Grottes Bellevues

The place

Three fitted-out caves at 2500 m, below the Ossoue glacier, on the trail to the Hourquette d'Ossoue (Hautes-Pyrénées). Historic site: Henry Russell, a pioneer of Pyrenean mountaineering, had the three Bellevue caves dug in 1888, then in 1890 a third, smaller cave with no door for storing luggage and provisions. Became the count's summer residence from 1889. Each cave can hold 3 people. Impossible to heat them. Closed off by a wall, an opening with a doorway remains and cannot be closed. Survival blankets available on site. Access from the Ossoue dam refuge (accessible by car in summer) via a very visible trail in the valley bottom heading northwest. Cavities partly visible as the snow melts; one accessible without snow, another via a snow crossing, damp due to meltwater.