refugio de biados pico de posets 20100904

The route to Pico de Posets (3371m) - 2nd highest peak of Pyrenees - from Refugio de Biados.

0,0km (1709m) - Refugio de Biados. Starting point of the hike, just from the dirt road below the refuge, where we could park the car. First 1km goes through the dirt road among houses, to enter the forest after crossing small river. Here are two alternatives to follow (we took the north-east one, to later come back from the south to complete the loop).

2,6km (1850m) - The dirt road through the forest ends and we turn right to small path between the trees, much steeper from now on.

3,8km (2160m) - path exits forest and from now on the path leads through open area with lots of loose rocks - sticks are now very helpful.

6,7km (2850m) - from this point a very steep climb starts (very often with hands as well). The sticks are more and more usefull if not 100% necessary! This climb continues until reaching the final ridge and then along the ridge to the peak (last 300m to reach Pico Posets).

8,4km (3371m) - Pico Posets. Nice views in all directions (with Monte Perdido to the west and Pico Aneto to the east). 45min rest and we continue down to the south to the other side of the peak.

9,5km (2950m) - next to Diente de Llardana. The path passes just under famous Diente de Llardana - a tooth-shaped peak, popular destination for rock climbers. The path continues down in the shadow of the peak, that causes snow cover all year round, making the descent a little tricky and dangerous. This part is known as "Canal de Fonda".

11,0km (2670m) - Ibon de Llardaneta. The end of descent from the peak, next to mountain lake. Some hikers stay the night here for a longer routes. After passing the lake, we start the final steep climb to the pass.

12,3km (2860m) - the pass "La Forqueta o Collado de Eriste". End of the climb and from now on only the descent to the refugio. From this point, nice views over the rest of the route including the refuge itself.

19,9km (1730m) - back to the small river where paths separated. As the GPS was dying, I have stopped recording for last 1km to the car.

21,0km (1709m) - complete loop and night in refuge as it was getting dark already

The route is moderate up to difficult (just for the climbing section before the peak and for overall amount of distance). Sticks are very helpful and make the effort much less. At this time of the year, it is necessary to start very early to be able to complete the loop before dask. The time 10,5h includes all the stops.