We call this trip our “Backcountry Pyrenees”, but of course, there is no real backcountry in the Pyrenees. There is precious little left of it in Europe I think, not in the same, “walk for a week” or “float plane access only” way that I imagine there is in Canada; the country just isn´t big enough and life encroaches on even the most out of the way places. Wherever we go, there are normally the marks of man on the land; the scars of electricity pylons, roads cutting through the contours or the acme of scattered buildings. In a way though “backcountry” is also a choice, a definite decision to seek out the quiet and out of the way places, places where you are unlikely to bump into other people and where adventure still lurks. That was the decision we made on our “Backcountry Pyrenees” mountain bike trip. None of these places are separated from the nearest settlement by days of travel, nor are they secret places which nobody else knows about, what we have are infrequently used, quiet places, where we can practice our sport with a rarely felt sense of true adventure.
Part of this blog is self interest because … Great pictures and more