You can get at least part of the way up the Pic du Canigou by car or you can follow the trail heading up the river valley from Vernet on foot. Cars – and you would be well advised not to try it in a much-loved saloon – can get as far as the Chalet des Cortalets refuge either by the track from Villerach or the even steeper and rougher mining road that begins by the Al Pouncy campsite near Fillols and passes the Refuge de Balatg and the now vandalized Cabane des Cortalets, where herds of cows and horses graze untended (they are the best barometer of mountain weather, descending to lower altitudes when bad weather is imminent). Both routes take about an hour. Alternatively, you could rent a jeep and driver from M. Casadessus (tel 06.11.76.01.88) or Corbières Grand Raid (tel 04.68.05.24.24) in Prades, or Taurigna in Vernet-les-Bains (tel 04.68.05.54.39) and Fillols (tel 04.68.05.63.06). For walkers, the standard ascent is from Vernet on a path that begins about 1km along the road to Fillols, joining up with the GR10 at the Refuge de Bonaigua (about 3hr) which you leave (about 90min) below the Pic Joffre to follow the HRP up the ridge to the summit (about 1hr). It's not for faint hearts, because the final ascent up a chimney is rather exposed. There's a five-hour alternative, starting from Casteil, passing the Refuge Mariailles (tel 04.68.67.67.07; open all year; food served) on the GR10, then following the HRP for the last stretch via the Refuge Arago.From the Chalet des Cortalets (tel 04.68.96.36.19; closed Nov–April), which has a restaurant, it's an easy ninety-minute walk to the top. Strike west through the last trees, past a little lake, with a magnificent view into the cirque below the summit, round the back of the Pic Joffre, and up the long stony ridge to the cross and Catalan flag that crown the summit. Although the ascent by this route is straightforward in good weather, you should be properly shod and clothed and have good large-scale maps. If you're not experienced and encounter frozen snow, turn back: a German couple slid to their deaths on the slopes between Pic Joffre and the summit in 1991. Midsummer is a great time to do the climb. On the night of June 23, which often coincides with the full moon, Catalans for kilometres around, including half the population of Barcelona, gather on the top to light the bonfire from which a flame is carried to kindle all the feux de St-Jean of the Catalan villages, though the scene around the refuge can be pretty horrendous, with tents, ghetto blasters and litter galore.
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