16th and 17th June Thur and Fri and Sat am Move form Palavas to Morzine

The night prior to my move to Morzine I decided to treat Thomas to some pasta accompanied by his recommendation of Greyer cheese. I bought some wine as well; the wine was the same price as the cheese! All in all a good evening, and a late bed time after more strained French – English and English – French conversation. If he was English or Moi French I think we could have discussed everything we talked about since meeting him, in about 1 hour.

Packing my tent and gear away is always more tricky than it looks, and to prove this for Friday mornings move I had a photographer to take some action shots, that photographer was Thomas. There was a whole menagerie of insects living in, or on the tent. Apart from the normal snails spiders and ants; we found a scarab beetle (I didn’t know this Thomas said it was a Scarab) , a frog and I found what looks like a very big moth having a snooze on my tent, he took some waking up to send on his way, and he flew off like a small bird.

On demolition, as Thomas liked to refer to it as, of my tent, it was time to leave Eden Camping and Thomas. I offered him 20 Euro trying to say that in terms of my budgeted 1100 euro a month (which I am currently way exceeding) 20 Euro is very little. Still he didn’t want to accept, until finally he accepted 10 euros, but only after I told him that when he comes to Lancaster he can buy me a drink; a proper pint not a euro measure.

After a 5 ½ hour drive I arrived in a drizzly, cloudy Morzine. I set up the tent in the wet with the inner still attached, not a good idea as I was to find out. As soon as I got it up it started dripping through water into the sleeping area. I managed to wipe the underside of the tent and stop it, but this morning Saturday 18^th, after a whole night of nonstop rain it has started again. I think it is wetting out with the condensation of cooking and my breath on the inside attracting the rain through from the outside. I pray the manager is right and better weather is on its way.

I had a couple of pints, yes pints not mini strong euro beer, in a local English style bar last night. Ialso heard the first English voices for 20 days!

15th June Hottest run of the year

My new friend, Thomas (pronounced Thoma), joined me for some breakfast in my tent this morning. I offered to up the nutrition of his bread and water with some jam. He appreciated it. I also gave him some peanuts, which I unwittingly bought thinking that they were cashews, in French peanuts is Cacahuets!  This added up to making me late setting off for my run. Not that I am on a tight schedule, I just know that it gets hot at 11 o’clock.

By the time I set off it was 11:30 and it was hot. I can safely say it was the most oppressive heat I have run in this year. One and a half hours was tough, and I just about managed it. After the run I talked to Thomas for a while with the aid of computer translation, to make things a bit easier.  Later in the evening Thomas met me in the bar and we had a glass of wine and a strained chat. After this we noticed the eclipse of the moon and stood there in awe of the beauty. Eclipses in a warm climate look much better, brighter and clearer. Altogether not a bad day, but seriously hot, about 30c in the shade!

14th June Meeting Thomas and a trip to Montpellier

A thunder storm late yesterday afternoon cooled things down a bit overnight. But the morning started off much the same as any other, in that it was hot, and I did the same routine of, eating, clearing up, and then sorting myself out. But with a bit of time to kill prior to catching a bus I got talking to Thomas. A nice French guy (23 and an avid Doctor Who fan) a bit down on his luck and living in a small Quechua  tent. After a strained conversation, as usual his English being better than my French, we decided to go to Montpellier together.

During the day a learned that he has no fixed abode and after 3 weeks of rough camping has started to live at the campsite. He is very tight for money and has lived on French sticks and water for 2 months. I respect him for that it must be really tough. He reluctantly accepted my invitation to buy him a Macdonalds in Montpellier. I realise it is not the nutrition he needed, but he said he would go wherever I was going, and genuinely that was a planned treat to myself that day. We both enjoyed it and I gave him the change, only about 6 Euros but I suppose all helps.

When I went food shopping I again felt guilty but I need proper food. I would really struggle to do what he is doing however cheap it would turn out to be, and when you have the choice! We missed our bus so whilst waiting for another bus I got us a nice cool drink at a shady bar. He learned that he has a good job in Lattes starting in September during the day, so good news for Thomas at last. He also is going to do some jobs at the site when they get busy in 2 weeks’ time. He is a nice guy and deserves some luck as his family are not; for reasons I didn’t delve into; supporting him. Something I have probably taken for granted. But as he understood all too well I can go home whenever I want by any means I want (I have money to fly o whatever it took) and no I would be welcome when I got there. It reminds me that what I am doing it not tough at all, what he is doing is tough; respect.

