STAGE 12 (Lescun → Etsaut, 16 km)
The stay at the Hébergement Pic d'Anie guesthouse did me a world of good. Finally, I could treat myself to a long, hot shower, wash my muddy trousers and laundry, and dry my completely soaked boots.
Despite the red alert weather forecast, I secretly hoped I would still be able to continue the next day. In the morning, a group of Spanish hikers from Pamplona arrived. They were completely drenched. We lit a fire in the open hearth to dry their gear. Mine were still wet from the previous day, so I did a short walk through rainy Lescun in my spare sneakers. Then, it began to rain heavily—the rain turned into a literal, continuous bucket of water falling from the sky. I don't remember ever experiencing rain as intense as what I witnessed in Lescun. I postponed the continuation of my journey to the next day.
Everyone who had arrived the day before stayed in Lescun, except for the Canadian couple we lost touch with—they likely took some private rest in their rented cottage. We passed the time playing board games and talking about our previous hiking experiences. Outside, the rain poured, and the storm raged practically all day with thunder and lightning. Towards evening, a hiker arrived—a young man from Dublin, maybe twenty-five years old. He told us of his ordeal in the mountains when the storm caught him; how he fled from lightning and, lower down, dodged falling trees. He had been hiking the high-altitude HRP route, which is more exposed. He reported that the path had become impassable and that he would continue along the GR10 route.
In the morning, I had breakfast and checked the weather forecast, which was not promising. Finally, partly based on the Irishman's story, I decided that for the twelfth stage, I would take a longer but safer detour. I descended into the valley and followed the N134 road, passing the village of Cette-Eygun to Etsaut, which was the end of the twelfth stage. The morning started promisingly without rain, but the mountain path was muddy, making the descent via the local road a smarter choice.
I descended into the valley very quickly, reaching the village of Cette-Eygun after two hours, and then, after another hour of walking along the regional road, arrived at the medieval village of Borce. The village is also a stop on the Saint-Jacques-de-Compostela pilgrimage route. In the center of the village stands the stone Church of St. Michael. My arrival was early enough that the settlement seemed deserted and the streets empty. St. Michael's Church was open; a brief tour and a moment before the altar, then I continued toward the neighboring Etsaut, just under a kilometer away. It began to drizzle, so I entered the settlement with an open umbrella. The guidebook mentioned a small shop where a traveler could replenish food supplies. The shop was open but very poorly stocked, so I decided to skip buying food since I still had supplies for a few days. I was just about to move on when, in the middle of the square, I spotted the "lost" Canadian couple from Lescun. Despite the bad forecast the day before, they had decided to take the same time-shortcut as I did, but the rain was so intense that it didn't just soak them, but the entire contents of their backpacks, even though they were protected by rain covers. Now they had rented a room and were drying their soaked equipment.
From Etsaut, I set off into the thirteenth stage. The Basque Country was behind me, and I entered the Central Pyrenees.
