Photo : Jean-Christophe BENOIST / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Cirque de Troumouse
In the upper valley of the Gave de Héas, the Troumouse cirque is among the largest glacial cirques in the Pyrenees, even in Europe. Its floor lies at around 2,100 to 2,200 metres' altitude. To the south, an immense rock wall, overlooked by the Pic de la Munia at 3,133 metres, closes the horizon and marks the border with Spain. The Pyreneanist Ramond de Carbonnières, at the turn of the nineteenth century, judged the cirque large enough to hold an immense crowd.
The site is part of the Pyrenees National Park and is an area of ecological, faunal and floral interest. The altitude climate prevents trees from growing, leaving room for vast meadows where you may spot marmots. You reach it from Gavarnie by the Héas road to the Maillet inn, then on foot in about forty minutes or, for the last part, by a little train.