12th and 13th Sun, Mon Hot again and some ponderings

Well it’s hot and yesterday I had a day of chores. It was a restless night sleep however. The local campsite parties didn’t die down until about 1 am. Then I got a bit freaked out by scratching noises about 2 feet from my head. Eventually I got some sleep, safe in the knowledge that whatever was scratching was on the other side of the inner sheet, and fairly small. Whilst awake listening to the local nightclubs music at 05:30am, I pondered some of the things I haven’t put in this Blog. Either because I tried to wipe the trauma from memory, or I just didn’t see them as significant at the time. Here they are.
1 Getting back from Barcelona having been pick pocketed, to find that cats had dragged my cool bag of food from under the car and ripped big holes in it, Violated twice in one day.

2 Three days ago moved the car back towards my tent, forgetting that, that same repaired bag was under the car, crushing some eggs, and some prized Mcvitties Chocolate digestives.
3 The comedy of trying to have a chat with the local bar man in Font Romue. It was the same strained conversation most nights He looked like a French version of Master chefs Greg Wallace. A nice chap though.
4 The pure horror of going to have a shower at Mataro’s campsite on the 2^nd night and putting my hand in human excrement. Yes you read right.  This needs a bit of explaining. There is a ledge to put your bags on in the showers. I noticed what I thought was a pair of rolled up dark briefs, when I went to push them to one side to my utter shock the texture was not that of cloth. Ouch. It’s taken me a while to come to terms with this one.
5 The constant pain of tolls when on your own on a right hand drive car.

In the morning I discovered that 3 beetles had crawled in-between the ground sheet on the tents porch and the footprint groundsheet. So I sprayed lots of insect repellent in the area.
Today I had a run, which was at least as hot as any run I did in Mataro. It wasn’t just me the runners I saw had that pained expression on their faces, as did I I am sure. Tomorrow I will visit Montpellier this time to record its charm. I booked a mountain bike for 2 days in Morzine, and Booked a Hotel and some flights for the Tour of Mont Blanc. I think I will have had enough of the camping lifestyle by then!

11th June Saturday A run in the heat again

It felt quite strange today running in the heat with a cold. But at least I managed to find somewhere to run. This campsite has fences all around it and the only exit and entry point, at the road, is a busy dual carriageway with no footpath. I did have to dice with death for about 400 meters until I found a track that follows the river.

I ran for an hour and 15 minutes which was a bit longer than intended. I decided to go down the river towards the sea, crossed it at a bridge and follow it back. I knew the next bridge was back up river beyond the campsite, but had no idea how far. With no water and 26c heat it was a bit of a gamble. But luckily the bridge was only another mile there, and a mile back to the campsite. The only notable part of the run really, was the flock of flamingo’s I saw at the estuary near the sea.

As a load of kids (and parents naturally) move in, it has become a lot noisier. I only hope they are local weekend trippers. I long for the mountains even more now. I have to endure / make the best of this place until Friday. Another trip into Montpellier is on the cards as it is a nice city, and this time I will take my camera.

9th and 10th June Thursday, Friday Moving from Font Romeu to Palvaas

 I have felt low at arriving at all the campsites so far, none more so than when I arrived at the Eden Campsite in Palavas near Monpellier. I think it is the fatigue of driving and setting up camp, as well as expectations being too high; or the expectation that each campsite will be better than the last.

The drive from Font Romeu isn’t far, only about 180 miles, but it is not the distance, but more the roads that you are that is tiring. This drive was about 35 miles of downhill tight and twisty switchbacks. This was to get down to sea level from nearly 6,000 feet up. Followed by about 80 miles of what in England would be an A road.

I also brought a cold with me from Font Romeu, which also didn’t help my mood on arrival. Having had time to reflect though, this is without doubt the poorest site I have visited. No toilet paper, old haggard toilets and showers, not much space for entertainment , no freezing facilities for Ice packs (well not really I got mine done at the bar!). The one thing that looks good is the pool but I haven’t tried it yet. I suppose the free WIFI is good, but I almost daren’t ask if I charge anything up, I am worried the answer will be no. Oh I nearly forgot I saw the cleaner today hosing down the washing areas. No hands on cleaning; this is evident from the stains on all the metal; literally a hose and a spray down. Incredible! I just hope they don’t read this, second thoughts I’m not that bothered if I get chucked out.

