic Canigou. The hiking was easy and on a well groomed low angle trail, all the way up to about 2400M. I passed by the small little Refuge Arago, and at this point I realized that it was going to be an absolute party on the mountain as there was huge groups of people hanging around the hut. I took a small break at the Fontaine Nostre before making my way up the switchbacks that lead me up to the Porteil de Valmanya. I then started hiking North West along the ridge towards the bottom of "La Cheminee". I passed by dozens of hikers in this section, and it only got more busy the closer I got to the summit. La Cheminee is by far the trickiest part of Pic Canigou, due to some scrambling and risk of rockfall. The start was essentially just a staircase, but nearing the top where La Cheminee exits up onto the summit, I used my hands a little bit to pull my self up. La Cheminee is an interesting route because it is actually man made. In 1896 they blasted dynamite and created it. Pic du Camigou is also a very interesting mountain culturally, with rituals performed on it and lots of history. It is heavily steeped in Catalan culture, due to it being the last large Catalan peak before the Mediterranean. Once up on the rather small summit, I took a good long break. It was a slightly emotional feeling to look to the East and finally see the Mediterranean sea after over 700 KM of hiking over the last 30 days. After hanging out on the summit for a while I hiked down the North ridge and then to Refuge des Cortalets. This was a good spot to stop and eat lunch and wait out some of the hot Catalan mid day sun. I then kept making my descent and in the mid afternoon a storm hit and brought some wild rains. I managed to avoid some of the rains by standing under the patio of a small unmanned refuge called Cabane du Pinatell. The trail for most of the afternoon was in the forest, so I was slightly sheltered from the elements. I made a small climb up to Col de la Cirere, and then hiked down to Refuge de Batere. This massive refuge was a bit strange and there was nearly no one around, but I still stopped for a bit to recharge my phone and work on my trail plans. After Refuge de Batere I kept hiking down a series of unmaintained dirt roads in the forest until I made it to Refuge des Vigourats. I had no idea what to expect for this refuge, and as it turns out it was just a huge steel building with a concrete floor, so I pitched my tent inside as it was going to rain again overnight.