Hiking
Great Gable (899 m.) is a bit of a scramble to reach the summit but today’s climb was rewarded with clear views in all directions: Scafell Pikes, Skiddaw Old Man, Morecombe Bay, the Pennine escarpment and ridge, Dumfries and Galloway, even Snaefell far away on the Isle of Man.
The route from Honister Pass has much the same total height gain/loss as the more popular stomp up from Seatoller and Seathwaite in Borrowdale. As well as being less populous, there are fine views during the ascent over to Buttermere, then Ennerdale and even Wasdale and glimpses of Lake Windermere. There are some fine ponds, teeming with little frogs.. It was something of a surprise to encounter the numerous climbers on Windy Gap and Green Gable, then the hordes on the summit at 899 m.
Clear skies and high temperatures on our arrival at Les Contamines-Montjoie in the shadow of Mont Blanc. very near to Chamonix but up a quieter valley. Plenty of hiking with some great views of the Mont Blanc massif, although the glaciers are looking sadly diminished these days... global warming is very apparent. Also pictures of the Cascade de Rouet on the GR5 near Samoëns, a favourite from previous visits, and the garden of this hotel, from which we have enjoyed the sunsets on the glaciers above. Food very Savoyard: lots of Roblochon, Tomme de Savoie and Beaufort cheese with plenty of potatoes as Pommes à la Savoyarde or Tartiflette.
Port Cros, the French island National Park in the Mediterranean off shore between Toulon and St. Tropez, isn't listed in many hiking guides but it features a huge variety of Mediterranean environments, marine and land, which are relatively unspoiled. Many of the trails are through vegetation tunnels, usefully protecting the hiker from the heat of the sun or the violence of the storms. Individual Mediterranean environments exist to some extent on the mainland but here on Port Cros they are all together.
Summer hiking in the Vercors has been unusually hot, more than 33°C for much of the day, even at 1500 metres altitude. Nonetheless we've see some great sights and a few animals, including a first sighting of Ermine, probably a juvenile male in his caramel coat, which will turn to white next winter. Fireworks for the 14th July, Villard-de-Lans isn't Marseille Vieux Port but it was a good show anyhow.
Skiddaw Man, 931 m., is the fourth highest peak in England so any hike up is a reasonable day’s outing. I took one of the quieter routes by starting right down in Keswick. Leaving the B&B on foot, I walked alongside the river Greta at Keswick, 85 m., then took the path along tthe track bed of the abandoned Pernith to Keswick railway through the gorge of the river Greta. The path is crossed by the A66 trunk route, the modern bridge framing the Lakeland fells beyond the wooded riverside and the town of Keswick. I was early enough to see a pair of Osprey riding the breeze and also I heard a cuckoo in the woods.
