Yet more Serre-Poncon................

After Savines the tour of the lake on the south side gets a bit more serious and involves the Col du Morgonnet. I'm saving that for a really good weather day and an early start. The former might be fairly soon but I'm not so sure about the latter!

The further I get round the lake the longer the journey and more complicated it becomes to arrange the drop-off and pick-up points.

So for the next couple of walks I planned an overnight in a campsite to save on diesel costs. We packed up the van and set off for Embrun. Today I would walk the other side of the lake, so it was back to the GR 50. John dropped me off as planned above Embrun at Chateau de Calayeres, and left me there so he could drive round to the campsite just after Reallon. There he would spend a day sorting bikes and enjoying the sunshine.

The first part of the walk was a repeat of the last part of the GR 50 that I did a few weeks ago. It brought me to the point where I had descended the steep gorge into Embrun but this time I would go straight on instead. The sign told me the walk to Les Gourniers, which is about 2 kms further than I expected to go, should take 5hrs 40 mins. Whoops! I had told John I would be about 4 and a half hours. I would have to walk faster!

{Looking down on Embrun - the lake is already receding, revealing mud banks}

The route was on a forest track which climbed high above the lake so I was expecting good views. However, the one I got took my breath away. This is definitely the best so far. I could see the other end for the first time on this tour.

{Wow! You can see the Savines bridge and the far end of the lake}

On the way along the track there were plenty of wild flowers and butterflies to keep me amused even when I couldn't see the lake. A phone call from John gave me the bad news - the campsite was closed! He had parked there but with no water or electricity we might have to go elsewhere.

{Iconic alpine flowers - blue gentian - I think!}

A stop for a quick lunch was taken in the middle of what must once have been an Alpine summer village, called Clot Bouffier on the map. There were piles of old stones and ruins there and terraced fields too.

{Ancient clearance cairns - these fields have been cultivated for a long time}

The path plunged down and contoured around the hills until I was in the Reallon valley. Every now and then getting a tantilising glimpse of blue, the lake. I tried to take a photo of a buzzard hunting above my head - not very successfully. Then a singing, whining noise announced the presence of a glider passing close by.

{Is it a bird or a plane (glider) ???}

I arrived at the village of le Means, and the sign announced 35 minutes to Reallon. Suddenly I was climbing, a bit of a shock at the end of a walk!

{Reallon comes into view}

I met up with John on the road after Reallon. He was testing my bike - but it's still not working very well. Now the gears are wonky! It makes it difficult to go uphill - well, the gears aren't the only problem with that! I usually get off and walk - it's quicker and easier.......

After a short sit in the sun, and a long drink of cold orange juice, it was decided we would just drive home again. It rather changed the plan for the next day's walk but we didn't want to risk the visit by the Gendarmes if they wanted to move us on. Must be getting cowardly in our old age............

Viewranger stats: 18.7 kms in 5 hrs 10 mins - height gain 1872 m and loss 1690 m.

{A froglet hiding in the stones at the campsite pool}

A cold and frosty morning...........

{Frost on every bush}

A heavy frost and a bright clear blue sky encouraged me out yesterday to walk to the other side of Creag nam Ban and maybe try to access the hill from there. There were frozen puddles and mud along the lane going towards Balmoral so the temperature was still below freezing.

I had had an email reply from the access officer who told me that Abergeldie Estate have installed kissing gates in some places but progress is slow and difficult. The claims of 'deer management' seem to be a coverall for preventing access.

The field of sheep were still there chomping noisily on some stalks along with a strong smell of turnip. I crossed the wooden bridge carefully as it was slippery with a wet covering of frost and continued up the road towards the distillery.

The land-rover track I took from the road was almost a pleasure to walk on after the last few days on muddy trails and enabled me to get easily to the stand of Scots Pine trees which protect the old settlement of Bovaglie. I had passed a herd of deer stags watching me suspiciously from the side of Creag nam Ban and seeing how wet and deep the bog was, I decided to leave them to the hill and explore the old farmstead instead.

