Lac d'Aumar

A definitive Pyrenean valley walk with lakes, glacier views and more than a few surprises.

DISTANCE: 8.5km
APPROX TIME: 3 hours
START: Lac d'Orédon
FINISH: Lac d'Orédon

While high-top views are all well and good, something the Pyrenees does really well is fantastic valley walks. This walk, to the Lac d'Aumar, is perhaps the best example of this: this walk encompasses woodland, a series of beautiful lakes and terrific mountain and glacier scenery.

 

Begin at the Lac d'Orédon, the first of the several lakes you will visit today. This is a great place to be in itself: the lake is surrounded by a wall of mountains, and at the head of one of the valleys (you will be walking up the other) a massive dam stands imposingly, holding back the Lac de Cap de Long. The nearby refuge even sells some great meals and treats. However, your main aim should be to find the path which begins at the carpark on the lake's eastern edge, and continue it into the coniferous forest to the north.

From here, the path climbs steeply up through the forest, accompanied by various streams or rivers - one of the greatest aspects of this walk is that you are never too far from water - before eventually levelling slightly, as the path dips to Les Laquettes.

Les Laquettes ("the little lakes") are a series of three sheets of water divided by short sections of stream. The path can seem indistinct in this part of the forest, with several routes seeming to appear at once. As a rule, hug the lakes; while the path may seem indistinct, the closer you are to the lakes the easier the route will be. The path underfoot can also make progress sluggish, with a series of boulderfields in places, so take care.

Les Laquettes from above

After the next rise away from the Laquettes (where you may find yourself parallel to a road - more on which later) the path levels, and you will soon come to a red signpost, indicating a fork in the road: be sure to take the right-hand fork, towards the Lac d'Aubert, the penultimate lake of this walk.

As you round the next corner, you will see the dam which constrains the Lac d'Aubert: walk along the path parallel to the dam, and then turn the corner, to see the lake in all its glory...

Disappointment. At the time of writing, the Lac d'Aubert was drained, its deep clear waters replaced by a mess of machinery, rocks and dust. Turn the next corner, and you'll wonder why you bothered with the walk at all, as the aforementioned road leads to a carpark where you could have driven to anyway. Was it all for nothing?

Not in the slightest. From this new carpark, take the path northwards for approximately four hundred metres, and you will see the reason to do this walk: the Lac d'Aumar. The lake itself is beautiful: clear blue waters, clouded only by the multitude of little fish which swim beneath its surface. On a nice day it is the perfect suntrap, with the open end of the valley south-facing, accompanied by rocks and grass to sit on and enjoy the sunshine, and the view.

Lac d'Aumar

The view is perhaps the most impressive I have seen in this area so far: on the east side of the valley, you can see the Col de Madamète and the Pic de Madamète; at the head of the valley the mighty Pic de Mourèle stands tall. The very best view is on the west side of the valley, however: the juggernaut-like Pic de Neouvielle sits magnificently - in previous walks I had seen it from afar, a star in the distance, and to finally see it this close is something special. This view of the Pic de Neouvielle is of particular mention because of its glacier, which you can see almost in its entirety from this angle.

Pic de Neouvielle

Once you have taken all of this in, it is time to descend. While you can retrace your steps all the way back to the start, I recommend instead taking the path all the way down the western side of the Lac d'Aumar, and then hit the road. While road walking tends to be quite boring, this time around it is in fact quite rewarding, as the views both of the valley you leave and the far distance views eastwards stay with you for longer than if you dropped back into the forest immediately. Enjoy the views, and follow the road all the way back to the Lac d'Orédon.





This is the sort of walk that only the Pyrenees or Alps can give you: a valley walk which feels spectacular rather than tedious, with changing scenery which never ceases to surprise. While this particular walk could have been a disappointment, with the drained lake and the secondary carpark, the beauty of the Lac d'Aumar and the brilliant views of the Pic de Neouvielle more than make up for it. Highly recommended.