Bestard Trek FF – Experience a Trans-Pyrenees on foot

A journey of a million steps between the mediterranean and the cantabrian sea with the Bestard Trek FF

Text and photos: Sergio Fernández Tolosa & Amelia Herrero Becker

Sergio Fernández Tolosa and Amelia Herrero Becker, authors of the website www.conunparderuedas.com, tell us about their Trans-Pyrenees Crossing on foot, why they decided to follow a completely free route and what they felt with the Bestard Trek FF. We asked them if they would choose them again for a similar trip and their answer was:

Of course, and literally they are as good as new

Everyone knows that the most unimaginable journey begins with a single step. And then, in order to continue moving forward, you only have to take another, and another, and another, and another. What remains an unattainable challenge is to compress a journey of a million steps into little more than a thousand words. Even more so if the route runs along the Pyrenees, linking the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay. Between the two seas, a myriad of valleys and passes await the trans-Pyrenean climber who advances with the house on his back, stitching the wrinkled and abrupt dividing line of the mountain range. Forty days tickling the roads with feet and poles. Forty nights sleeping on the back of a rocky dream, under the stars.

The first step: The now

Even though we know that it will be impossible to fit everything on a sheet of paper and a half, let’s take the first step and choose the route: GR-10?, GR-11? or HRP? Another difficult challenge! The best thing to do is to combine all three. This way we can jump from one side to the other, improvise the route according to the whim of the clouds in the sky, get to know a bit of each slope, always travelling in search of the sun, the highest passes or even prowl a summit if the strength is there and the forecast is favourable.

In the midst of the preparations, we also have to lay some foundations: during this trip we want to spend as much time as possible in contact with nature and be as autonomous as possible, both in terms of equipment – we will carry a tent, crampons and ice axe – and in terms of supplies. We have decided that we will only stock up in villages, which will mean carrying more and designing the route in such a way that we can stop at least once a week in places where there is a food shop.

The second box: Footwear

Before the ceremonial swim in the Mediterranean and feeling the pebbles of Portbou beach on the soles of our feet, a few decisions had to be made. One of the most important is footwear. The rucksack will be quite heavy with all the material and food necessary to cover some relatively long stretches without villages – from Andorra to Vielha, for example, we estimate 8 days. This makes us opt directly for the boot option.

We are therefore looking for a boot that is versatile, waterproof, resistant, comfortable and as light as possible, but which at the same time transmits a feeling of stability and constant control, even with a backpack loaded to the brim. We need it to offer the ideal balance between the necessary poise for descents over broken terrain and the dynamism of a lighter step in easy areas, which there will also be.

In search of the ideal footwear, we went to Barrabés Barcelona and immediately opted for the Bestard Trek FF. Cèsar, very friendly and expert, helped us choose and determine the right size.

Bestard Trek FF, first impressions

We tried them for the first time just a few days before starting the big trip, taking a walk along the trails of the Turó del Carmel – at that time we lived in Barcelona – and we found them to be very different from the boots we had had before: they are firm, but they invite you to go fast. Obviously, when we put the weight on our back, the sensation will be different, but now, without a backpack, everything flows. The foot feels really protected, as does the ankle. The sole has the necessary stiffness to move over rough terrain and the 700 grams per foot -in size large- make you feel fast in your movements (considering it’s a boot). The lacing system is very comfortable and precise. The Quick-Lock allows you to adjust the tension of the laces at will, depending on the terrain where you are going to move. On our feet – the last is rather narrow – the FF Trek and FF Trek Lady are like gloves.

Five and a half weeks

The following five and a half weeks will become one of the travelling experiences we remember best.

For several years now, every summer we have ventured on a cycle touring trip in which we combine cycling, hiking and some ascents on foot without technical difficulty: from Tortosa to Marrakech via the Mulhacen and the Toubkal; from Portbou to Vienna through the Alps; the Trans-Pyrenees itself on mountain bike, parking the bikes at the foot of some of the three mountains to climb on foot… This Trans-Pyrenees on foot is our first long trip without our beloved bicycles. For the first time, we feel that sweet and valuable freedom of being able to reach the most beautiful, remote and lonely places in an autonomous way. To be able to sleep, if we feel like it, at the very top of the mountain. To spend hours and hours, days and days, in natural spaces that in the 21st century can only be reached on foot. Of not having to retrace our steps to pick up anything. Of being able to come out on the other side, to go over the top, to travel higher.