{The track through the trees to Bovaglie}

The old farm buildings consist of a u-shaped barn and an old boarded up farm house. There are also quite a few even older remains of houses and retaining walls. I explored an area of planted conifers but decided not to go into the forest as it involved barbed wire fencing again. The view from this settlement is astounding, looking right into Lochnagar.

{Lochnagar in the distance}

I ate my lunch, enjoying the peace and quiet, until a gunshot reminded me that other people might spend their time in the outdoors for different reasons!

{An old cooking pot in the farm yard}

{The low sun making shadows}

Heading back, I spotted two buzzards hunting low over the heather, and then some sheep obviously sun-bathing while lying down chewing.  I found the frost hadn't melted on the bridge so had to tiptoe across again.

{Looking back at the frosted bridge over the Dee}

I realised, as I reached home, that I had almost forgotten about the access problem I set out to investigate.

There's always the next time!

According to Viewranger I walked 12.7 kms.

Too much to do now...........

...before I fly off to Gatwick tomorrow. Then (don't ask why) I'm catching a flight on Saturday to Bordeaux.
It's been almost a year but I'm taking up an appointment walk leading for HF Holidays for a couple of weeks.

Today I realised I hadn't kept up to date with my walk reports. And apart from last Saturday, which was declared 'Laura's birthday' even though it isn't really till next Tuesday, there has been a walk everyday.  I got a new rucksack (yes, I know I've got loads already) which hopefully will cover those day walks when I have to carry a lot. Such as when I'm leading.

So now I'm all packed up and ready to go. Except the computer cos I'm using that......

{Photo of Mont Viso, me and my new rucksack}

A brilliant walk to the viewpoint for Mont Viso. It's a beautiful valley, despite some large cows who were rather too interested in passing walkers...

{Photo of the longest bearded lichen I have ever seen}

This spectacular area of woodland was on the GR 50 - this time walking the other way from the house here. All the trees were festooned with lichen of all types. Quite magical.

{Photo from the terrace where I had a cup of coffee at Refuge de l'Ecole, Dormillouse}

Yesterday it was an afternoon walk up to Dormillouse. The village is at 1700 m and is occupied all year round. There is no road to it, so supplies still have to be transported up (originally on mules) or helicoptered in at great expense. A village founded by a protestant cleric in the nineteeth century, although the Romans were there earlier.  The tourist route up is a walk of about 1.75 km and takes around 45 minutes. Once there it's possible if you have enough time to carry on and visit two mountain lakes. It was too late in the day for this so I took the old mule track back down, then another path called the Sentier des Cascades which follows the river bank back to the carpark. Since I did this walk about 5 years ago there have been a lot of rock-falls and small avalanches, making the path a bit treacherous in places. The valley is full of birds, and plenty of butterflies, so it was a very enjoyable walk.

{Photo of the path fallen away - I took this after I'd clambered past it!}

And finally...........

..



{Photo of marmotte posing for my camera.....}

Genuinely taken by me - although I have to admit the marmotte lives on the hill under the Fort at Mont Dauphin which is just opposite the house here. Sadly the community of marmottes there are often visited by humans and inevitably fed all sorts of unlikely snacks. The diet of crisps, sweets and bread has caused the population to dwindle by half in the last ten years with a high incidence of diabetes, respiratory diseases and other fatal consequences (for the animals although it might be true of the people too!..) I walked up the Sentier des Marmottes, and was delighted to meet several very chubby marmottes. They'll be hibernating soon so they're at their fattest now. Over the six months they sleep they lose about 3 kg of weight, waking every two or three weeks to urinate (in a special part of the burrow.)

By the time I get back here (about 12th October) they might be sleeping................

Walking with Rosie............

...................in the woods behind my daughter's house. It's a small wildlife area looked after by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and backs onto her garden. Absolutely full of birds. insects and at least one large beautiful grass snake which I came across the other day.

