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3rd June 2016 Hiking - Walking: Isola 2000 (6868ft) to Lac de Terres Rouges (7968f Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods then afternoon rain. Max Speed: Distance Covered: 4.48 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 3rd June – hike ***** Isola 2000 (6868ft) to Lac de Terres Rouges (7968ft) to the Col Merciers (2343m) – sunny periods then afternoon rain. 4.48 miles and 4.50 hours out :) Woke to an outside temperature of 4 degrees here in Isola but we are over 2000m! not so clear as yesterday but still good spells of sunshine and blue sky. After a couple of days not doing our exercises we did them today with lovely mountain views, luckily we are above the main resort, a rather soulless and disjointed resort more like Beirut than a ski haven for the rich and famous of the Cote D’Azur but the skiing does look good apart from the near vertical Slalom piste directly opposite us, perhaps one day we will make the long trip to the Southern Alps in winter to give it a go!!! Breakfast eaten outside watching many interesting birds including our first Dipper of the trip:) We were going to have an easy day after two days of hectic mountain hiking but I knew from a tourist map that there was a walk to a Lac but was not sure of the way. Then a nice Frenchman with a video camera waked by so I asked him how we could get to Lac de Terries Rouges and even though he couldn’t speak English he managed to point us in the right direction, telling us it is an hour away and it will rain in the afternoon, it seems a regular feature of early summer in the mountains! It was too good an opportunity to miss and aching legs quickly forgotten we packed the rucksack lightly and set off up the piste behind the van in the general direction of Mont Malinvern at 2938m which is not the highest here with several peaks in the area over 3000m! Considering this is a major hike for the resort, signs were thin on the ground but nearing the resorts snow canon reservoir we spotted a small sign pointing up which helpfully said ‘itinery.’ Crossing some tundra over a rickety wooden bridge, seeing our first marmots, the path soon became a rocky steep scramble with some of the best scenery of the trip. We followed a mountain stream so things were looking good that there would be a lac at the end of it! After crossing the stream stopping for a photo we found our first proper sign directing us to the lac and we followed red and white makers all the way, it was a proper mountain hike winding and steep and every time you thought it was just around the corner you had to climb to another level. The marmots were entertaining us at regular intervals and we were finding large patches of snow which covered the path in places and you had to take care passing! We had seen several smaller lacs but not the Red Lac, named after the red rock found here. With the light grey rock covered in green lichen it was a truly amazing sight! Then we had one final climb and discovered the small round Lac surrounded by a mass of jagged boulders and snow. We found a large rock for our snack scaring off a marmot in the process, she then kept popping her head out of the rocks every few minutes just to check we were still there! It was the closest we have ever been to one :) We were at the lac an hour and the sun even managed to come out in spells making the water look even more spectacular:) We then scrambled around the lac over rocks and snow before heading down. We hadn’t gone far when Mag spotted seven Ibex, a group of females and young who gave as a wonderful display of sure footed rock scampering as they passed every close behind us:) They watched us intently but were not in the least bothered by our presence! Instead of returning the steep way we came we found a gentler path across to the Col Merciers (2343m) which was a much better return apart from a section of steep snow which covered the path and Mag had fun slip sliding about getting cold hands in the process! By the time we reached the last climb up a wide path to the col it was raining nicely:( and the visibility poor which was a shame as I think the views over to Italy would have been good. Still after passing a closed wooden gate through the col we saw more Ibex above us by three large concrete gun emplacements and a Chamois running in the meadows below. With rain coats on we had a quick climb up to see the rainy view down both side before heading down a good but very wet track down. After a while we came to the top of a button lift and I had fun zig zaging across the piste ski fashion to put some nice patterns on the GPS tracks until we came across a tractor muck spreading so gave him a wide berth! So back to the van after 4.50 hours a bit on the damp side but happy none the less after another 5 miles of top mountain adventure:) So lunch, read,relax,doze,cards as the rain fell then it stopped at 6.30 and we walked down past