Tour Du Néouvielle Gourguet De Madamete
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From hut to hut, with a light rucksack, trek through one of the most beautiful jewels in the Pyrenees: the Néouvielle massif, classified as a National Nature Reserve, and a veritable kingdom of water. There are countless high-altitude lakes here, alongside a multitude of laquets, torrents and peat bogs. The newly signposted loop route winds its way between granite boulders, high meadows, fragrant rhododendron groves and towering, multi-century-old hooked pines, offering a magnificent series of azure mirrors. A fabulous walk in the turquoise-blue Land of Lakes, to be enjoyed on your own, as a couple, with friends or as a family!
Created in 1936, long before the Pyrenees National Park, the Néouvielle National Nature Reserve – one of the oldest in France – has the distinction of being home to the highest concentration of lakes in the Pyrenees. No-one has ever been able to count them!
They dot the landscape, forming a string of azure mirrors that sparkle amidst meadows, rhododendrons and the tallest hooked pine forests in Europe. It’s an enchanting landscape that blends shades of green
of green and turquoise blue.
Lac Inférieur Du Bastan, Tour Du Néouvielle
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Lake Aumar, Néouvielle Reserve
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Tour of Néouvielle
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Home to marmots, this protected area is also a haven for a multitude of wild species. The most discreet lives in the streams. It is known as the Pyrenean euproct. A curious animal, a sort of large newt, it boasts of being a contemporary of the dinosaurs.
More traditional species include lone foxes, isards, marmots, griffon vultures and bearded vultures, red frogs and toads, and the famous desman nicknamed the “trumpet rat”.
Overlooking the lake of the same name, the chalet hotel at Orédon is directly accessible via the Route des Lacs de Haute Montagne. This large building with blue shutters, built of dressed stone and nestling among the hooked pines, can accommodate 80 people. The refuge offers two types of sleeping accommodation:
Full board or half board,
the cuisine is prepared using fresh, local produce.
Nestling in the valley of the same name, the refuge, due to open in summer 2023, offers a welcome stopover between the La Glère refuge and the Campana de Cloutou refuge. In the past, a simple hut, looking like a shepherd’s hut, was not enough to welcome hikers.
To make it easier to tour the massif, a new refuge
was built close to the hut and overlooking Lac de Madamette. The new Aygues-Cluses refuge is built entirely of stone and faces south to let in plenty of light. It can now accommodate 35 people in rooms and dormitories sleeping 2 to 6. Its photovoltaic panels provide the electricity needed to power the refuge. Equipped with a spring and a wood-burning stove to heat it, the refuge is entirely self-sufficient.
Overlooking Lake Campana, the new refuge, due to open in summer
2023, seems to be anchored to a rock in a magnificent setting of wild
granite, punctuated by groves of hooked pines. Too dilapidated, the old refuge was completely demolished to make way for a new building with a more modern, designer architecture, combining a wooden frame and a stainless steel roof.
Its capacity has doubled from 18 to 36 beds. Inside, the refuge features a common room with large windows overlooking the terrace and lake, 5 cosy dormitories sleeping 4 to 12, two showers and traditional toilets. In terms of autonomy, a micro-power station and solar panels provide an energy supply of 8 to 9kW.
To round off the Tour, the L’Oule refuge, on the banks of the lake
of the same name, offers a tasty meal, masterfully prepared by Lionel, refuge keeper by passion and chef by profession.
Open to the public at lunchtime and reserved for guests in the evening, the refuge’s table offers a host of local specialities : garbure royale with duck breast, Bigorre black pork, homemade blueberry and apple tarts… On the terrace, the brazier cooks duck breast, lamb chops, rib steaks, trout fillets and other vegetables over an open fire.
For the night, the refuge can accommodate up to 34 people, in double rooms, family rooms (4 people) and dormitories (8 people).
Another huge building, this time with red shutters, houses the La Glère refuge. Built after the Second World War and renovated in 2007, the La Glère refuge overlooks the lake of the same name and offers a magnificent view over the granite massif of Néouvielle. Béatrice, a Parisian web designer who fell in love with the Néouvielle peaks, has been the hut’s caretaker for over ten years.
The refuge can accommodate 60 people in
dormitories sleeping 20.
The reflection of the Pic du Néouvielle on the Lac d’Aumar (“Oô mar” means “as big as the sea”), a mirror worthy of this emblematic peak with its original pyramid-like profile that reigns over the reserve from the top of its 3091 m.
At Lac d’Aubert, the orientation table showing the surrounding peaks.
Lake Aumar, Néouvielle
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Lake Aumar, Néouvielle Reserve
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Hiking on the GR10, in the Néouvielle National Nature Reserve
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Tour Du Néouvielle Gourguet De Madamete
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Pic de Madamète (2,657m). It offers fabulous views over the 2 sides of the Reserve and the Pic du Midi, and the satisfaction of conquering a summit.
From the Col de Madamète, a quick 100m climb over a spectacular ridge takes you to the summit.
Lake Bastan Hpte_Laurent Gaits
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