Hiking, Scrambling, Mountaineering, and Climbing

I have no idea, the only think I climb is stairs.

Any recommendations for good routes / summits / general areas in the Catalan Pyrenees for a weeks hiking. Will be driving down with my GF in August. We’ve thought about Carros de Foc or a section of the GR11. I’d like to hit some of the higher peaks too. We’ve bought a couple of guide books but there quite dense with detail and it’s hard to get overview of different areas, if anyone has any highlights, please let me know!

Yes. I live here, in a place called Esterri d'Àneu.

Do you want to camp or do day routes?
The refuge in Aiguastores might be booked up, but you can look.

Aiguastores is busy, but beautiful. Parc natural d'alt pirineau is quieter and more wild. Pallars sobirà, vall d'Aran, vall de Boí are all good.

You won't really go wrong anywhere. Walking Corros, HRP or GR11 will all be good. Don't worry about summit's, you'll find them, and actually the best stuff is between them.

I’m going walking in the Lake District in October. I’ve got a small dog, pug/border cross. He’s quite enthusiastic but tired after a while. So I’m looking for a day pack that’s small enough to carry the minimum but also expansive enough to either fit him in it, or strap him in somehow

We did as much with a Jack Russell in the lakes with a k9(?) backpack. Ballache to get her strapped in but it worked

Thanks for the tips dude, I’ll check out those areas

HRP is untouchable, the best, wildest route, in some places mountain walking, in others scrambling

If you need anything ask. I'm away from 5tj August so ask before then!

Used my Double Rainbow for the first time this weekend. Above treeline. Very calm weather in the day but savage wind overnight. Wind was hitting the large side panel of the tent and at one point it did collapse. Had to hold it up with my hand until the wind calmed down. Jumped out, reinforced ridgeline with trekking pole inside the vestibule as designed and it held up really well for the rest of the night. Was impressed by how well shoving a trekking pole in there worked. Also, a total palace for one. Zero regrets with carrying a shelter that's 2x heavier than what I'm used to for that much comfort and space. Still only weighs 1010g with the carbon tent poles and 6x stakes...

Above refugi ventosa looking up to Coll de comalesbienes.

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Myself and the child want to conquer (walk up) Snowdon this summer. Ideally from a Southern approach as we are camping that side.

Any preferred routes. She's 13. But I'm 51 and shit at walking.

Watkin Path is steep?

We should do the Rhyd-Ddu path?

Planning to be sensible, will take layers, waterproofs, snacks and a proper map.

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Either path will be straightforward enough, just take it steady. Given the horrific state of queues at the summit I would start as early as possible, even before dawn if you can. Or consider a different mountain - Cnicht is beautiful and I would suspect probably deserted

Interesting. I'm not sure I want to hang out with that many other people in cagoules. I hadn't considered a different mountain.

The last hill I went up was deserted at the summit

Depends how precious you are to stand next to the cairn and get a photo, if that isn't important to either of you then that line is avoidable

Cnicht is perhaps too far away, we'll be based near Machynlleth

If you are staying that far south then I would go for Cadair Idris, crowds won't be a problem and has the big mountain feel

Took my daughter riding on the beach at Fairbourne at the same age and went down well

Cnicht closer to Machynlleth than Snowdon I would have thought? But would second Cader Idris as the perfect choice from near Machynlleth. Better views as well. If you want REAL solitude go up in the Rhinogs

Cnicht closer to Machynlleth than Snowdon I would have thought?

Yep. Park at Croesor and there's a good straightforward route you can do over Cnicht, around the head of the valley, past the abandoned slate buildings (very cool) and then there is the option of going over a couple of Moelwyns or taking the valley path back to Croesor.

Good pizza at Y Garreg in Garreg on the way home.

Thanks for all the tips, really helpful. We've settled on doing a 3 day circular hike from Benasque to Refugi de Biados to Refugi Angel Orus and then back to Benasque. Then later another stretch of the GR 11 from Refugi Conangles back to Espot taking a couple of days. Really looking forward to it!

That'll be lovely. The gr11 does skirt the high peaks in Aiguastores some what. You could walk the gr11.18* from refugi restanca to colomers to get a bit back. .
If you like scrambling you could go up past bessiberi refugi from congales, over bessiberi sud and down to refugi ventosa, but it's a little spicy.
Or come at refugi restanca via tort de rius and lac de mar. Lac de mar is spectacular

*https://travesiapirenaica.com/gr11/mapa-gr11.php

If you want down to espot town you can get a bus from there.

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Can anyone comment on the suitability of the Walker's Haute Route for trail runners? Chamonix to Zermatt. Will be doing a week (partial route) with camping kit, so a fairly heavy bag I guess. Have the runners but wondering about splashing out for boots. Would prefer not to but don't want to injure myself either.

What runners? High route means rocks, boulders scree. I've a pair of bushidos for that, which had 9/16mm stack so lots of stability. Wouldn't dream of that terrain in my speedgoats with 30mm stack.

Also depends on you personally, and how strong your ankles are. I can happily move over that terrain with my kid in the backpack in bushidos. But I've rolled my ankles a lot and they're stronger now. I like agility.

Nothing worse than doing/using something new on something new.

Ah yes we planned on doing the Lac de Mar variation. Bessiberi looks amazing too. So much to do! One question, what maps do people use to navigate?

I’ve got Bushidos, never tried Hokas. What’s wrong with the Speedgoats?