I'll probably split it up into several posts so as not to stress the blogging application. So, without further ado...
The raison d'être for the hike was threefold:
o I wanted to get in hiking shape before the upcoming CMT (Coast Moor Twinhike) in England in May, having found out the hard way that it is better to give the body a few days to recover from the first couple of big hikes in a season.
o a couple of French friends were interested in hiking the beautiful Verdon gorge,
o as was I.
I've hiked the gorge before, on the H2H, and have since then sung its praises to anyone who would listen -- it is quite something, over 40km long and with cliff walls up to several hundred meters in height. Here, for example, is a view of the entrance to the most spectacular stretch -- taken from the village of Rougon:
But I'm getting ahead of myself. We arrived in Castellane Tuesday, April 16th.... we being Joseph, Jean-Paul and Françoise, and myself. Françoise didn't hike with us, due to knee problems, and instead played the most welcome role of Sherpa Deluxe, driving our luggage from place to place and picking us up and dropping us off as needed. Her help was hugely appreciated, sparing our backs from several extra kilos, and our legs from many extra kilometers (mostly due to the main accommodation option in the middle of the gorge being closed for renovations).
The first thing we did, after dropping off our bags, was to go for a short hike up to the chapel of Notre Dame du Roc, which is perched on a monolith 200m above Castellane, and parts of which date back to the 12th Century. Here's a picture (not taken by me -- the day was a little hazy):
It's a stunning location with tremendous views over the town and the mountains around about. And then it was back to our hotel, dinner, and an early bed.
The next day was a warm-up hike of around five hours, from Castellane (725m) to the village of Rougon (930m). It was an easy trail, with nice views of the hills and mountains around, for the most part gradually ascending, up to a large bowl-shaped pasture at 1250m, and finishing with a short descent into Rougon. The day was almost mid-summerly hot, but we had sufficient water and our legs were fresh. Or at least, they were fresh for a while... by the end Joseph's right foot was giving him some trouble (a variant of Morton's neuroma, I think), and the tail end of a gout attack was bugging me too. Jean-Paul, our iron man, was of course fine :-).
Upon arrival in Rougon we saw Françoise's car in the parking lot but no Françoise. Thinking that she was probably at the gîte (a sort of basic hostel) where we would be spending the night, we walked off to find her... but she wasn't there either. So we walked back to the car... but it was gone, and with it our bags and thus any hope of a quick refreshing shower. Sigh. A little mix-up as to expected arrival time. Instead we spent the next hour sitting on the kerb waiting for her and her phone to get to a place with a functioning cellphone net so we could tell her we had arrived. The delay made the shower even more appreciated though!
Dinner, at the local creperie, was very good, and we turned in early.
