We've had a lovely relaxing day, with a late start, getting everything ready for our 5-day trek around the Vanoise glaciers, staying in 4 different mountain refuges. It's been a pleasure to spend a relatively lazy day on a campsite in a beautiful spot, and a pretty village. After breakfast, we checked our clothes, toiletries... Continue Reading →
Friday 18th August: Move to Pralognan la Vanoise
After yesterday's epic hike, today was very tame. That doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable... it was. After a leisurely start, we packed everything away and left the Ecrins behind to head to the Vanoise Alps. The first half of the drive was stunning, over 3 high mountain cols... the Col du Lauteret, the Col du... Continue Reading →
Thursday 17th August: An epic walk up to Breche Pacave 2836m
What an epic day! We agreed today's walk had everything! Cool forest paths, sunny meadows, rivers, a pretty lake, a refuge for a snack, great views over the Meije glacier and, in the other direction, over the valley to yesterday's hike, glacial rocks and scree, a Breche or gap in the rocks leading to a... Continue Reading →
Wednesday 16th August: Signal de la Grave
So much for an early start... we overslept! We decided to go ahead with the planned walk anyway, hoping it wouldn't get too hot for me. Although blue skies might be preferable in some ways, in others we were lucky to have white skies all day, and a lovely cool breeze. It was very pleasant.... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 15th August: Off to the Ecrins
Today we headed south, as Dan and Jackie headed north. We cleaned and packed and, after breakfast, said our goodbyes and set off. Our next stop is La Graves, a small town beneath the Meije glacier, on the northern edge of the Ecrins national park. We're both quite tired today and the journey seemed to... Continue Reading →
Monday 14th August: A steep hike up Mont Dole
We both felt a bit rough first thing this morning after too much red wine last night. A few cups of tea and coffee and some croissants helped though, and by 11.00 we were ready for our hike. We weren't sure whether we'd have time to do the full 4 hour hike up to Mont... Continue Reading →
Sunday 13th August: Housework and Mont Mourex
We had a late night last night, thanks to the people in a nearby chalet having a rowdy party, and some star gazing. We had been hoping to see the perseid meteor shower but there was too much light pollution. I think I saw one shooting star, and my attempts at photographing the night sky... Continue Reading →
Saturday 12th August: We relocate to France
It was still raining in Kaprun this morning so our plan to relocate to somewhere sunnier was put into action. We had the obligatory cup of tea in bed, then paid the bill and left the campsite. The journey was long (10 hours overall) but uneventful, apart from getting stuck behind lots of antique Citroens... Continue Reading →
Friday 11th August: Rain, rain, rain….
I'm very fed up today. We've had more torrential rain, thunder and lightning, and even some huge hailstones. We tried to visit some ice caves an hour away but the rain made driving difficult and then we ended up in stationary traffic and decided to turn back. We spent the afternoon binge watching Breaking Bad... Continue Reading →
Thursday 10th August: Sigmund-Thun Gorge and Zell am See
We were quite late going to sleep last night because we lay in bed listening to the thunder rumbling around the neighbouring valleys, and watching the lightning flashes through the windows. This morning it was still very cloudy and damp so, after croissants and coffee for breakfast, we decided to visit the Sigmund-Thun gorge, which... Continue Reading →