A shorter day, only about five hours, but almost all of it ascent for a gain of about 1200m. The weather a mix of cloud and sunshine, but mist covered the higher areas and didn’t burn off until late afternoon.
The climb was relentless, first in a ravine, then in beech forest and finally on open pasture land. I walked through an active logging area in the upper part of the forest, unnerving. They knew they were logging near a trail, but a tree came down about 30m from me and I’m glad it fell away from me. Also glad to see selective cutting rather than the clear cutting we use at home.
The trail got up to 1760m at the Col de la Pierre St. Martin. It is right at the border and I briefly stepped into Spain at a border marker.
The gîte for tonight is in a ski resort town. Most things are closed and a ski resort is not a pretty site in the summer. Tonight I’ll be sleeping in a portable building. The wind took the roof off the gîte last winter and the portable buildings are a temporary solution until the repairs to the upper story are finished.
The landscape has changed moving east and to higher elevation. It is rocky and the mountain peaks are higher. There were patches of snow lingering not much higher than the col.
We had an unexpected treat at dinner: a cyclist who is camping beside the gîte has his guitar with him and he played for a while after dinner.
No internet so posted a day late.
Hi!
Great photos. I try to comment but most of the time I get blocked!
MJ