I look back at Font Romeu and think it was a brilliant campsite it had a beautiful woodland setting in the hills, and only 12.50 euro a night off peak. Just as I was leaving I finally saw the Woodpecker that I had heard every day whilst being there. The manger who’s name (see picture) I have finally found out to be Mickaul, was also a really nice person, who was a source of information on running the hills and trails around Font Romeu. If I go back to the Pyrenees on another trip I will definitely visit.

8th June Wednesday the changing view from the campsite

 I had a run up to some of the smaller ski piste tops today. I did a circuit, going around the Lycee sports college 1841m, then up to La Gallinera 2127m, onto Roc de la Clama 2213m then Refuge De la Calma 2117m and then by accident back through the “Foret communale D’Egat” forrest. A few navigational mistakes added to the fun, and extended the run to 2 hours 25 minutes. It’s a good job there was a very cool wind as it was a bit far with no water.

After the heavy pack needed for the assault on a snowy Puig Carlit on Monday, it was good to go out with minimal gear and feel like I could move properly. I have always preferred the fast and light approach; I suppose that comes from fell running. Sometimes however the extra kit is necessary to increase the safety margins. As I start to think ahead to Switzerland (16 days away) and Peaks like Jungfrau, I think minimal kit on these peaks will be impossible or dangerous.

During the morning I took a few shots of the view from the campsite looking towards Camre d’Aze. It is a stunning view and for £11 a night, it beats the hell out of the Festa Brava’s view!



I was looking through some pictures when I found this video taken on one of the first parts of the ridge, on Camre d`Aze. It doesn`t go on long like this. But the most dangerous parts were the traverse lines around the, up and down, ridge, which went on for about half a mile. Without an ice axe it felt a bit nervy.

7th June Some video of Puig Carlit from yesterday

I am planning a day of chores, all the boring but necessary stuff, laundry, food shopping tidying the tent etc. I will also get my hair cropped for the first time in years by someone other than my sister. Should be intersting.

So I thought I would up load a clip of video that I took on my camera on the summit of Puig Carlit, from my new high point of 9,583 feet.

6th June Puig Carlit 2921 meters

For my first attempt at Puig Carlit, on Wednesday I optimistically set off from the campsite, probably o.k. in summer mountain conditions. But these are more like winter than summer conditions at the moment. So my new strategy was to drive to the foot of the mountain at La Bolloseta with winter gear and have another go.

The drive there was interesting, first off the sat nav thought it new a shorter route, it would have been if I had an off road vehicle, luckily the road was closed. So after ignoring the sat nav I was finally on the way. The second interesting / annoying part were the amount of wildlife on the road. The local cows and horses seem to have claimed it as their own. Some of them even seemed to weave in front of me; they must be a bit mad. After several encounters with cows and horses and 7 miles of narrow roads I arrived at La Bolloseta.

I got kitted up with a large pack, ice axe, crampons, spare clothing and all the other usual stuff, and then asked at the information kiosk what the snow conditions were like. She said she didn’t know and be careful. It was probably good to have her know I was on my way up on my own anyway, even if I didn’t gain any information.

So heavily laden with gear I made my way along and gently up the beautiful trials to the foot of Carlit. Luckily she didn’t seem to have too much snow on her, Just pockets that needed to be traversed with a bit of care. I got the axe out and did just that making my way across the traverse. Luckily a few others had been the same route, and so I could follow in their steps. It meant I did not need to use the crampons that I was carrying. There were a couple of tricky bits that required a bit of scrambling, 3 points of contact were definitely necessary. In summer this would be less daunting, the snow seems to add that bit of trepidation to the proceedings.

I made my way over these 2 tricky scrambles and hoped that these were the tough bits that the campsite manager was describing. It turned out that they were, and it was much easier, but still needed care, to reach the summit on my left. I had done it, I had reached the highest point in the area of languedoc roussillon. I descended via the couloir, seen in the picture left, as it was much easier in the soft deep snow, than it would be down climbing the tricky side of the arrete. 

Puig Cqrlit is by no means the highest of the Pyrenees (they can reach 3,400m or so), but still I am pleased to have ascended one of the larger mountains in the range. The ascent took 2hours 15 and the descent 1 hour 30.

 

5th June A local (font Romeu) trail run

I had a nice steady run on the gentle and beautiful trails the surround the campsite. I headed to Egat then looped back around. For a change it didn`t rain whilst I was out. There are some curious statues including a bear holding a bird, and a portly naked lady in a bath robe, on the route. Interesting.
I also took some "different" photos I think I was bored.

