Miesiąc: lipiec 2014

I am very disappointed by the weather this year (almost to the point of frustration) but I try not to be held back because of it. And sometimes it is good to go hiking in unobvious conditions because you get to see marvels like the one above.
Our today’s destination was proposed by our friend Agnieszka and it’s a pass just right by Pointe Percée – a holy graal of hikers around since it’s one of the most difficult summits you can claim without specific gear. Well, you will read about Pointe Percée in my posts to come but this time it’s about Col des Verts which was actually easy and agreeable.

We started in the clouds, first on soft paths in a valley but then soon through hard rocks and stones. We didn’t have much of a view but that would change a bit on our way back.

We quickly reached the refuge and and continued to the right. At some point hope had lightened our hearts as we began to see sunny spells and blue skies patches. Soon the mist cleared completely revealing Pointe Percée and Col des Verts in its full bloom.

As we continued to the top the views became more and more stunning. We left the clouds behind our back and enjoyed the first real sun in some days.

The final part of ascent was pretty technical but short. Radek went first and as he reached the pass before me he shouted with delight. That kept me reassured! And indeed, I also couldn’t help but just whisper „wow” when I saw the other side.

We stayed on top a longer while, Radek even went to check out the path to the neighbouring Pointe Percée but capitulated shortly when it turned out it was basically a climbing route. When we started descending the clouds raised a bit and the valley below became a bit blurry but still breath taking.

Since the clouds moved a bit higher we had a chance to see some of the views we missed going up. Lovely…

Is there a better way to celebrate your 6th wedding anniversary than a life threatening experience in mountains? Well, I don’t know because I chose the risky way of commemoration… But from the start… I chose la Roche Parnal for our today hike because it was close and not too long and we didn’t want to spend the whole day in mountains. As usual, when I saw some nice technical parts of the route I got excited and decided to go for it… Well, that was the first time I have underestimated a mountain. Hopefully my last one!

That’s la Roche Parnal as seen from distance. Looks innocent!

The supposedly fun part was Col du Cable – an exposed place equipped with chains and spikes. The spikes were there to put your feet on while crossing the passage. There were a couple of problems though… Firstly, the weather was nasty. It had been raining a lot earlier and everything was wet and muddy making us slide on almost every surface. Secondly, the spikes were not evenly hammered, the distance between them was big and sometimes there were none whatsoever.

It was a rather dramatic venture to cross this passage. One false move
and we would find ourselves dangling at the cable with feet down over a
10 m almost vertical slope. Our shoes kept sliding from rocks and spikes
because everything was wet so we needed to watch our every step.
Fortunately, noone died and it is one of those experience that once you
are passed it you are able to laugh at it. Once past Col du Cable we soon reached the summit. A bit of bad luck though, because 5 minutes before reaching the top clouds came in and covered the view entirely for around half an hour.

We didn’t wait till the clouds disperse and started walking down. Of course, the clouds dispersed shortly after 🙂 On our way down we encountered lots of wild goats and a groundhog.

We kept moving on a muddy path, trying our best not to fall down. That’s Radek balancing on the route.

We soon left the rocky parts behind us and continued on through fields and grazing cows back to the car. Indeed, a very good way to celebrate our anniversary!

Our longly awaited La Tournette hike has finally come true. Overlooking Lake Annecy, La Tournette is a nice mountain having a lot to offer. The ascent starts rather innocently but we had nice views practically from the beginning.

The actual summit is this square block at the left side of the chain:

The weather was perfect for hiking – rather warm but no burning sun. Thanks to that we reached the ridge quite fast and continued on walking on higher altitudes.

And here it is – Lake Annecy. From that moment on it accompanied us on our tour more or less all the time.

At last we reached the square block of La Tournette. It didn’t look hikable but I already learnt that everything is hikable here! In this big cube of rock there was a little crack at the back. This is where chains and a ladder were installed so that wanderers could reach the highest point.

As usual, we made a little pause at the top but at some point we felt little drops on our noses and decided to get back. Fortunately it was a false alarm because what was ahead of us wouldn’t be very pleasant in rain. And what was ahead of us? Chains, ladders (ok, one ladder), vertical passages… I didn’t expect that our descent would be so technical! We all enjoyed it!

At some point the sky cleared a bit. Yey! But that was already when we were already at the foot of Tournette.

Oh yeah, did I mention we encountered tons of wild goats? They’re always soooo cute!

We soon went out of a tourist and animals’ bell ringing zone and started some more serious hiking through pebbles and rocks.

That’s a first look on our destination place:

Trou de la Mouche (Hole of a Fly) is basically an arch in a rock. We could see it for the most time of our ascent which made it pleasent to hike (it’s always motivating to be able to see the aim). But before reaching it we needed to get past the valley still covered in snow at some parts, then climb the ridge and made a last-ditch effort of almost a vertical climb to La Trou. But we were rewarded…

Although the clouds were lurking for us we were just in time to see a beautiful view on the valley, Mont Blanc and la Trou. Really splendid!

A short break to enjoy the views and grab a bite and off we go down at the other side of the arch, getting away from the clouds. That side of the rock was as nice as the other one!