HRP cooking options.

10 – 15 years ago you had a choice of Campingaz canisters & stoves or Bleuet ones (hazardous imho). Today I think you should be able to buy screw-thread canisters in most towns along the range. They catch on fairly quickly in the shops. A standard screw-thread stove should be fine.

White gas – refuelling could be extremely difficult. Alcohol – not easy. Go for canister.

And do try the cheeses! You will never eat American cheese again.

Cheers

I

I thru hiked the whole Pyrenean High Route last year, from the Atlantic to the Mediteranean. I noticed that canister gas for stoves was very patchy. There are very few towns or villages on your way, if you stick to the proper route, and then very few gear shops in the towns when you do get to one (varies from 3 to none). Sometimes a food shop will have canisters, but different shops sell different makes, and sometimes they are plain out of stock. Some people were carrying enough canisters for at least two weeks at a time to get round this, very heavy.

I took an alcohol stove, the Trail Designs Sidewinder Inferno kit with the Starlyte stove and 600 ml pot, total weight 5.5 ozs, using max 1 oz fuel per day . I picked up or saw alcohol in Hendaye, Arizkun pharmacy (ask for the 96% ethanol kept in the back), Aldudes, Lescun, Gavarnie, Vielha (posted my ice axe and crampons home from here, alchy from last garage on east edge of town) and Bolquère.

The great advantage of the Inferno design is that you can burn wood if you do happen to run out of fuel. It’s fun anyway. If desperate when going above treeline you can carry a few sticks.

^nice campsite!

That IS a problem with the original HRP. It was designed to avoid all towns. In essence, you needed a support crew with a car.
The revised (Cicerone) HRP is a bit better for that.

Cheers

When I walked the HRP several years ago, I used a Bushbuddy which freed me up from worrying about fuel. Plenty of brew-ups on the way. Wood is good, and plentiful and free. I also carried a Zelph alcohol stove which I used mainly in the morning for a quick brew. In France ask for Alcohol Methylique or Alcool a Bruler or Alcool Denature. In Spain ask for Alcohol Metilico or Alcohol de quemar. Some good threads on the HRP here in the forums if you search. Look for free cabanas for shelter.

Happy trails!

As you know from our trip report, we did not cook at all.  You can eat like a king for a modest cost in Spain and France — cheese, sausage, bread.  You can get all the calories and protein you need from that diet.  Add tomatoes and carrots when possible, along with some nuts and dry apricots.  Even the tiny shops in both countries have excellent cheese, sausage, bread.  Yummie.

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Grant, but:

Me and my buddy are also hiking the HRP in July, and were wondering if anyone knows if it’s possible to ship gas canisters via mail in Spain/France? We are going to bounce box some stuff ahead, and we thought of buying gas cans in Biarritz/Hendaye and shipping them. Anyone have knowledge of this? Should we just rely on finding them in the towns along trail?

Grant, I hope you have a wonderful hike, and maybe we’ll see each other on the trail!

PS. Amy, your trip report is amazing, and a really really great resource for us. Thank you!!

Forbidden, but I do not think they check each pack.

Transport is by road

http://www.laposte.fr/particulier/conditions-generales-de-vente/%28language%29/fre-fr

see 4.5.1

4.5.1 Ensemble des envois postaux

Il est interdit d’insérer les objets suivants dans les envois postaux, notamment en application des dispositions particulières de l’Union Postale Universelle :

• les matières ou objets dangereux ou salissants :
  • toute marchandise relevant des réglementations nationales, européennes et internationales sur les produits dangereux tels que notamment définis par les règlements OACI comme, de façon non exhaustive : les explosifs, les munitions, les gaz, les matières inflammables solides et liquides, les substances oxydantes, toxiques et/ou, infectieuses, les produits corrosifs ou radioactifs, les piles et batteries au lithium⁴;…….

Ah. That is what I suspected might be the case. Thanks for the info, Ivo!

I guess it’s better to buy as we go, don’t want to risk having our stuff held somewhere and having to wait for it even if the risk is small.

I think you will have no problems for sending gas.(esbit is even more safer when you stock it in your box)

If you do not trust you can buy online and send to an adresse (via mail ;-) )

http://en.monrechaud.com/gas-and-fuel.html

In my experience, only sports shops in the larger villages sell screw threaded canister, whereas Campingaz canisters are more widely available. I would suggest you by a Bleuet Micro Plus and a canister when you get there.

Originally we could only buy Campingaz in the villages along the Pyrenees, so we bought the 450 g ones, each of which lasted the two of us a fortnight when doing all our own cooking (in our tent).

But more recently we have seen a lot more screw thread canisters becoming available. OK, you might have to do a little planning ahead.

That is why my Winter stoves have universal connectors on them: so they can handle (most) any Lindal valve canister. That works fine.

The problem with the POs in the small towns was often the hours of opening – or the hours of non-opening. Unreliable when you want to breeze through.

Cheers

Thanks everyone for the tips and info! Good stuff to think about!

If the case is that we can’t get any fuel at a town, we could also just do no cook for a section.

We’ll have to work with the post office opening hours anyway since we are going to be documenting our hike, and need to send memory cards back home and make backups for the material. This might equal extra time spent waiting in town, but we’re prepared for it.

If the case is that we can’t get any fuel at a town, we could also just do no cook for a section.

Don’t forget: you could always buy meals at the Refuges (or in town) in the middle of the day, and buy some dinner food from them as well. They are flexible.

Cheers

Yeah, we will keep them in mind and use their services for sure!