4th June Another quiet day, for me not the weather

The weather today has been a mix of sunny spells and really heavy showers. It is strange at this altitude because when you get rain, more often than not, you are actualy in the clouds, so it is misty with the rain.

I experienced this on a trip to the local-ish supermarket. On the way back up the 500 foot 3 mile hike, laden with a rucsack of shopping, it lashed it down. I think the managers suggestion to drive was a good one.

I did a conversion on 2,750m (Camra d`aze) today it turns out that it is 9,022 Foot. Its kind of nice to know that I have been above 9,000 feet for the first time.

3rd June Cambre d'Aze

After my previous 2 disappointing efforts at climbing my 3rd Pyrenean Mountain, it was good to succeed this time. It wasn’t easy though the snowfall of the previous few days combined with no view of the mountain to get an idea of how much was lying on the ground, made it real guess work.

I managed to locate a map in the town but after trying several shops the time was already 12:30. However I wasn’t in much of a rush as the mornings weather was awful, wet and windy again! I decided that as I had found a map I would definitely have a go today (the forecast for the next 5 days is for worse weather). So I got my gear together. It was a combination of next to skin base layers and a very protective shell jacket, hat, gloves and I also took Kahtoola spikes – a mesh of small steel spikes that fit around any footwear – as a precaution.   I chose this gear so I could be fast and light but still have good protection from what the potential cold high above.

I drove the 7 miles to St Pierre- Dels-Forcats then set off up the ski pistes.  It was fairly warm but cloudy. After a few minor errors I was soon out of the woodland and onto a broad ridge. Pockets of snow appeared, so I put the Kahtoola spikes on. These help a lot when the snow is on grass, your feet don’t slip back so much. The ridge narrowed to a fairly steep sided arête that rose up and down like a set of giant sharks teeth.  Most of this is missed on the right hand side (in my direction) but this meant traversing a steep snow covered slope, it was a “no slip area” as I warn myself. If you started sliding on that without an ice axe to self-arrest, you would be in big trouble.

It was good to finish the traverse and then make my way onto the final broad summit area. The wind picked up and the wispy snow became more soft hail. I took a hasty picture, and then descended down the other ridge of the mountain .There was no use hanging around as it wasn’t a day for views!  I didn’t get an ideal route down but it was good enough to take me down steep rock then through the forests and back to the car.

It is the highest altitude I have been to under my own steam, 2,750m, and it wasn’t the easiest of ascents on a tough day for the weather and underfoot conditions. Plus the final arête is about ½ mile long and it is all at about 2,700m high. So it was a pleasing 3 hour run., 2 hours 10 up and 50 minutes down.

       

            

31st of May 1st and 2nd of June

My journey across the Pyrenees to relocate in Font Romeu went smoothly. The 45 mile journey across passa del cassa was a nice drive. Foggy at times but then I was high up in the mountains. I arrived at the Hutopia campsite just as it started to drizzle. I met a really nice French guy who happened to be the manager, and he filled me in with the details. It is a campsite set in a national park; with a good eco ethic; so it wasn’t too much of a surprise to see 3 deer just after putting up the tent. What was a surprise was that the campsite is near empty. It has only just opened but I never expected to be the only person here in a tent.  It is like a campsite slowly waking up from hibernation.

I think I am finding out why today. As I type this it is snowing and has been on off for much of the time, apart from a 2 hour midday interlude for some really strong sun.  I suppose being at 1,750m has its difficulties.  

Earlier today I got a forecast off the really helpful French site manager (sorry still haven’t got his name) which suggested that today was going to be the best day; In the next 3; to have a go at the regions highest peak, Puig Carlit 2921m. So I got my gear together and set off over Coll Del Pam and down to the base of the mountain. I did this on some beautiful trails. But on approaching La Bolloseta the wind picked up and the clouds looked menacing. It was a seriously cold wind and even at my altitude of 2,000m I was really cold. I could just about run into the wind on the flat. I made it to the information point sheltered and put my hat and gloves on. The lady said troi jeurs mal. She spoke broken for me, but I understood it. It means the next 3 days will be no good for ascending Puig Carlit. Beyond that is anyone’s guess.

So, again, I turned back, but this time I headed for another hill, it also made a different route back. The much simpler pisted La Gallinera 2127m. It was disappointing but the weather made Puig Carlit it an impossible summit on the day, and the snow on the mountain looked fairly tricky even if the weather was reasonable.

