Hiking
Full flow in Langstrath Beck on its way down Borrowdale in The Lake District, Cumbria.
Hike on the karst of Mont Sainte Baume on the first clear day after a couple of summer storms; after a fine dawn with the birds singing, it was a joy to be hiking up the mountain path, butterflies fluttering purposefully amongst the fresh flowers,
Thrilling views both ways from the ridge of Mont Sainte Baume: the Mediterranean coastline far away south in the heat haze and inland to the north, the twisted folds of the various limestone ridges.
Day out to hike Blencathra, the double headed Lakeland peak formed of craggy Skiddaw slate. Leaving home in London at dawn, blackbirds singing in the streets. Pendolino train service to Penrith then a bus to the White Horse pub to start hiking uphill before midday.
Nice view over Scales Tarn. Picnic lunch on the summit of Blencathra (868 m.). Still blue sky and sunshine, wow what good luck! Thrilling views over the precipitous ridges over to all the Lakeland peaks, Skiddaw nearby, Great Gable and Hellvellyn as well as Derwent Water and Thirlmere far away in the haze but with flashes of snow remaining in the cold gullies on the tops.
Hiking on the Mont Dore massif in the Auvergne region of France. Much dairy agriculture here with many local gastronomic treats employing local cheeses such as St. Nectaire and Bleu d'Auvergne. The Mont Dore massif is described as stratovolcano that has been inactive for the past 220 thousand years. During that time, the area has undergone several episodes of glaciation so much of the topography doesn't immediately strike the eye as "volcanic", at least until alerted to imagine a main peak much higher than the eroded stump which remains. My previous winter hike, on snow-shoes with the peaks still fully covered with snow, revealed the distinctive cone shapes of some of the susuduary peaks of the same massif: see Puy de l'Angle, 1738 m. The Auvergne area still has geological activity, there are hot springs in the spa towns and the west tower of the cathedral at St. Nectaire was severely damaged by the earthquake of 1842. We talked with some French scientists who had been using muon tomography to image some the local features.
Just a hike along the river Verdon, but few riverside walks feel the pressure of cliffs towering up to 750m. directly above the path. "Keep the river on the right": not a lot of navigation difficulties but a hike which is all about logistics; a couple of nights at the CAF Chalet de la Maline (mountain-refuge style lodging, busy) and avoiding the navette (minibus) reduced these for me. Mind the wet tunnels (torch required) and the vertiginous ladders (burning quads) but otherwise not particularly technical. I enjoyed my picnic lunch on the beach at La Mescla, the confluence of the rivers Verdon and Artuby The great views are in the middle of the hike, climbing over the cliff forming the confluence of the Artuby and the Verdon.
