Source du Gave de Pau (cirque de Gavarnie)

Gavarnie

The Gave de Pau is said to rise in the cirque de Gavarnie, though Wikipedia EN names no precise commune or altitude. The great waterfall, about 422 m high, marks according to that article the beginning of the torrent: it is fed by snowmelt and a small glacier in Spain, whose water flows underground before re-emerging at the top of the falls. Its average flow is 3 m³/s and can rise to 200 m³/s in summer; in winter, the waterfall sometimes freezes. Wikipedia EN adds that the water also comes from the Mont-Perdu: it would leave the Lago Helado through an underground network and emerge at the Brulle resurgence, through the Devaux cave. A Skipass article confirms that the Devaux cave, perched at over 2,800 m, feeds the waterfall through a resurgence; it was spotted in 1929 by Joseph Devaux, a meteorologist, from the Pic du Midi de Bigorre. The source is thus partly a karstic resurgence, whose course is poorly known to the public. The cirque also bears a legend: the hero Roland, nephew of Charlemagne, is said to have opened the Brèche de Roland with one sword stroke, at 2,800 m. This legend concerns the cirque, not the source itself.

Getting there: Coordinates of the great waterfall (Wikipedia EN, Gavarnie Falls), not of a precise source point. The cirque is visited on foot from the village of Gavarnie; winter access and walking time to be checked with the tourist office.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound