August 22nd Lac de l'Oule

As the walk from Luz to Bareges was parallel to the road, I caught the Bus to Bareges. With hindsight I should have caught the bus the night before and camped at Bareges to get an early start.
I left Bareges 2 hours later than I would have liked to. The first couple of miles were parallel to the road and very steep in places.
When I got to a large car park, for the ski lifts there, I turned south up a valley, that just got lovlier as I gained height. It also got hotter.
The replacement brolly I had bought proved it was not uv resistant as I could feel my head burning under it.
I eventually reached the Col de Madamete, at 2509m it is the second highest point on the GR1O. At this height it was not so hot.
At the col was a grandmother and her 3 young grandsons, each with their own walking pole.
The way down passed lovely lakes with plenty of people around. There is a bus service to a carpark 1000' below the col.
After the carpark I only met a friendly young Spanish couple, who came over to chat when I was getting icy water from a stream.
Their path went of to another car park visible way below. Mine dropped 600m to Lac de l'Oule.
It was nearly 9pm when I found a flattish spot to camp.
By the time I had got water and eaten it was dark.
P.S. no alcohol meant it took a long time to get asleep, even though I was knackered.