Towards the back end of 2015, Chris, Phil and I were once again to be found in our local watering hole in Axbridge (The Lamb) supping pints of Butcombe and discussing plans for 2016. LEJOG 2015 was already being viewed through rose tinted spectacles and the bonds of friendship strengthened through a shared achievement were willing to be tested again. We discussed an end to end trip of Ireland (Mizen Head to Malin Head) but somehow the thought of the possibility of another cold and wet June didn't fill us with much excitement. So we were drawn to warmer climes and after discarding several suggestions the thought of traversing the Pyrenees with a starting point at the Atlantic and finishing at the Mediterranean seemed a worthy successor to LEJOG,
Over the Christmas break I bought some maps from Stanfords (my favourite shop in Bristol) and immersed myself in several days of happy research (much to the annoyance of the rest of my family) looking at different routes and options. By early January a plan had been stitched together- we would start at Biarritz and spend 3 days in France and then drop over into Spain and spend 3 days in the remoter and wilder areas of Catalonia before finishing on the Costa Brava at Tamariu just to the East of Girona - a total of 465 miles and a huge 53,000 feet of climb.
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