As I type this I am starting to think that this recent snow fall might make all the hills tricky. I will look at a slightly easier mountain on Friday. The only problem is I haven’t got a map for it yet.

 

                                               

                                                       

31st May Moving on from Andorra la Vella to Font Romeu

It’s time to”let go” and move on again, this time its Font Romeu. I have grown quite fond of Andorra la Vella over the last 4 days.


The hotel staff has been an interesting bunch to get to know. The cleaner / waitress can’t speak any language apart from Spanish, at all, but is the nicest person you could ever meet. The receptionists, one of which has given me directions through a maze of streets to a car park I didn’t want. Then I had to go and move the car, next door to the one I did want. Another of the receptionists is an old boy. He was sat down in the cafe type area with his dog, smoking. I walked in asked for dos, tres, dos. This was my room key that I could have leant over the counter to retrieve. He got up, and I am not joking, it took him about 2 minutes to shuffle the 30 feet around to the counter to give me my key. I felt sorry for him as he was relaxing, but I thought I had better stick to Hotel protocol.

Last night I went to an Italian Taverna at the top end of Escalades (a 20 minute walk). I decided it would be a nice spot. It was, they had a Menu of beers from around the world, each with an in depth description. So I tried a few, and got talking to Pablo the bar tender. He is a really nice guy from Argentina, who has travelled all over the world. He has now settled in Andorra with his Italian girlfriend. He works 11 hours a day, with no days off! He ended up paying for one of my drinks, Thanks Pablo, good luck. It tipped it down, so the down side to drinking at this pub was a soaking on the way back to the Hotel.

30th May 2011 A storm in the Pyrenees

I took my daily post breakfast walk, this time to check on the car in the long stay car park. On my way I noticed a helicopter trailing a long line towards a cliff side. After retrieving my monocle from the Hotel, I could see what seemed to be 2 climbers on a porta-ledge waiting for recue climbers to ascend from bellow. It looked like an emergency, but could equally have been a training exercise. (hard to see but near the middle in the picture left)

The Weather forecast for today wasn’t too good. But I set off in good weather for the 2,658m Tossa del Braibal anyway. It was about a ¾ hour run / walk through the busy escalades high street before I started to ascend a winding road then eventually a track. I had previously plotted a convoluted route that spent less time on winding mountain roads. So I did some long sweeping out and back before closing In on Coll Jovell (1,179M), as I did I heard the unmistakable sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. As it was distant I decided to carry on. But by the time I had ascended to about 2,100M, it suddenly became much louder.

After 2 hours effort I took a breather and decided that I did not know enough about how these steep sided slopes would react in bad weather. Landslips are always a threat. Ultimately it was my own risk assessment that turned me back. On my own, on almost deserted hills, with probably an hour to get to the top and back to where I was, with a storm closing in and just starting to rain, on unfamiliar hills was enough to make me go back down. A little disappointed as this was a much better mountain to take on at speed, the trails were much nicer and less steep. As I descended I saw a lightning strike on a radio mast near the mountain I was on, on Saturday. I have never turned back before but I have never taken on a 2,600M peak before either. If that weather was in the English hills I would have carried on.

As it turned out the bark of this storm was worse that it’s bite. But still a lot of life is about self-preservation, and based on this alone I know it was the correct decision.

29th May Camping versus Hotels

The party on Friday night in Mataro, and me changing from camping to a Hotel, made me ponder the differences between camping and staying in a Hotel. A Hotel is no doubt easier i.e. you don’t have to walk 200 meters every time you want to go to the toilet, brush your teeth, or wash the dishes; or walk 400 meters every time you want something charging, or to throw your litter away, go to the bar, and buy food. Of course the shelter is better, less prone to the elements. But you don’t meet people in a hotel, especially in Andorra where it seems the Spanish holiday for the duty free shopping!

Camping is cheaper, and you meet like-minded people that love to travel, and when on your own this is an important part of the enjoyment. I have begun to realise that sharing experiences gives them a sense of worth. This Blog goes a little way to that. Camping is also more relaxing. I also had an amazing view in Potes, a reasonable one in Mataro. Here I have a small window that looks down a very narrow alley. I can just make out the light at the end, crap in other words. So from now on I am camping all the way. If I get tired of camping then I’m off home.

Another thought / enigma, I have been texting a lot until I got here, but in Andorra my phone will not pick up a network. No idea why.