It wasn't a great night's sleep and the end of the dawn chorus that signalled 7.30 am seemed to come all too soon. There wasn't a great deal of chat either as we breakfasted and threw the last pieces of kit into tackle sacks. The drive to Val de Ason was quiet too and it took a donkey standing in our usual parking spot to illicit a bit of conversation. Stripping down for the climb ahead was complicated by also having to keep the donkey out of the car but a good forehead scratch seemed to be ample substitute for a lift.
The parking attendant donkey loves a good forehead scratch |
It was then onwards and upwards, the concrete track soon turning into a narrower and more ancient feeling path that headed straight up the hill side. The distant sound of bells and frequent cow pats on the track worried us that at any point a herd of cows could come charging down towards us but a final barn signalled the end of our confined path and the start of the open fell. The zig zag path we had spied on Google's satellite imagery wasn't quite as well defined on the ground as we thought it would be but there was no chance of going the wrong way - it was just up!
Having endured the brutal climb in solitary torment we regrouped at a small col through which a marked path threaded and I turned on the gps. To my astonishment it indicated that the cave was just 75m away and down hill along the path. That couldn't be right could it? Had we finally completed our 800m of ascent? The arrow on the gps needs a bit of movement before it points in the right direction so I set off and yes, it was down hill and the metres began rapidly ticking down. A trod dropped down from the main path and after just a couple of metres the gps read 0m and I was stood in front of a small doorway in the rock. Could this be it? A bolt at the entrance signalled it could be and Mike taking a slightly different route from the path pointed out a painted arrow pointing at the opening with the word Cueto above. We were there!