Walkers: be prepared to turn back!

As mentioned before there is a wonderful selection of paths round here, from 'routes forestières', through signposted 'grandes routes', to 'autres sentiers' (other footpaths). It is a walkers' paradise, with a richness of scenery which must match just about anywhere in the world. Buy some local guide books, the local maps (IGN 1:25000 are good, though not as clear as Ordnance Survey), and off you go.

BUT ... a word of warning. The downside of the dramatic scenery is that you need to use your discretion. In short, be prepared to turn back if your path is dangerous because of the season, weather, or state of repair. Last winter I turned back twice when routes that would be perfectly fine in Summer were turned into potential death traps for a casual walker by ice and snow: some of the more mountainous paths have some quite dramatic drops, and you wouldn't want to slide over them.

And today's walk, done in perfect weather, after a promising start, soon turned tricky: one section, where the earth path had become extremely narrow because of a landslip from one edge was fairly simply and safely bypassed with a bit of a scramble through some trees. However the next section, along a narrowish ledge along a crumbly cliff face with a few large sheer drops to the right  was a no-brainer: time to retrace steps and keep myself safe for another walk another day.

It's worth remembering that the dramatic geology round here is the result of constant change: not just over long time-scales of millions of years, but all the time, now. Many roads are prone to rockfalls (the Col de Grimone is currently shut because of a major one), and many roads and paths, out of necessity, have been built on and surrounded by structurally weak geology.  It's a geology which is both awe-inspiring and a bit terrifying. And it's certainly worth seeing.

Most of the photos are from today's aborted walk. The last couple are from Vercors yesterday, and suggest why walking maps may need to be taken with a pinch of salt there in Winter.

Judging from the state of the rocks above the path, this isn't a place to hang around for too long.

To the right there are some sheer drops of a hundred feet or so. Hmm.

When the French say a path is dangerous, it is.

Time for a scramble over the banks to the right.

The 'interesting' path to Pas de Sagatte. Treat with extreme caution.

An escape to the sun...

England has been throwing quite a lot of weather at us lately. The best that can be said is that "at least it hasn't been cold". But it's been everything else, and even the British, who are used to 'weather' have got fed up with it. And though I haven't had the miseries that some poor people have suffered, I was ready to escape to the south of France for a week.

Well, just getting to London to catch the Eurostar was quite an adventure, and instead of the prebooked train to London, we ended up driving to St Alban's, where we parked at a kind friend's house, and caught the train to St. Pancras International to find our Eurostar. Anyway, from there it all went like clockwork, and we got home by 9.30pm. Made a nice change from a 19-hour drive.

(I had the amusing diversion of being asked to unpack my rucksack after the X-ray check at St. Pancras security. "Why me?" I thought, as I unpacked my crampons, microspikes, tool-equipped saddle bag, spare mobile phone, two chargers, Google tablet, compass, whistle, electric shaver, and assorted cycling kit and a few clothes. Hmm, on reflection, I did have rather a lot of metal and electrical items. A fair cop.)

And so to unwinding. Day one was, er, wet. Nonetheless, my brother and I had two pleasant short walks, first down into Die to buy provisions, and then later up the stream from Les Liotards towards the Glandasse.

Day two started in the murk, but with a good forecast. And as we walked down into Die, what I think was a cloud inversion lifted, and we were treated to a typically Alpine gloriously clear day. I took the opportunity to walk up to the 988m Croix St. Justin, which is a well-known viewpoint south of Die, about two hours' walk up, and one hour down. Like most paths round here it's pretty well waymarked, but it's always worth taking a decent map to check your progress and any odd corners, and to see what the surrounding terrain is like.

The photos are from the walk, and as well as general views show some of the typical signage you'll find on French paths.

The view to Croix de Justin from Die

Die Cathedral from the start of the climb

You need to keep your eyes peeled sometimes for the path markers ... on rocks, or stumps...

... or on young green trees...

.... or on older ones: here's one telling me the path goes left...

...and here's one telling me that the path doesn't go here.

The climb to Croix de Justin is definitely worth it - about two hours up from Die, about an hour back.

The magnificent panorama from Croix de Justin