The MTB route of the BASQUE PYRENEES forests

Stage G: Pamplona - Zubiri - Distance: 60 km   Unevenness: 1.765 m

   
Up

Stage C: Zubiri - Irati - Distance: 55 km   Unevenness: 1.960 m

If we had to choose a Queen Stage for BASOAK MTB we would surely decide on this stage C.
"Camouflaged" in the green line of the profile we find 2 descents of type "Eremua". The 1st deposit us in the vicinity of Zilbeti, and the 2nd, the so-called Balseta, on the equator of the stage in Sorogain. On the way we will have left behind the almost disappeared "Gernika de Picasso" painted on the trees, the bunkers of P Line - built during "Franco's Spain" to repel a possible Allied attack after World War 2 - and all the almost "magical" environment of the northern slope of the Adi Peak that we will have bordered while we contemplate - if time permits - the small rural cores of the Basque-French Pays at our feet.

We leave the territory "Quinto Real" and we go into "Roncesvalles" territory. The P Line keeps emerging sporadically, the information panels and QR codes that also arise sporadically in specific places, interpret the "Archeology of war" and tell us about the battles that developed on these same slopes during the French withdrawal in the War of Independence - slopes in which we, fortunately in our own bike way, also fight -. The sheep, which have been where you see them for more than 5,000 years, tell us about the shepherd past. Roncesvalles, which also appears there, tells us about centuries of pilgrims and battles between Franks and Vascones.
The descents are here more "flows" than in the 1st part and after descending the "avenue" that suddenly deposits us in the Weapons Factory of Orbaitzeta, we have almost finished the stage and we can to go back in time again and imagine the frantic activity that developed between those now old walls during the years in which the cannonballs came out of their furnaces and workshops and made it possible to create an empire "where the sun never set".

   
Up

Stage D: Irati - Irati - Distance: 59 km   Unevenness: 1.265 m

Stage D of BASOAK MTB is the "SELVA DE IRATI" stage, the icing on the excess of forest that we have already accumulated from the previous stages.
A tarmac road helps us quickly get into the heart of the "matter." The pace slows down while we perimeter the Irabia Swamp along the technical paths of its southern slope, and it is accelerated again by the succession of pistes and wide paths that define the track as we go forward "crossing out" objectives. Casas de Irati, The Cubo Fall... a wall that makes us stand up, and we enter the Irati of the northern face, the Basque-French, where the asphalted roads reprint rhythm to the track.
The character of total forest and wood environment predominant until now begins to combine with areas of pastures and livestock environment culminating in the wide top of the Okabe. This, if the fog does not prevent it, will become a practically unforgettable 360º viewpoint only blocked to the east by the imposing mass of the Ori Peak - the first 2000, on this side, of the Pyrenean mountain range - which we almost seem to be able to touch. The megalithic complex of Hilarrita appears on the side of the road, which with its waste of 26 cromlechs constitutes one of the most important funerary groups - if not the most - of Pyrenean prehistory.

We are already going down. Until the end of the stage - except for a slight comeback to "relocate" - everything will be down or flat. Grassy hills ... stretches of "singletrack" ... tracks and pastoral shepherds, maybe some boring dog ... Bridge of the Question ... Swamp of Irabia again ... more trails along the sometimes uncomfortable Channel Betolegi, through which the waters that begin to give shape to the Irati River are channeled ... and we have finished another day inBASOAK.

   
Up

Stage E: Irati - Zubiri - Distance: 57 km   Unevenness: 2.130 m

   
Up

Stage F: Zubiri - Pamplona - Distance: 62 km   Unevenness: 1.485 m

La etapa F de BASOAK es la que devuelve a los ciclistas que realizan la ruta, desde los Bosques del norte de Navarra a su capital en Pamplona.
La etapa esta claramente diferenciada en 2 mitades con diferentes ambientes. En la primera se mantiene la "tensión escénica" de los interminables bosques de hayedo que caracterizan BASOAK. La ruta se interna por los rincones de la Selva de Anue, un entorno más conocido como los Montes de Belate y tras un descenso cuidado por los bikers locales por el antiguo sendero de las Minas de Lantz, desciende primero a esta localidad y después a la de Aritzu, ya en el fondo del valle.
En la 2ª mitad de la etapa, el paisaje cambia bruscamente. Entramos en el Valle de La Ultzama, atravesando inicialmente una sucesión de prados y pueblos de carácter apacible y domesticado. Sorprendentemente el ambiente se torna más agreste según abandonamos el valle y nos acercamos a la ciudad. En los últimos kilómetros encadenamos diferentes sendas de las utilizadas por los ciclistas locales en sus salidas rutinarias desde Pamplona.

Variante Valle Esteribar: La etapa F dispone de una opción de ruta (F9) orientada prácticamente en su totalidad hacia el sur. Esta variante aprovecha las nuevas sendas recuperadas por el Centro de BTT y Trail EREMUA en la zona sur del Valle de Esteribar y se dirige hacia Pamplona encadenando una serie de ascensos y descensos que podemos combinar de diferentes maneras para reducir o alargar la dureza de un recorrido que en su versión completa alcanza los 43 kilómetros con un desnivel acumulado de 1.470 metros.
Es esta una opción muy utilizada cuando los ciclistas están finalizando BASOAK MTB y desean realizar el viaje de vuelta a sus lugares de origen el mismo día en que realizan la etapa.

   
Up