One of my favourite winter snowshoe adventures is to Refuge Page in the Pyrenees.
My preferred hiking route starts from just below the small village of Betpouey, just after Luz-Saint-Sauveur.
This route takes you up through the forests along a winding path until you pop out onto a trail that winds round to the main valley up to the refuge.
The total distance is about 10.5km with 1600m of vertical ascent. If you are there in the summer then there are plenty of rivers along the way to get water.
I have only been up here in winter but can only imagine how beautiful this route would be in the summer.
Here is a link to the Komoot hiking route
The refuge itself is amazing but pretty basic. It is a wilderness shelter so designed as a place to shelter rather than somewhere to stay.
There are probably enough beds for 8 people, a table, couple of benches and a few stools. There is a pan which can be used for melting ice, but is also used for cooking.
There is a wood burner an plenty of logs, but the logs are 3 times too long for the burner so you have to cut them! The food burner is a littler temperamental and it can get quite smokey. I would advise keeping the door a little ajar so you can create a good draw.
There is a €8 per person charge for staying here and you need to leave it in cash box.
Things to think about taking:
- cloth and detergent to clean pan
- firestarters for the fire – I also took a compressed sawdust log
- eyedrops, just in case the fire smokes
- candles
- games
