Lecherines Cave: in search of ice
There is something special about going in search of the ice while Spain melts. There are fewer and fewer snow fields that resist the summer season in the Pyrenees. But today we are not looking for those pockets of perpetual snow, but of that immaculate ice, crystalline, that takes shelter in the calcareous bowels of the mountain range, those caves of karst origin where it finds the ideal temperatures to perpetuate itself without melting into water. At an altitude of two thousand meters, the Lecherines ice cave, on the eastern limits of the Aspe massif, him in the Pyrenees Huesca, it's a show of ice columns in winter and early spring, but what about in summer? Does the ice resist? We wanted to verify that by fleeing the umpteenth wave of heat.
We have arrived by road from Jaca to the small municipality of Canfranc (not to be confused with Canfranc Station, a few kilometers further up towards the French border), the only one I know where the republican flag flies in the town square. On the other side of the road there is a parking lot where we leave the car before going back a few meters on our steps on the asphalt, now walk, up a short hill where the trail begins, marked with a wooden marker and GR-11 markings (red and white).
At an altitude of two thousand meters, the cave is a spectacle of ice columns in winter
The road soon passes through the ruins, camouflaged in the forest, from an old forest nursery. Refugees from the heat in the shade of the pine forest, we arrived very soon at the abetazos fountain (1.346 meters) and, very shortly after, the Gabardito refuge, with the immense mass of Collarada looming to our right and the peaks of Los Lecherines, where are we headed, in front of us. Here the path blurs and you have to continue in a northwesterly direction, leaving the shelter behind us, without gaining much height to get back on track, that now loses height to avoid several ravines until reaching another refuge, this one with trough, in the Low Lecherín sheepfold (1.666 m.).
So far (two hours minus a quarter walk), the climb is not demanding at all, so you arrive in an optimal state to face the most serious unevenness of the ascent. In front of us two ravines open up sharply, but the one that leads to the cave is the one on the right. The trail begins to climb behind the trough and, a few meters higher, it forks (it is signposted). From this point we will follow some green and white markings to ascend the ravine, without deviating too far to the right even if we can see paths halfway up the slope that lead away from our goal.
It is hot and it seems impossible that the ice we are looking for can survive in this habitat with these temperatures
This is, certainly, the hardest part of the tour. It is hot and it seems impossible that the ice we are looking for can survive in this habitat with these temperatures. Climbing up the channel between more and more rocks and isolated edelwaiss, the beautiful classic snow flower of these places, There comes a time when we have to leave the ravine without crowning the hill and deviate to the left. After a little climb, we finally reached the Lecherines cave (2.015 meters) in two hours and 45 minutes from the town of Canfranc.
The mouth of the cave is a wide carpet of snow that already anticipates the sudden drop in temperature inside. It's like a huge fridge with the door open. The showy winter stalactites and stalagmites have disappeared, although the light still dimly illuminates a snow bridge a few meters further in. We're alone. We put on the fronts to explore, with the clumsiness of a layman, the entrails of the main cavity. It costs the eyes to get used to the dark, so we grope our way through bursts of light, striking with the sticks the cold silence.
We put on the fronts to explore, with the clumsiness of a layman, the entrails of the main cavity
The rocks are covered with an earthy film that stains at the slightest contact. We breathe out steam as we slowly enter the cave, descending a few meters without difficulty. Since the first French expeditions in the years 60 the last century, the cavers have gotten down 1.000 meters deep making its way through the different galleries and chasms. Just thinking about it gives me a cold sweat.
The lantern suddenly shines between the huge boulders a redoubt of pure ice, of a sidereal target, sheltered in the heart of this calcareous giant. We see some more, testimony of that ice paradise that is the Lecherines cave in winter. Over our heads, a large stone is trapped in the tide of rocks dislodged in a landslide. It would be bad luck if it gave in just now, I, although just in case I get away from the trajectory.
The flashlight suddenly shines a redoubt of pure ice, of a sidereal target, sheltered in the heart of this calcareous giant
We spent three quarters of an hour discovering the cave with the anticipation of two teenagers and, very close to the main entrance, we stumbled upon the skull of a sarrio, still with the horn attached to the skeleton, who surely sought shelter here from illness or bad weather in the harsh Pyrenean winter. And here it stayed.
When we go out into the open again we are out of temper and we decide to postpone lunch until we reach the refuge to be able to warm up. Going down we come across a couple of mountaineers who ask about the cave. We don't see anyone else. The loneliness of the mountain is always a priceless reward, surely undeserved. A little over two hours later we are in Canfranc. Two huge mugs of beer await us. Frost, course.
