The Estaragne (Pic d'Estaragne) is a French Pyrenean summit, culminating at m.

Topography

The peak is located in the

Hautes-Pyrénées Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/ Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs ; alts piɾiˈneʊs ) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. The department is bordered by Pyrénées-Atlantiques to t ...

department, in the

Néouvielle massif The Néouvielle massif () is a group of mountains in the Pyrenees in France notable for its lakes and its microclimate. Much of the massif lies within the Néouvielle National Nature Reserve; this nature reserve was created in 1936 and is the thi ...

, near

Saint-Lary-Soulan Saint-Lary-Soulan (; , ) is a commune of Southwestern France, located in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées, Occitania. Geography Saint-Lary is located in Hautes-Pyrénées 80 km south of the ''départements capital Tarbes, next to the L ...

in the

Pyrénées National Park Pyrénées National Park (; ) is a French national park located within the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.Le Parc national des Pyrénées (2014). Le Parc national des Pyrénées, un établissement public. Retrieved on ...

and near the

Néouvielle National Nature Reserve Néouvielle National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve located in the Néouvielle massif. It ranges from to . With a wide array of flora and fauna, it contains about 370 animal species and 570 breeds of algae. Geography Located in ...

History

The etymology of the name "Estaragne" is unclear, although there is a small valley and stream with the same name just to the northeast of the peak.

Ecology

The peak itself is bare, but the upper slopes have a sub-alpine climate. Meadows predominate with patches of trees and shrubs. Snow cover usually starts in late October and lasts until June. the most common shrubs are ''

Rhododendron ferrugineum ''Rhododendron ferrugineum'', the alpenrose, snow-rose, or rusty-leaved alpenrose is an evergreen shrub that grows just above the tree line in the Alps, Pyrenees, Jura mountains, Jura and northern Apennine Mountains, Apennines, on acid soils. It ...

'' and ''

Vaccinium myrtillus ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a Holarctic realm, holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberr ...

''; and the most common grasses are ''

Nardus stricta ''Nardus'' is a genus of plants belonging to the grass family, containing the single species ''Nardus stricta'', known as matgrass. It is placed in its own tribe Nardeae within the subfamily Pooideae. The name derives from ancient Greek ' () fro ...

'' and '' Festuca eskia''.

Access

There are at least two relatively easy summer access routes: * From the east, the shorter route, starts by leaving the sharp turn of the D 929 at the bridge crossing over the Estaragne stream, it then ascends the small hollow and turns southwards up to the col d'Estaragne. * From the north, starting at the Cap de Long Lake, the longer route advances up valley of the Cap de Long creek.

References

External links