I had been thinking about activating Perdiguère for quite some time, and I finally had the opportunity to do it during a three-day trip in the Luchonnais area with friends.
Day 1: Hike to Refuge du Portillon (2571 m)
The first day was dedicated to reaching Refuge du Portillon at 2571 m. It was a very warm day, and the 1500 m ascent felt quite demanding in the summer heat. We took our time and enjoyed the beautiful high-mountain scenery before spending the night at the refuge.
Day 2: Perdiguère summit and first activation
The second day was the main objective of the trip: climbing Perdiguère via the Col Supérieur de Literole.
Lac du portillon
Above Lac du Portillon, we had to cross a few remaining snowfields. They were a little delicate and required some caution, although the snow was relatively soft due to the ongoing heatwave affecting France at the moment.
Final ridge and summit
Once on the summit, I started the activation, but something was clearly wrong. The reports I was receiving were poor, and the station was not performing as expected. I then decided to install my common-mode choke. After taking one minute to put it in place, everything immediately improved. This was confirmed by @F4WBN, who noticed the difference straight away.
Overall, it wasn’t a very clean activation. The pile-up became a bit messy, probably due to QRM and QSB. Some chasers called over each other, even though I hadn’t invited them to transmit.
Return to refuge du Portillon
After the activation, we returned via the beautiful Literole ridge, which offered magnificent views all along the way.
Day 3: Tusse de Montarqué and Lac Glacé
On the third day, we climbed Tusse de Montarqué (2889 m). Lac Glacé was, as always, absolutely beautiful.
Lac du Portillon and Perdiguère in the back
Pic des Gourgs Blancs and pic Gourdon
Lac glacé and pics Gourgs blancs, Gourdon and Spijeoles
The original plan was to continue and activate Pic des Spijeoles, but my friends needed to return earlier than expected, so we decided to shorten the itinerary.
Lac Glacé, Pic des Spijeoles and lac Saussat in the back.
Instead, we completed a lovely loop around Lac Glacé, crossing the Col du Pluviomètre before returning through the Cirque d’Espingo.
Even without the additional activation, it was a fantastic three-day trip in my home region of the Pyrenees.
73,
Rémy F4LEK
