MANTET - PIC de la DONA (2702m)

(en français:
http://www.randos-vernetlesbains-canigou.eu/mantet-pic_dona.pdf)

An excellent mountain walk; challenging but without any significant technical difficulty. The circuit takes you from the remote and delightful village of Mantet, up to and along the frontier between France and Spain. The return route follows a section of the GR10 trans-Pyrenean longdistance path.

Map: IGN 1: 25,000 2250 ET (Bourg-Madame Mont-Louis)

1 - START: at the top entrance to Mantet village (which is closed to motor traffic). We descend through the village to a river crossing. We follow the GR10 long-distance footpath (red-andwhite waymarks) across the Ressec river onto a track straight ahead. (When the river is flowing strongly, crossing here may be a problem. An alternative option is to take a path on the right shortly before reaching the river. The path takes you down to a footbridge over the river. After the bridge, the path bears to the left. It soon rejoins the track.)... A little further on, we go to the right, and we cross a bridge over the Alemany river. We go to left and we follow the path up the valley... After climbing for over an hour, we reach:

2 - A path bifurcation. The GR10 goes to the right, but we continue straight ahead, on the 'Ronde du Canigó' (red-and-yellow waymarks). After a short distance, we arrive at the Refuge de l'Alemany, a mountain hut for walkers and riders. (Water is brought down in a pipe to this hut from a source higher up.) We continue to follow the path beyond this hut. It crosses an area which is sometimes damp; then the path enters a forest.

3 - Ruins of the Baraque des Allemands. This was a checkpoint constructed by German troops during the Second World War. There is a path fork at this point. We go to the right, and we continue to follow the red-and-yellow waymarks... Higher up, the path emerges above the forest. It crosses open ground... Higher up, it climbs a steep scree slope.

4 - The 'Porteille de Mantet' (2412m), a col on the frontier between France and Spain. We turn right (leaving the 'Ronde du Canigó'). We follow a well-used path which follows the frontier and which climbs the line of a ridge.

5 - The summit of the 'Pic de la Dona' (2702m). (From here to when we meet again the GR10, at point 7, the path is sometimes indistinct.) After the summit, we continue at first in the same direction, across a plateau. We soon bear to the right and we follow the line of the highest ground, around the heads of two deep valleys on the right. Bearing again to the right, we climb a little, and we reach:

6 - The summit of the 'Pic de Serre Gallinière' (2663m). We cross the boulder fields on this high ground with great care... Keeping to the line of highest ground, we descend in a northward direction... We reach:

7 - The 'Col del Pal' (2294m). Here we meet again the GR10. We turn right and we follow the GR10. For a while the path follows the line of the contour... Later the path descends steeply.

2 - We return to the path bifurcation where the GR10 meets the 'Ronde du Canigó'. We turn left and we follow our outward route along the GR10, back to Mantet.

(See also: http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=10646741)

(A pdf version of this walk description is at: http://www.walks-vernetlesbains-canigou.eu/wikiloc/mantet-pic_dona.pdf, or click on 'View more' below.)