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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
31st January 2017 Hiking - Walking: Circuit of Le Mont Dore. snowshoe. Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered: Monday 30th January – Wet and windy :( The forecast was spot on, woke to low cloud and rain which stayed all day but what we missed on the forecast was the gale force wind which shook the van all night and lasted into today!!! Not in any hurry to get up as could hardly see the ski lift that is 100m from the van so relaxed in a snug mountain of fleecy quits reading and watching the odd skier fool hardy enough to brave the foul conditions, you needed to be completely bonkers to want to go out on the slopes in this! So, we had three Weetabix at 11 and read again before deciding it was time to have a ride just to keep the battery charged up and with no McDonalds here, our plan was to head to the Tourist Office for free wi-fi:) Thinking the office would be shut for lunch we turned up the back road to Besse over the Col de la Croix St-Robert which was closed after a few kilometres! We then thought we would look for a shop and found a small supermarket in the next town down called La Bourboule. Stocked up with nutty bread and brie we found a carpark opposite the tourist office and parked for lunch with the rain still falling and the temperature very mild so no snow on the mountain:( We had an hour in the tourist office from 2:30 before returning up the mountain to the spot we parked last night. There were a few more cars in the ski carpark with lots more brave skiers out in the rain – rather them than me! Parked up we prepared for the night put the kettle on and watched a DVD kindly lent by our friend Mary called ‘Ghost’ which was nearly as good as the book which we had both already read:) Now back to cards and knitting with fingers crossed for a nice day tomorrow! Tuesday 31st January – snowshoe ***** started cloudy then brilliant sunshine :) Circuit of Le Mont Dore. After yesterdays washout when it didn’t stop raining we were hoping for better things today! Not too bad a night considering we couldn’t get the van level and we keep sliding to the foot of the bed:) It was cloudy when we woke and very mild so we made the decision to give skiing a miss and Mag suggested we walk up the valley we walked up on our first afternoon here and try and make it to the top of Puy de Sancy. So, after porridge Mag packed our first picnic while I sorted out the snowshoes. We were ready at 10.36 and headed down the carpark turning left over a small mountain stream which is actually the Dordogne. This is where the lift comes up from Les Longes, sadly closed due to lack of snow but the Tremplin lift taking you over the ski station is open but the lower pistes are pretty threadbare. We put our snowshoes on and after a few adjustments to the cheap Aldi walking poles - playing up and not locking. We headed up the green piste – buron now closed and into the beautiful Val De Courre but with much less snow than Sunday and streams of melting snow running down the mountain:( We passed a dozen walkers looking up the mountain with binoculars we didn’t know if they were looking for wildlife or the rock formations? We found it best to avoid the small sections of soft snow as we kept sinking and stayed on the brown grass or ice. We were soon wearing most of our clothes tied around our middles as we were soooo hot!! A couple of ski tourers had passed us earlier heading up and we followed their tracks with the Val turning right we were leaving civilisation behind with only a couple of walkers behind as the sun did it’s best to break through:) At the bowl at the end of the Val De Courre the track became a lot steeper and it was slow going into the bright sunshine as it poked it’s head above the col:) Mag was leading and she let out a whoop when she reached the Col de Courre (1720m) and after I joined her we were closely followed by the two couples, the first on snowshoes like us and a younger pair in walking boots with the most beautiful husky with stunning blue eyes who was particularly interested in our picnic! We ate the first half, enjoying the fantastic views down the other side towards the small ski resort of De Chastreix. Suitably refreshed we turned left to cover the 1 kilometre to Puy de Sancy and what a path that was! It started off easy enough following closely to the ridge but after a short steep section up it looked like the path came to an abrupt stop with a big drop down. We had the most stunning views of the cable car station and down into the resort:) The path then got really interesting as it turned right heading very steeply, it was very narrow and followed the ridge with a drop off both sides but there was a chain to help us up!!! We did the first section in snowshoes but had to take them off to traverse a small rocky section which was another pinch yourself moment:) With snowshoes back on we turned a corner and had to cross the most dangerous section of narrow snowy path which we completed without falling to our deaths! Then there was a col section before a long section of steep, icy wooden steps taking you all the way to the top of the Puy de Sancy at 1825m with a table of orientation and amazing 360 degree views:) We had the second half of our picnic at seats just down from the top as ski tourers headed up to ski off the top! We thought we might be able to get the cable car down free as we had walked up but decided not to try and to walk down as it was all downhill!!! The first section was steep down and off piste which was good especially as we passed the source of the River Dordogne as it passed down a steep gorge:) It was then down the Sancy red piste which was a bit steep for snowshoes with skiers whizzing past so we crossed to the blue Pan de la Grange piste which took us all the way to the bottom. Our legs were now shot and we were pleased to get our snowshoes off by the busy but smoky restaurant before doing the last short section to our van – knackered but very pleased after the most fantastic 5star day, out over 6 hours and covering over 5 miles!!! Gear safely stowed in the van and the engine running to top up the battery we had a well-deserved cuppa and cake, resting our weary limbs watching the sunset over the mountains. Then a top tea, a Mabel (Mag’s dear departed and much missed Mum) caravan special of tinned meat, gravy, potatoes and vegetable’s absolutely delicious, we know how to live:) PS – might have 4 hours skiing tomorrow if the sun plays ball and the price has been reduced 20%!!! Photo Gallery Here |
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