{In the woods}

Katy's Rosie is now 8 months old and doesn't so much walk with me as thunder past me, disappearing into the undergrowth and then re-appearing to thunder past me in the opposite direction. This continues until she's exhausted, then she calms down and walks for a while beside me.

{Rosie - standing still for a change}

{Rosie - racing ahead}

Today is a glorious sunny day so I took my camera. As Rosie is black she doesn't really photograph very well (that's my excuse!).

{Rosie finds something to roll on - don't ask, I didn't look too closely!}

It all reminds me that I might be more of a cat person................!

Going it Alone.............

But never lonely!

I realised (not for the first time!) today why I like walking on my own. I'm often asked if I'm not scared or worried about being alone on the hill. The answer is an emphatic 'hardly ever!'. I want to say 'never' but it wouldn't be quite true.

I do sometimes think not to take an unnecessary risk in case of an accident. So I tend to err on the side of caution about exposed paths or very steep descents.

Just once I remember being completely spooked by I don't know what. It happened on one of my frequent wanders. I was just descending back from Bealach Buidhe onto the Glenshee road when for no reason I suddenly felt very alone, very vulnerable and very shivery. The feeling passed as quickly as it came - I can still recall it. But it's never happened since.

Yesterday I had a marvellous time walking up in the forest behind the house here. There are quite a few paths between the pine and larch trees. I'm gradually exploring all of them and how they link together as not all of them are mapped.

{Photo of path between the rocks}

On the way I noticed some wildlife I might not have seen if there had been a group of us. A small lizard sunbathing on a rock, two large buzzards hunting above the trees, a pair of deer I came across in a clearing, a very lively and tuneful Crested Tit in a tree right beside the path, and a grumpy Jay.

There's also more chance of seeing other things that catch the eye. Colours seem to stand out so well in early Spring. Maybe the brain is glad to see orange, yellow or red instead of white, green and blue!

{Photo of amazing lichen on a tree trunk}

Once I had climbed high enough I found some snow - still thigh deep in places. The small hamlets up here are left over from the days of transhumance - when the local farmers and their families would de-camp completely for the summer onto high pastures along with their sheep. These buildings seem to make great holiday homes now! Apart from the chapel the rest of the houses were shuttered for the Winter.

{Photo of hamlet called Le Truchet at 1450m)

On the way I was musing about the joys of walking on my own.  Being able to stop and start when I choose, and faff around as much as I like - priceless!

Of course there are times when I would love to share a walk like this. The views were excellent, the mountains looking particularly splendid in the sunshine.  So a photo is a good way to do the sharing!

{Photo taken looking across the valley)

Spring................

I can announce that Spring is definitely here!

(My tick list is completely ticked.)

Crocuses...........

Fishermen............

Lycra................

Burning bushes..................

Loudly singing birds.............(Oh.. and a Willy Wagtail!)

Day time temperatures in double figures.......

My face - the colour of a beetroot! (Ooops!....I didn't put on enough sunscreen!)

{Photo of crocuses in my garden}

Is it Spring yet?..............

The temperatures are beginning to rise - leading to more rain or sleet than snow below 1000 metres.

Most of the snow lying beside the house here is well cooked and melting away - some of it into our garage! We've lifted the 'stuff' that lives down there from the floor so it doesn't get wet.  This is 'stuff' like skis, boots, bikes, tools, snorkelling gear, camping gear, old clothes, empty boxes...............etc. 

Skiing today started well, then the sun disappeared and with it the light, leaving us with poor visibility and an early stop for tea!

The small garden birds I've been feeding all winter are becoming more active and have started singing in the morning now. They're all dressed in their finest which is definitely a sign of Spring approaching.

Other signs I'm looking out for are:- the first green shoots of crocuses in the garden, groups of cyclists in lots of lycra, brush burning by locals, and the most telling..............fishermen in full 'Decathlon' camouflage gear skulking on the river bank! 

When I've seen all these things I will know it's Spring. 

I was once told that Spring moves North 16 miles a day so then it should be possible to work out when the Winter will end in Scotland..........................

{Photo across the valley}