Actually I could distill the blog for today's hike to one word: HOT!!!
There were thunderstorms in the morning, so we delayed our departure until 11AM... and shortly after we started the sky cleared and the temperatures soared. We walked a couple of hours to the entrance to the Gorges of Regalon, had lunch, and then scurried out of the increasingly intense heat into the cool gloom of the gorge. It's a slot canyon coming down from the center of the Luberon mountain and is quite spectacular -- I'll send photos later.
All good things must come to an end, however, and an hour later we were out of the gorge and climbing up trails to the Luberon crest. At first the trails went through woods, but after a while we came out into the full sun... it was like an oven. The slope we were climbing faces due south and we couldn't tell if more heat was coming up from the rocks underfoot or down from the sun above.
In short order, despite drinking a fair amount of water (I went through 2.5 liters today), we started to get dehydrated. I've done this hike a few times before and it is hot even when the weather is cold... but today was ridiculous. We got to the point where we had to stop every few minutes, and at one point we both felt dizzy and sat down for half an hour until we felt better. We were in full sun most of the time, there was little wind, and every step was a struggle. I'm not quite sure what the physiology of heat prostration is, but it seemed more than ordinary dehydration: I was panting like a dog at times, and we both were way more exhausted than we should have been.
We finally reached the crest about 5:15PM, headed down the cooler northern side, and got to our B&B around 6:45PM. Oliver reckoned it was his most difficult hike since Kilimanjaro, and I can't remember the last time I had such difficulty on a hike. I wouldn't be surprised if the temperatures within a few feet of the ground were close to 50C. I'll be drinking more tomorrow and hope the conditions will improve now we are north of the Durance plain and slightly higher (also, much of the hike tomorrow is through wooded landscape).
To those who are planning to come along on the hike before we get to the Park National des Ecrins (around July 13th), I suggest you bring lots of water bottles, sunscreen, and pray to the weather gods to send some bad weather!
And in case you are wondering, we are both in good spirits and looking forward to the hike to Roussillon tomorrow. I think we must both be Nietzsche enthusiasts -- what doesn't kill us makes us stronger!
Sent from my iPad