the nice wooden chalets to the awful high rise blocks - the worst of French architecture which sadly is quite common in French ski resorts:( and back to the van for what must be the worst meal we have ever had in the van – carbonara gone wrong – trouble with the pasta. Photo Gallery Here Saturday 4th June – Relax, adventure drive and short hike **** cloudy with sunny periods & rain Another glorious morning in Isola 2000 :) We were true to our word today and had a rest!! At one point getting the bikes off and biking up to the Col de la Lombarde was mentioned but that soon disappeared from the conversation! We did our exercises outside in the sun, ate breakfast and had a quick chat with the nice guy who told us how to get to the lake yesterday who asked if we had found it and had a good day :) Clouding up towards lunch time again and then even thunder in the distance across the mountains!! Decided to pack the van up and give it a quick clean inside and out – using the water from the waterfall for the outside :) Drove off up towards the Col de la Lombarde and stopped at the top just after crossing into Italy to take some photos and take one for a cyclist who had just biked up the French side! He was jumping up and down for his photo! Carried on down many many hairpin bends on the weirdest main road we have ever been on – thick white lines showing each side of the winding, steep and treacherous single carriageway road but no crash barriers! The scenery was absolutely amazing even though it was cloudy and we decided to travel down to the bottom of the gorge to Vinadio to see if we could find a shop as we were running low on drinking water. We ended up driving through there and on to Aisonne because we couldn’t turn round!! Returned to Vinadio, parked in a large car park on the outskirts and walked into the old town through the fort which appeared to be a museum but we didn’t go into the actual building although it didn’t seem as if you had to pay. After a few narrow roads we found a small mini market and went in, a little nervous, although we don’t really know why because the elderly lady who was serving was very friendly. We thought the large loaves of bread with finger holes in the top looked lovely so we asked for one of those and thought it was going to cost a fortune because it was huge but she weighed it and it was only just over a euro! Also bought a bottle of local water and a carton of milk. Then because we still had change from our 10 euro note we decided to splash out on cake and decided on 2 pieces from one of the 3 large swiss rolls on the bread board. The lady put the knife on the cake and looked at Stephen to see if it was big enough and he gestured – no bigger!! And we all had a laugh about that. The cake was also put on the scales and actually cost more than the three items we bought the first time!!! Returned to the van and drove back up to a spot half way up the gorge which looked good for lunch. It was near the river which flows down the whole length of the road and forms part of the walk which was marked all the way down with the symbol of a walker and a cairn of rocks (The Italians do seem to love making a cairn – they are everywhere). After lunch we had a chapter of our books then drove up to the very top of the gorge, above the turning back to the Col de la Lombarde. All the way up we were following writing on the road showing the names of competitors in a big race which took place up here last weekend. We recognised Niboli (spelling??) from past Tour de France races we have seen on the TV. There is a tiny village, Santuario di St Anna, which is some kind of spiritual sanctuary with many religious symbols and a big church complex asking for silence. It is also the source for the water we bought in the shop. We parked down the road in a small car park underneath a massive rock plinth with Mary on the top – our lady of the snow! We walked up to the village and had a look round then started the scramble path up to another shrine and bizarrely a war memorial covered in old bits and pieces of war memorabilia, tin hats, old barbed wire etc. ?? Carried on with the scramble path to the top of the cliffs above the village and found another lake :) Really nice walk because after the scramble there was a path down past another lake to a high car park and then a road back to the village. Had our tea watching a huge white cloud come up the gorge towards us and watching the village eventually disappear into it! Had egg and chips for tea and later the wonderful Italian swiss roll which was delicious :) So that was our little venture into Italy and have to say the people do seem very stand offish, we haven’t had one person say hello with the exception of the nice lady in the shop. Although it is beautiful I think we will both be pleased to get back over into France but for tonight we are about 10 miles into Italy for our stop over. |
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