HRP Day 54 Las Illas - Col de l'Ouillat

Sunday 30 August 2015

Set off, usual time and walked over dull dirt roads to the Col de Perthus, a border town with all of the tackiness such places manage to display. There was a supermarket but I honestly couldn't think of anything I wanted. I found my two friends, Reg & Florent, sat and had a beer, then set off for the Col de l'Ouillat. This is at 937m so clearly climbing is involved, Perthus being about 280m. It turned out to be a bit of a challenge, since the route of the GR10 has been changed several times in recent years in this area. I had assumed I could follow the instructions in my guidebook, even if the official GR route had changed, but this turned out not to be the case. Not only was it not the GR10 any more, it was not a footpath at all. After floundering about for a bit, I ended up walking up the zigzag road to the col. Feeling rather aggrieved, I stuck out a thumb now and then, but sadly few cars came past, and none of them stopped. Still, I got to the Chalet d' Albere by about 5pm. I thought of sleeping in my tent but it has turned very windy, so I decided against, and booked in for a room and dinner. Dinner was ok but it was pasta.

One more day!

I kept my eyes peeled, but failed to spot anything either gymnastique or naturiste. Either would have done. Ideally, both. 

these are cork oak trees, stripped of their bark as they are, every 8 or 10 years

and here's the crop. 

a Panissars' graveyard near Perthus, with a fort in the background

Le Perthus, with the A9 autoroute behind