So...about those bears then...

When we were in Gavarnie a few weeks ago trying to decide which route to take, we read a section of the guidebook that said “the choice of the HRP is a choice for challenge!” This has become a bit of catchphrase, and is now wheeled out whenever things get a bit tough.

As far as the route goes, today’s challenge was the largest boulder-field Klaas or I had ever seen, full of the largest boulders either of us had ever seen (1st photo - it’s worth looking at the full version as Klaas is actually visible in the middle of some enormous rocks). At one point Klaas dislodged one that he described as “about the size of a refridgerator.” The boulder-field was only about 1.5km across, but it took about an hour and a half to cross. The GPS showed that we’d only actually been moving for 34 minutes though - the rest of the time was spent balancing on a rock trying to work out a way through.

Before we reached the boulders though, there was an unexpected challenge awaiting us as we woke up. Klaas looked out of his tent first and yelled over to me that my bag was outside and that there was a hole in my tent. Since Klaas is only serious about 20% of the time, I didn’t take much notice at first, but when I sat up I saw that the side of my tent was ripped open and my bag was indeed missing.

Going outside I saw my muesili supply all over the grass and the bread and chorizo wrappers empty (2nd photo). Worse still was that one shoulder strap of my rucksack had been torn through (3rd photo) and the hip belt was hanging by a thread.

To begin with we assumed that it was probably a fox, but as we studied the teethmarks on the tent and realised that the animal had moved a bag weighing 10-15kg, we concluded it was probably bigger than a fox, and we’ve since spoken to a refuge guardian who said that the altitude (2,400m) was too high for a fox.

The bear had thoughtlessly cut the shoulder strap right at the end, so I had to spend 40 minutes sewing it together and reinforcing it with safety pins. The hip belt has always been quite generous, so I’ve just tied a knot in that, again supported by safety pins. The tent has also been sewn and duck-taped together, so the show will go on.

The food may yet turn out to be the biggest problem. I managed to rescue some of the muesili but losing bread, chorizo and muesili is not very helpful.