Day 1 – Hendaye to Larun

We woke up around 7:30 and packed up our bags right away, excited to begin the adventure that we have been planning for nearly a year.

I know that I’ve been looking forward to this trip since I met Paul, who lives in the Pyrenees, on the CDT two Summers ago. He promised to send me the guidebook for this thing called “the high route of the pyrenees.”

I have to say, nothing makes me want to do a thru-hike more than the pictures I see of it. That’s part of why I started an Instagram, to hopefully be that point of inspiration for other thru-hikers. And when I saw the pictures of the HRP, I was blown away. I knew then that I had to do it.

So, two years later, my hiking partner and I start our journey. We got up, and our BnB host made us some stellar espresso to get us up and out the door.

Upon the tradition of walking into the Atlantic ocean at the beaches of Hendaye, and touching the obligatory HRP obelisk, the hike is begun.

I can’t say we saw anything truly spectacular today. Mainly, we climbed two big hills, a combined 1,300m of elevation gain (which is higher than most mountains where I come from). The hill we’re camping on now tops out at about 3,000 feet above sea level.

The views of Basque country are wonderful. Here are just a few of them:

We saw quite a few bikers and hikers today, mostly out for the day. I feel we will see less and less as we continue into the more remote reaches of the Pyrenees. Today we met a GR10 hiker, doing the trail that runs along the French side of the Pyrenees. It is also legendary for its beauty.

This will be a short post since I’m worn out from the 23km we hiked today! It’s hard to measure things with distance out here since there are so many climbs and drops. We should get an early start and have an easier day overall tomorrow.

The first step of a long journey is always the hardest. I estimate 3 weeks before we become lean, mean, hiking machines! We’ll need every ounce of strength we have to make it through this trek. But I’ll share every gram of its beauty with you.

See you tomorrow!