Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Day 2 -- From Domaine de Mejeans (near Alleins) to Oppede le Vieux
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
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
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Day 1 -- Eygalieres to somewhere too far away for the first day's hike
After shifting about 20 todo list items to the "when I get back from the hike" category last night I finally got everything done that I absolutely had to do, the prospect of walking 550km no longer seemed quite as imposing given the whirlwind of the last few days!
We were supposed to set off at at 9AM but Lidia didn't get back from the baker's until ten to 9 and Oliver was his usual unhurried self, so I went with the flow and we didn't leave until 9:45. Then we had to stop in the village for water (Oliver's water bottle having being discarded just before arrival due to runaway fungus growth... eeeww) and money (the ATM machines everywhere else in France not having deigned to work for him). Something about ATM machines at the moment -- when I asked it for money (very politely) it grudgingly gave me a pile of 20s. I mean, it must know that 50s are lighter....
As a result (more of the late start than the pile of 20s) we didn't get to Toni's place for lunch until about 1:45PM (we were expected around 1, so not too bad). Actually I was quite pleased we made it by then since we took a sequence of paths through the Alpilles that a) I had never been along, and b) were not marked. Beautiful though -- particularly after we came down into the plain around Chateau Roquemartine where the broom was blooming and the butterflies (of many different types) dancing.
Toni had very kindly (and foresightedly) prepared a couple of salads for us for lunch, so our late arrival presented no problems. Afterwards he showed us around his studio/barn and good-naturedly listened to our profound observations on some of his works (I descended all the way to Coelacanths, which, you may know, is pretty deep).
But we still had miles to go, so we said our thanks and walked off along tracks and trails to the Neolithic cave dwellings of Cales above Lamanon. Surprised a shapely model doing a photoshoot in one of the rock houses, dressed in gold paint and a bikini... nigh on the first person we had seen all day during the hike. Not sure why -- it was a hot and humid day, with a few scattered raindrops, but not that hot. Perhaps people here just aren't used to the humidity... or perhaps the phrase about "mad dogs and Englishmen" applies.
By the time we arrived at our hotel, the charming if it were not mosquito-ridden Domaine de Mejeans at 6:30PM, after 7 hours of hiking time, I was more than ready for the first day's hike to end. We both seem to have held up well... but I'm a little apprehensive about how quickly we'll be able to stand up when getting out of bed tomorrow morning! Dinner was good (except for the aforementioned beasties) as was conversation.
Tomorrow we cross the Luberon!
Sent from my iPad
We were supposed to set off at at 9AM but Lidia didn't get back from the baker's until ten to 9 and Oliver was his usual unhurried self, so I went with the flow and we didn't leave until 9:45. Then we had to stop in the village for water (Oliver's water bottle having being discarded just before arrival due to runaway fungus growth... eeeww) and money (the ATM machines everywhere else in France not having deigned to work for him). Something about ATM machines at the moment -- when I asked it for money (very politely) it grudgingly gave me a pile of 20s. I mean, it must know that 50s are lighter....
As a result (more of the late start than the pile of 20s) we didn't get to Toni's place for lunch until about 1:45PM (we were expected around 1, so not too bad). Actually I was quite pleased we made it by then since we took a sequence of paths through the Alpilles that a) I had never been along, and b) were not marked. Beautiful though -- particularly after we came down into the plain around Chateau Roquemartine where the broom was blooming and the butterflies (of many different types) dancing.
Toni had very kindly (and foresightedly) prepared a couple of salads for us for lunch, so our late arrival presented no problems. Afterwards he showed us around his studio/barn and good-naturedly listened to our profound observations on some of his works (I descended all the way to Coelacanths, which, you may know, is pretty deep).
But we still had miles to go, so we said our thanks and walked off along tracks and trails to the Neolithic cave dwellings of Cales above Lamanon. Surprised a shapely model doing a photoshoot in one of the rock houses, dressed in gold paint and a bikini... nigh on the first person we had seen all day during the hike. Not sure why -- it was a hot and humid day, with a few scattered raindrops, but not that hot. Perhaps people here just aren't used to the humidity... or perhaps the phrase about "mad dogs and Englishmen" applies.
By the time we arrived at our hotel, the charming if it were not mosquito-ridden Domaine de Mejeans at 6:30PM, after 7 hours of hiking time, I was more than ready for the first day's hike to end. We both seem to have held up well... but I'm a little apprehensive about how quickly we'll be able to stand up when getting out of bed tomorrow morning! Dinner was good (except for the aforementioned beasties) as was conversation.
Tomorrow we cross the Luberon!
Sent from my iPad
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)