North face of Monte Perdido

Today's walk was like climbing Ben Nevis only starting at the same height as its top and ascending to over 2600 metres.

I woke with the blackbirds chattering at dawn; a cold, efficient start; a short bike ride and began walking at 9 am.

After a short warm up through the woods the path zig zags relentlessly up the head wall of the valley for hours. Then a sudden change of scene - all rock, ice and snow. The north face of Monte Perdido hasn't much glacier left. Through a lunar landscape to picnic at the beautiful high level lake Marbore. The ridge across the lake is the French border.