General characteristics (click for gradient profile or photos).

St Lary-Soulan [800m] - 9 km uphill - Fabian [1100m] - 14 km uphill - Lac de Cap de Long [2160m].

Take the D929 direction Tunnel de Bielsa (Spanish border). Turn right in the village of Fabian towards the Lac de Cap the Long and Lac d'Aumar (see below).

The climb from Fabian to the Lac de Cap the Long was (or should have been) our the finest Pyrenees tour. The only drawback was the weather. Unfortunately it was a day with low clouds and ditto temperatures. Despite this discomfort, it was magnificent climbing through a beautiful, quite narrow valley along a good quality road with two lovely series of hairpin curves. Above 2000 meter we were fully absorbed by clouds; we have not seen a glimpse of the dam and reservoir (Lac de Cap de Long)! At the end of the road there are facilities to drink and eat, and warming up. During high summer the lake seems to be a popular tourist attraction. Apart from a few EDF-workers we were the only visitors (a plus when descending).

Just after the first series of hairpins, at 1874 m, there is side road towards the Lac d'Aumar, another reservoir (2190 m; 4 km). The day before we had the idea to cycle to both lakes, but because visibility and temperature were close to zero we have decided to skip Lac d'Aumar.