Volunteering to restore and mark GR trails

On Saturday 23 April we had the pleasure of attending the "trail marking" day in Bertiz (Navarre), as part of the programme for the "recovery and dissemination of the GR trails of Baztan-Bidasoa".The Navarre Mountaineering Federation and the Baztan-Bidasoa Association. Taught by technicians from the Navarre Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing (FNDME), the subject of approved trails was addressed and beaconing practices were carried out.

Background: Recent history of footpaths -GRs of Navarra

The recent history of the status and homologation of GR trails in Navarre has seen more shadows than lights in the last 10 years.Despite being an infrastructure that gives great value to the territory: considering the trails as the backbone of a tourist and economic offer for the mountains of Navarre, in areas that have seen their traditional economic activities evolve into a commitment to tourism as a revitalising resource.

At the end of 2005, the GR footpaths in Navarre were definitively discontinued, considering that they did not meet the conditions to be approved. With the aim of solving this problem, a Regional Decree was passed for the recovery of the GR 11, GR 12, GR 20 and GR 220 footpaths, which provided the resources to do so. Volunteers began to be trained to mark and maintain the footpaths. However, there was a rift between the Administration and the FNDME, the agreement was not fulfilled, the project was not subsidised, the volunteer groups were dissolved and the maintenance of the footpaths came to a standstill. Finally, in May 2015 the agreement for the recovery and maintenance of the network was signed between the Administration and the FNDME with a budget of 35,000 €.The machinery was put in place for the recovery of the routes and their homologation (cataloguing) planned for May-June 2016.

The footpaths in Baztan-Bidasoa

Baztan-Bidasoa is crossed by several GR (Gran Recorrido) paths: the GR11 (TransPirenaica Sur), the GR12 (Sendero de Euskal Herria) and the GR10 (TransPirenaica Norte).

According to the Baztan-Bidasoa Association's and the FNDME's programme for the recovery of footpaths, "this network will be incorporated in the short term in the following year. E. GR 11 - GR 12 or Bidasoa Trekking Link (a Y-shaped route linking the GR11 from Bera/Lesaka and Lakaingo Lepoa with the GR12 at Uztakorta) and the GRT5 Kulunka/Kulunkaren Bidea (linking the GR11 in Elizondo and Argibel with the French GR10 in Buztanzelai)". All this is planned for the beginning of this summer.

• 1.- E. GR 11 - GR 12 or Bidasoa Trekking LinkGR 11 - GR 12, in the form of a "Y" linking the GR 11 with the GR 12 in Navarre.
  The total distance of the Bidasoa Trekking will be 137.80 km. This way there will be the possibility of doing the route partially or totally, with different options of start and end, services, passing through different towns of Baztan Bidasoa.
• 2.- GRT 5 Kulunka/Kulunkaren Bidea trail GRT 5 trans-Pyrenean link, in the shape of a T, which joins the French GR 10 in the upper Izpegi area with the GR 11 in Navarre at Quinto Real. A beautiful route of 28.6 km that runs along the border and watershed of the upper Baztan area bordering on Alduides, the accesses by vehicle are at: Izpegi and Elizondo. Possibility of linking up with: GR 10 in Bidarray or St. Etienne de Baigorry, GR 11 and GR 12 in Quinto Real.

These trails are under construction and do not have vertical signage, which will be installed over the next few months.