Paul taking pictures-leaving footprints

Vallee Du Lis, the starting point for my hike, setting off from Hospice De France @ 12:15, 1071m

Sun was very warm and the air was cold.

looking back down the Vallee after 1hr30,very tired, over eager!! bit of pacing here on in, 1900m

some geology!!

this reminded me of the scene where Frodo got caught by the massive spider in LOTR, kept moving.

the Tarns next to the refuge de venasque where as blue as they were cold also had plenty of fish

path from mid left, to centre and up to the Col [pass] @ 2250m, hiking for 3hrs, Col signified french/spanish border and, not knowing at the time, my first look at Mt.Aneto, the tallest Mountain in the Pyrenees, 3404m

first look, i was a happy hiker when i came through here, combined with the hard climb up the scree in the shadow on the french side into sunshine, downhill and this view for the afternoon. Refuge can be seen middle left of centre, refuge de renclusa, got there for 17:00 from 2250m down to 1100m back up to 2100m grrrr!!

First time ive seen a Glacier, much impressed until i had to walk on them.

Sister!! your famous!! Aneto farthest rear left above small round glacier

Pig in shit

this guy was so big he couldnt even jump! body the size of a my index finger

refuge De Renclusa, somebody has to bring the breakfast up!

job for the morning

looking back over to the french/Spanish border, the small v in the middle is the Col i passed through

morning time, feeling doubtful after a rubbish breakfast

about 1hr in and 300m up, going was slow due to climbing over boulders for a few kilometres

said boulders! biggest about car size

the colours in the morning were great, lots of purples reds oranges, could see a long way too without haze of sunshine and heat

Glacier up close, didnt have to cross this just hop some rocks in the upper left corner to get to the Col to get into the next Valley... unfortunately it was the wrong Col!!

steep, scary, sharp, cold. people mid left for perspective [3 black dots]

as soon as i saw this the brain was screaming NO!! it was the wrong way anyway, thats what you get for following spanish people with all the fancy gear! they had to climb back up, they were lucky. some french guys got struck with some sort of bravado and tried to climb down about 200-300m with rope, they spend the entire day trying to get down, we saw them from the opposite side after we bactracked round, they never made the top that day

this guy was a machine

next valley, after backtracking, we had lost about 3-4hrs, crossing this 3-4km boulder field was gruelling, burnt fingertips from cold rocks and glaciers coming up!!

first experience with crampons, seven of the finest euros ive ever spent, put them on wrong, although i was shown wrong!

at dinner in Refuge De Renclusa this lad sat down and said Ola...Bonjour and finally howareya! his name is Kieran, from Dublin, and he wasnt going to climb Ineto until a persuasive chat and a bottle of red wine later he was game ball!! i was really glad he came, sensible head and lots of encouragement going up when it was badly needed.

left foot crampon came off here and i was a bit shook, sat down, Kieran backtracked and gave me something to lean into while i tried to put it back on, that was 'scary moment number one'

when you realise your a slip away from the unthinkable then you think about it and then you put it out your mind because it doesnt bear thinking about.

'onwards and upwards' as a wise man once said

couldnt capture the angle of slope on camera- 2 black dots right of forehead for scale, crevasses were scary gurgling deep throaty wet sounds

4 people top left for scale

we were now the highest, pretty much, in all the pyrenees

'scary moment number 2' a 50m diagonal run up the steepest part of the smallest Glacier, 9hrs in my legs were jelly and the stamp stamp required to get purchase on the glacier was horrible, resting was out and looking back and down didnt help, Kierans rallying from behind got me up here, 20mins to summit

safe for now

'scary moment number 3'

El Paso De Mahoma [Mohammads pass] is the most terrifying part of Aneto. although its just 15m horizontal and about 2-3m wide, its scary because your exposed to a guaranteed fatal drop either side.

LEFT SIDE