The rhythm of life

On a journey on foot you learn to value time differently. The first thing you put aside is the rush. It is not an exercise in mindfulness or Zen philosophy. It is something natural. It’s a matter of survival.

Soon after starting, after a period of adaptation that oscillates from one person to another, the mind is re-tuned to the new reality. Things happen more slowly, but it is not a problem. On the contrary. It’s a dream come true. Slow Life, they call it. You no longer obsess about getting there. You simply enjoy what’s right in front of you at any given moment, which makes everything more intense. The small details, the sensations, the colours, the sounds, the tastes, the light, insects, leaves on trees, the flowers.

In our case, we begin to match the rhythm of life with that of the mountain range at the height of the Canigó, which welcomes us possessed by storms. After several days of walking through humid forests of moss-covered ferns, the rain is no longer the enemy. We accept it as a travelling companion that comes and goes, but does not stay forever.

When the sun shines, we take the opportunity to march higher, to lose ourselves in less trodden routes and to walk along the peaks. And so, immersed in the dynamic and constant up and down of the journey, we cross from one valley to another: from Canigó to Puigmal, from Puigcerdà to Andorra, from Andorra to Val d’Aran…

Indelible traces

Of the whole route, what leaves the biggest mark on our cerebral cortex are the most mountainous sectors. The most unspoilt, solitary and rugged. The ones that can only be covered on foot (but without the need for ropes). We often go for the “B-sides” of the big hits. For example, we deliberately avoid the Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici.

On a trip lasting so many days, memories sometimes get mixed up and confused, but we agree on one thing: we loved starting and finishing by the sea. And we would do it again, but it is in the Central Pyrenees where we enjoy the mountain range the most, where we want to come back again and again to try a different route, not because it is better, but because we want to keep discovering new landscapes that leave you in Babia for hours.

About the Bestard Trek FF, at this stage of the journey, we realise that a boot is good when after so many kilometres it hasn’t given you any reason, however small, to think otherwise. They simply perform wonderfully on all terrains.

Waterproof and durable

Whether on the GR-11, the GR-10 or the HRP, along the way we come across several hikers who do the route backwards. It is easy to identify them. They differ from day hikers in the size of their backpacks, but also in their clothes, hair, tan… Perhaps even in their attitude, probably because of their pace of life.

We also meet some transpirineists who travel towards the Cantabrian Sea, with whom we share some walking moments. Walking together, we confirmed that in a Transpirenaica on foot, even sticking to the GR-11, it is essential to wear shoes with Gore-Tex. If you have any hint of doubt “because it’s summer”, it is suddenly erased when you see someone in front of you balancing in vain, to cross a slightly flooded pasture and end up with soaked feet.

We also note the importance of the durability of the materials. In the Huesca area, we came across a transpirineist who had opted for lighter shoes, as he carried less equipment and spent most of his time in refuges. On arriving in Benasque, he has to change his shoes. He has been slipping for days because the tread on the sole has disappeared after just two weeks of walking.

For our part, after that adventure, we have continued to use the Bestard Trek FF on various shorter hikes, such as the GR-221, for example. As to whether we would choose the Bestard Trek FF again for such a trip, there is only one thing we can say: of course. In fact, we would take the same ones, because even though our Transpirenaica on foot was several years ago, they are still in top condition, ready to undertake another journey of a million steps.

Click here for more information about the Bestard Trek Lady FF

Click here for more information about the Bestard Trek FF

Crossing sheet

Start: Portbou.
End: Hendaye.
Time of year: July-August.
Duration: 38 days.
Itinerary: combination of GR-10, GR-11, HRP and some links to other paths.
Guidance: paper maps from Editorial Alpina (in Vielha we sent half of the maps home); to save battery power, we only used the GPS in case of doubt or fog, so we did not record the itinerary.
Complete chronicle of the trip: www.conunparderuedas.com