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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071 |
25th May 2012 Hiking - Walking: Gorges de la Caranca Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Max Speed: Distance Covered: Friday 25th May 2012 – walking ***** sunny periods with thunder!!! Enjoyed the morning by the river, did exercises and did lots of bird watching from the van and then down by the river. A greater spotted woodpecker came and sat on the tree stump just a few yards from the van :) The water voles gave a great performance too! They are really sweet with stubby faces and lots of whiskers. We left about 11 and drove to Mont Louis to get bread. Drove 12 miles past two rail bridges which the Train Jaune (yellow train) runs on through the spectacular scenery. We arrived at the Gorges de la Caranca and were pleased to find that the riverside car park had a special part for camper vans where you can park overnight. The car park is 2 Euros for 1 day 3 for 2 days and supposedly 6 Euros for a camper van overnight but we don’t quite know how the machine can decide what you are? We will see tomorrow when we pay at the machine to make the barrier go up! We had a cuppa, packed a picnic and set out in brilliant sunshine to walk up the Gorges. Hate to say it but another pinch yourself moment – it is very spectacular :) We followed the path to the ‘Corniche’ side of the Gorge and after a long climb up it turned into a path gouged out of the cliff for well over half a mile! There was a cable hand rail fixed to the cliff and you really needed it because the path was under a metre wide and some of the edge was crumbling away. At one point there had been a landslip and you had to scramble over the scree. There were metal ladders as well. Just to add another dimension to our adventure it started to thunder really loudly. When we came down level with the river we stopped and had our picnic and a French couple we spoke to in the car park came past and we had a really long conversation with them. We put our cagoules on because it was starting to spit and still thundering. The rain never really arrived luckily. The bridge when we reached it was like an assault course! You had to climb up a vertical ladder with metal rungs which swayed and then climb up onto a rope bridge which moved up and down and side to side! It was pretty amazing in a scary way! This bridge marked the end of the corniche part of the walk and we had intended to walk up a couple more bridges but the yellow stripe let us down again and we found ourselves on the way back to the car park. We decided not to go in search for the right way and were glad we didn’t because the path back was just like mountaineering! It was very steep and rocky with some rocks really smooth so you had to watch your footing all the way. I slid on my bum at one point! At one point you had to squeeze through a tiny fissure in the rock! It is amazing that people have made these paths – it must have taken years to make the corniche and why when there was already a path up the other side of the river – glad they did though! The path goes on for miles up to a few refuges in the mountains – some of the walks take 2 or 3 days. Back at the van relaxing with a cuppa our French friends (from Renne in Brittany) came back (they found the right way!) and we chatted for another half an hour :) There are a few campers in but not crowding us out. Went for a walk to the village later. At about 9 just after we had finished tea and washed up 2 cars full of rather loud French men arrived and they made a big palava of changing their clothes and getting stuff out of their cars – we couldn’t make out what they were doing so late but soon realised that they were waiting for it to get dark! Sure enough at 9.45 they took a team photo and walked past us towards the gorge with enormous back packs and head torches. God knows how far they are going to get tonight but it was a tough hike in the daylight let alone in the dark – they must be crazy. I want to go!!! http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3473040817404.2143007.1012660562&t ype=1&l=a72e103ae6 |
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