Crossing the high mountains, finding a refuge, understanding the importance of water in the Pyrenees,…
The high mountains are an incredible place. Due to limited resources and extreme conditions, it isn’t inhabited year-round. It is punctuated by seasonal shelters: refuges. Once the preserve of mountaineers and professionals, these refuges are now open to the general public. Because of the constraints associated with their isolation, refuges are not high-altitude hotels, but they are places where people can get together and enjoy each other&.
Water is a precious resource in the Pyrenees. Whether they come from the Atlantic or the Mediterranean, the clouds are stopped by the mountains. It rains, it snows, and some of this water runs off and collects in torrents, waterfalls, rivers and streams. Other water infiltrates and circulates underground. At higher altitudes, snow, lakes and glaciers form veritable reservoirs of water!
From Superbagnères you can see the Maupas penstock. Thanks to this means of transporting water, all the hydroelectric schemes in the Luchonnais region are able to export a massive amount of renewable energy.
Who is the brown bear? It is the largest wild land mammal in mainland France. Almost extinct in the Pyrenees at the end of the 20th century, several reinforcements since 1996 have helped to revive the population.
