The Gorges of Kakuetta

[Deleted]

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.

For once I was glad that I had been given a car with a GPS because I would have spent at least an hour extra on the wrong roads trying to find the place.

Shortly before arriving at the village of Sainte Engrâce, I stopped for a quick pee in a picturesque setting.



A few minutes later, I had arrived.





You are supposed to buy a ticket in this café-restaurant although nobody checks whether you have done so or not. I cheerfully paid my 5€ fee.



I nearly bought a walking stick as well. Now I regret that I didn't because it would have made a good souvenir.



I walked through the gate and down the ramp and nature embraced me immediately.



I found the colour of this lake slightly peculiar, but who am I to judge?



This little shed made me wonder what I was getting myself into. Since I didn't have a walking stick, I figured I would also so without a helmet.



The trail became smaller to go over a big hill. I was nowhere near the real gorge yet.











Then there was a wide but slippery walkway again. A walking stick might have been useful due to the incline.





The vegetation became more impressive.

[mossie]

Not what one expects to see in France, really does look like a rain forest.

[Deleted]

I still wasn't sure where this was leading, but I knew I would find out sooner or later.





Second chance to take a helmet. Are they trying to tell me something?





I practically expected to start seeing monkeys and toucans along the way.













A high school group quickly passed me on the trail.







There were a lot of emergency call boxes along the way. It made me wonder if there were a lot of emergencies.













This was all quite pleasant, but the gorges didn't really start seriously until after the tunnel.

[Deleted]

This is where it gets interesting. In certain places you can practically touch both sides of the gorge by stretching out your arms.



















The vegetation is always wet because there is water dripping everywhere.



lots of ups and downs along the way

[htmb]

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?

[fumobici]

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.

[Deleted]

These walkways were great, but there were still plenty of places where you had to fend for yourself.















Sometimes one had to walk over extremely uneven rocks. What, no walking stick?

[Deleted]

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.

[mossie]

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.

[htmb]

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

[Deleted]

Sept 14, 2014 7:20:04 GMT mossie said:

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!

[htmb]

Kerouac I have assumed this was government park land, and not privately owned. Is that correct?

[Deleted]

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.

[Deleted]

There were more and more switchbacks as the gorge continued to narrow.









I don't think a blue plastic helmet is sufficient protection against some of the falling rocks.











There were two paths for the waterfall -- one in front and one behind. I decided to go behind.







It was very necessary to hang on to the cables along the wall.



The high school group was on its way back now. How long would it take me?







Before continuing to the cavern, perhaps a little mountain water in motion would make a nice break. It's kind of noisy, however.

[bixaorellana]

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. !!!

[Deleted]

Here it is!





There is absolutely no lighting in the cavern.



Okay, I know they'll be ugly, but I'll have to take a few flash photos.







I made it after only an hour and a half! Ha! Now I have to go back the same way...

[htmb]

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?

[Deleted]

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.

I was wondering if I could refrain from taking all of the same pictures on the way back.





In any case it felt very liberating to know that I had conquered all of the difficulties when I saw all of the new hikers still sweating their way through the obstacles.









I haven't mentioned yet that there were numerous nature information cubes along the way.





Obviously this time I chose to walk in front of the waterfall and get sprayed on.











And now I could finally appreciate some of the wildflowers.

[Deleted]

Besides studying botany, obviously you can also study geology here.

















another failed attempt to try to show the magnitude of the cliffs overhanging the gorge









How can nature get things so incredibly perfect without any help?

[Deleted]

I was beginning to regret that I would soon be back to the car.















The vegetal walls that have become so popular are only a pale imitation of the real thing.



I'm not sure why these cute little things were here and there on the handrails, but they might be designated stopping points for a guide book or brochure.









I am extremely admirative of these walkways, because they must have been incredibly hard to install.







The very last part of the trek suddenly seemed so boring.



And yet it is still magical.



That is the café-hotel up there. Another long climb and for some reason I am feeling a bit tired.





And then I was back on the road leaving the Pyrénées all too fast when there were so many more things that I would have liked to see.

[mich64]

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.

[htmb]

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.

[Deleted]

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.