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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2888 |
9th February 2018 Hiking - Walking: Summet du Ventoux Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered: 5 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 9th February – walk ***** 5 miles - Chalet le Reynard to Summet du Ventoux – sunny Yet another top night in our little snowy wooded spot on the road down from Mont Lure. Woke to a clear blue sky, Mag even managed to do some exercises outside on the frosty ground because although with the temperature around freezing it felt warm in the sun:) After breakfast we took the windy route to Sault an area well known to cyclists as a starting point on the Ventoux ascent and for its lavender of which there are many fields. The road was again very quiet and beautiful with the dead light brown leaves on the Sessile oaks looking lovely against the mountain backdrop:) At Sault we found a small supermarket got some delicious walnut bread and filled up the van with diesel as its 1.37 euros - about as cheap as we have found anywhere. Then it was up Mont Ventoux to see how much of the road is open? We soon found out that the road is Ferme but not until the Chalet le Reynard where you can turn left and drive down to Bedoin a route we have not done before. On reaching the Chalet there were several cars as the restaurant is open but sadly not the one drag lift. This is also a starting point for walkers and ski touring. The road was open for about another half mile before we came to the barrier. There was a small lay-by mainly filled by a 40-foot lorry facing downhill (how they got it there and into that position is a mystery!!) Two men were unloading a brand-new Renault from the lorry, undoing the barrier and driving it up the snowy/icy road for some reason??? It was such a lovely day we decided to go for a walk around a few bends in the road to see if we could get a good look at the huge radio building at the top of Ventoux. We didn’t bother to pack a picnic but luckily took hats/gloves as it was cold. We passed a sign saying that the summet was 4 km and the tower looked so close! In the end one bend lead to another and we decided to walk to the top, so much for taking it easy after yesterday’s epic uphill hike! The views are just stunning and walking up the road was easy underfoot as the snow was packed. We even saw the Renault returning down the mountain slowly as the road is very dodgy to drive on. We would never have made it - even with our snow chains on as our van is far too heavy! We saw a few walkers out too some on the road and some high above on the marked footpath. After a couple of km. we came across two black sporty Renault GT’s with their bonnets up facing the sun with a sign saying they were testing - for what it was anyone’s guess???? The summet didn’t seem to be getting any closer as the gradient increased, as did the wind as the temperature dropped, but we were then entertained! Mag said look at the snow blowing off the mountain but it turned out to be two large snow blowers clearing the road. We got off the road as they passed getting a cheery wave from all four workmen inside. The bank of snow they had created was deeper than Mag’s height! We made it to the top after about an hour and a half and it was bleak in the strong wind but very beautiful too with crazy ice forms clinging to the rock and buildings. There was even a 4x4 at the top and a strong smell of diesel:( I made it to the iron railed circular viewing area for some quick pics but it was so cold, some skiers had walked up there to ski down - nutters! It was lucky we hadn’t taken a picnic as it would have been too windy and cold to have it at the top! Then two vehicles left the top to drive down, I wish I had been brave enough to put out my thumb and get a left! To be honest the walk down was fine a lot quicker too even though I did nearly slip over a few times and we made it back to the van in an hour! We then wanted somewhere to have our nut bread and ended up driving down the lovely mountain road to Bedoin an area surrounded by vines and fruit trees. We found a road to a small hamlet by vines with stunning views of Mont Ventoux for a late lunch. Then we wanted an overnight spot but didn’t want to go to far so headed to Malaucene along yet another breath-taking road and up Ventoux again. There is a small ski resort just below the summit we want to revisit but found Le Belvedere 965m just short of the snow line - the perfect place to stop with amazing views down into the valley. Cuppa with nutty bread and jam, then read and doze before Lidl lasagne. Will check out the ski resort tomorrow but don’t hold much hope of skiing we will probably then head south for the coast but definitely no uphill walking! Photo Gallery Here Saturday 10th February – travel + Mc Donald’s – sunny and windy. Nice quiet night in our half way up Mont Ventoux just short of the snow line but still woke to a frosty morning with sunshine and still a strong wind! After breakfast we thought we would check out the small ski resort just up the road at Mont Serein and there had been a light dusting of snow making it a slow trip up the steep road. There is half a dozen drag lifts here but they were all closed a bit surprising as the snow seemed OK but there were several families there sledging plus walkers and ski tourers. As it was so windy we decided to head for the coast and in the end did 197 miles across the most boring part of France passing Avignon, the awful Nimes, Montpellier reaching the Mediterranean at Sete which is quite nice but you had to pay to park so kept going! We continued on the coast road across the huge Baasin de Thau 15 miles surrounded by the sea one side and the etang the other and you couldn’t see any of it for reeds, sand and car parks all with height restrictions and payant, not camper friendly at all:( Getting hungry now we stopped near Marseillan where the Canal du Midi finishes. We had our baguette watching a couple of windsurfers out, one using a huge foil but they were not going great so was not tempted, too knackered anyway after all that driving! We even did the last section on toll motorway for the Princely sum of 3.80 Euros :) coming off at Sigean where we stopped at the newly refurbished Mc Donald’s to check the forecast. It looked like wind all over the place tomorrow with showers then Monday looking good with NW 20/30 kts. Put a few pics on Facebook and did some Forces of Nature entries but the wi-fi was slow so called it a day just as Daz was starting to post pics of Morocco on WhatsApp. We needed some water so headed to a spot on the back road to Les Cabines where we have filled up in the past but it was turned off so continued to our spot by the Etang de Sigean overlooking the picturesque Port la Nouvelle (if you look anywhere but at the cement works). We have never seen the etang water level so low but there are Flamingo’s everywhere:) With it being a bit on the breezy side I backed down the track to find a sheltered spot for a relaxing night. |
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