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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 17:41:32 GMT
This is one of the most remarkable and most secret inaccessible sights in France, and I had promised myself for some time that I would make a special trip to Kakuetta some day because the photos that I had seen of it absolutely mesmerized me. The Gorges of Kakuetta are niched into a tiny slit of the French Basque country, just a couple of kilometres from the Spanish border. They were first explored in 1906 and were immediately called "the Amazon of temperate latitudes" due to the incredibly lush rain forest.
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Post by mossie on Sept 13, 2014 18:14:42 GMT
Not what one expects to see in France, really does look like a rain forest.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 18:48:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 19:27:00 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 13, 2014 19:33:40 GMT
Fascinating, Kerouac. I am enjoying this report very much and looking forward to seeing more photos. This just keeps getting more and more interesting.
Is it possible the water in the first lake is so colored due to high mineral content?
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Post by fumobici on Sept 13, 2014 20:38:07 GMT
I'm sure it is. Maybe glacial melt? Our alpine lakes that are fed from ice melt have a similar color. In fact many of these photos look quite like what one might see in the eastern half of the county I live in.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 5:35:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 5:45:35 GMT
My very biggest frustration was not being able to get a meaningful picture of the top of the gorge, because it was even more impressive looking up. The gorge here is between 300 and 350 metres deep, which is a quite meaningful figure in France where everybody knows that the Eiffel Tower = 315 metres. This means it was like walking between 80-story buildings, but there is not a single photograph that gives that impression. I searched the internet and couldn't even find a Professional photograph that managed to convey the majesty of the cliffs. I guess it is because the gorge is just too narrow -- there is no way to get a Grand Canyon effect anywhere.
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Post by mossie on Sept 14, 2014 7:20:04 GMT
The "No parking" sign is superb, why didn't you take your car. It was a relief when you got to the end, I kept getting the feeling that the gorge would close in and crush you. Quite a place, thanks very much for the tour.
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Post by htmb on Sept 14, 2014 8:35:49 GMT
I can imagine your frustration in trying to photograph the gorge, but your pictures are wonderful. I like the way you've been able to include humans in many of your shots to show a contrast of the area's size. What a marvelous place, and how fortunate you were to visit! The history of the gorges must be fascinating. Now that you've captured my interest I want to know more, so I started looking at online sources. Here's a link to a photo taken from above that I came across in my search: www.panoramio.com/m/photo/79498845
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 10:45:11 GMT
It was a relief when you got to the end, I kept getting the feeling that the gorge would close in and crush you. Quite a place, thanks very much for the tour. But we haven't reached the big waterfall and the cavern yet!
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Post by htmb on Sept 14, 2014 11:15:45 GMT
Kerouac I have assumed this was government park land, and not privately owned. Is that correct?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 11:29:28 GMT
I am pretty sure they belong to the municipality of Sainte Engrâce, but it is also clear that they have received plenty of money from at least the département or the region, if not the national government, because all of those walkways and bridges probably cost a bundle.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 15:29:15 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 14, 2014 15:40:58 GMT
Rapt, absolutely rapt looking at your great photos of this incredible place. It's as though a gap opened into the prehistoric past.
Thanks to Htmb & Fumobici for respectively asking & answering questions I had. I won't ask too many questions as we're promised more of this remarkable thread, but would like to know if it was hot and humid or cool and moist down in there.
Great, unexpected stuff, Kerouac. Can't wait to see more!
Edited to say gadzooks! We simulposted, so didn't see the fabulous water pictures & video until after I posted. !!!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 15:48:22 GMT
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Post by htmb on Sept 14, 2014 15:55:29 GMT
I would love to visit this place some day. Though there were people on the path, it didn't look very crowded at all. I wonder if there is much more foot traffic in the middle of summer. Was swimming permitted anywhere along the way?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 16:08:08 GMT
The cavern is only about one kilometre from the Spanish border. Obviously there is no way to get through unless you are a mountain climber, but there are actually two nearby roads with mountain passes that go to Spain and a lot of the hikers gave me a ¡Hola! rather than bonjour when our paths crossed.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 16:27:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 17:29:56 GMT
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Post by mich64 on Sept 14, 2014 19:16:50 GMT
Spectacular! This all reminds me of our day at Gorges du Fier outside of Annecy, very similar although I think there is a difference in the plants and trees but the infrastructure looks quite the same. I really enjoyed your photos Kerouac and understand how difficult it is to capture the scope of the cliffs.
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Post by htmb on Sept 14, 2014 20:15:21 GMT
Lovely, lovely, lovely!!! And your photos were spectacular even up to the end. You had a couple of nice reflections and a wonderful shot of the Pyrenees as you departed. The video enhanced the whole thing even more!
Though I didn't get into the Pyrenees like you, the area I visited for a week in 2008 was in the shadow of the mountains and I could see snow even though it was mid-June. I found it very magical and I've always dreamed of returning someday. Seeing this will get me thinking all over again.
Thank you for a marvelous report, Kerouac.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2014 20:49:45 GMT
You're welcome.
For anybody wanting to visit, Kakuetta is open from 15 March to 15 November every year from 8 a.m. until nightfall. The precise closing time is variable according to the season and is also variable according to the weather. In fact, there were numerous signs explaining the warning sirens in case of a rainstorm. In such a narrow gorge, you can easily imagine the danger of being caught in a downpour.
For people not wanting to drive from a major city, the closest towns with train service are Oloron (45 km) and Mauléon (30 km). From there you have to take a taxi or else rent a car in either of those towns, which is apparently possible according to the Kakuetta website.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2022 19:17:47 GMT
I still hope to return here some day while I can still walk.
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Post by bjd on Jan 5, 2022 20:06:11 GMT
I had completely forgotten about these photos. Such wonderful shades of green. We were on holiday near Mauleon a couple of years ago but I think the gorges de Kakuetta were closed for some reason.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 6, 2022 9:49:29 GMT
Wonderful to find this spectacular report of yours Kerouac! It certainly is wet wet wet! I looked closely at some of the footpaths and decided to name them "Hip replacement lane", "Broken ankle Path" and "Back breaking Track"..... I could never do that walk now. About the colour of the water being that strange milky blue. Looks to me like the same kind of water we saw in those Canadian lakes (Lake Louise , Banff etc) and were told it is called Glacial flour. I think it is quite pretty. I hope you get back one day.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 12, 2023 14:23:50 GMT
I already knew this place was dangerous when I visited, but I just learned that it has been closed since 2020 when a visitor was killed by a falling rock. The town in charge of it is trying to make the visit secure, but there are too many places where rocks can fall on you, so reopening keeps getting pushed back. Maybe in 2024....
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Post by whatagain on May 12, 2023 17:13:25 GMT
Thanks for this report. Stunning.
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