Number in series 26; Year of publication 1932 - Fell and Rock ...

172 THE FELL AND ROCK CLIMBING CLUB JOURNALgorge of Arazas sweeping in a great curve up to the Col de Gaulis,then the narrower canon of Anisclo, and Castel Mayor lookingno more than a little hill guarding the arid valley of Escuain.Further still to the east, faint and quivering in the heat haze, rosethe familiar shapes of the Batchimale, Posets and Nethou.The descent into the Val d'Arazas over interminable limestoneledges seemed endless, but we revived as soon as we reachedfirst the cascades and forests and then the open glades and troutstreams, and lastly the excellent inn at the Casas de Ordesa,where well-cooked meals and clean beds awaited us. Here onemore gastronomical lesson was enforced—not to drink absintheas a liqueur after a generous dessert of wild raspberries.From Ordesa one can return to France by two ways, eitherover the Port de Gavarnie or by the Breche de Roland. The Portis the historical way, taken at different times by pilgrims to St.James of Compostella, by marauders of either race, and formany centuries by the Spanish shepherds, wearing their traditionalsilk handkerchief and sombrero, wide coloured waist-scarfand loose velvet jacket, who went each year to a formal meetingin the Cirque on July 22nd, when the agreements betweenFrench and Spaniards for reciprocity of pasturage werereaffirmed. Similarly the Marcadau was the meeting place forthe men of Cauterets and Panticosa. The Breche de Roland(9,165 feet) is the more interesting passage for the climber.After the thick pine forests of the lower gullies of the Val Salaruswe climbed over grassy slopes, which even late in summer wererich with a wild profusion of flowers, then from ledge to ledge,to the bare upper valley. A large cairn marks the point at whichto take a peculiar level stony corridor on the right to the top ofthe Cotatuero valley. Only a chaos of boulders remains then,below that vast cleft in the ridge between the Taillon and Casquenamed after the Paladin. We descended over the glacier in thelate afternoon into the sombre glories and mysteries of theCirque—Ou la cascade unit, dans une chute immense,Son eternelle plainte aux chants de la romance.Two days later, frozen, battered and soaked, we gladly abandonedthe mountains to the approaching storms of autumn.