Facing the Portalet fort, on the other side of the ravine, the path of the Mâture is a 1,200-meter long path carved into the rock of a cliff in the deep valley of the La Secoue stream, near its confluence with the Gave d'Aspe, in the municipality of Urdos.
Forming a gutter 4 meters high and 4 meters wide in the cliff over 900 meters of its course, it overhangs the Gorge of Hell by 200 meters.
A bit of History...
From 1660, King Louis XIV and his minister Colbert decided to endow France with a great navy.
Faced with the difficulties to get wood supplies from the north because of the wars and the cost, Colbert decides to exploit the forests of the western Pyrenees rich in large trees of quality and routes of transport by the gaves to the port of Bayonne.
Several forests were thus exploited and a few access roads developed.
After an interruption between 1720 and 1750, exploitation reached its peak in the second half of the 18th century, during the reign of Louis XV, with Choiseul.
Exploitation was then entrusted to the corps of naval engineers, but as the forests became exhausted, other forests or woods had to be exploited, more difficult to access, leading the engineer Leroy to exploit the Pacq forest, above the Etsaut.
To do this, it was necessary to be able to make the trunks cross a narrow and steep ravine known as the "gorges of Hell".
Convicts were then brought in to dig a passage on the steep cliff face that was wide and high enough for the passage of oxen pulling logs, which was completed in 1772.
This path in the rock still arouses admiration today.
The fir trees extracted from this forest were to become boat masts, the beeches being used for oars and beams, while the boxwoods were used for axles and pulleys.
The future masts were then floated on the gave to reach Oloron, then Bayonne.
The exploitation of the trees for the navy in the Aspe valley ended in 1778 after the raw material was exhausted.
Today the GR 10 hiking trail passes on the path of the Mâture.
For safety reasons, the town hall of Etsaut has decided to close the entire chemin de la Mâture, including the climbing routes, with effect from 14/02/2020, until further notice.
https://www.topopyrenees.com/randonnee-chemin-de-la-mature-1280m/
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