VF Morez

We're not done yet with via ferratas. It teaches me a lot to go out of my comfort zone and conquer all the fears. And after the second time on the wall I can already tell - it gets easier and easier. Today's route technically was actually not complicated. The only passage that gave us a thrill were the two bridges stretched between smooth, vertical walls. I had quite a pickle finding the right way to place my feet and not to fall. But I'm starting to like this sensation of rushing heartbeat out there!

 As I said, the rest of the route was rather easy and we had lots of fun in our little group. The views were nice so every now and then we stopped by to have a look at the valley. I'm still not decided if it's going to be my hobby or not. I guess we need another try :)

And a short movie from the day:

VF Fort l'Ecluse

We're trying to tuck in as many activities as possible before our departure home. In the end, it's our last chance to try via ferrata (we have no such attraction in Poland). It's actually surprising that we haven't tried it earlier - there are so many around, it's in mountains, it requires a lot of interaction with forces of nature, it's challanging... But somehow we hesitated until now.
We chose a route that is 15 minutes away from our place, at the rock of Fort l'Ecluse. We really didn't know what to expect except from nice views that we know well by now. So we set off full of excitement.

As you can see from one of the photos above, it was scary :) It was actually the scariest thing I've done so far in mountains. It was so scary that at some point I froze somewhere on the rock unsure how to proceed so that I don't find myself hanging from a vertical wall. But it was fun! I enjoyed it a lot and once the fright passed, we were left with excitement and smiles on our faces. In the beginning we weren't sure if we wanted to repeat it or not but after a while we decided to give it another try so stay tuned for more of daredevil via ferrata acrobatics :)

An overview of the route:

Pic de Jallouvre (2408m)

Holidays! Our first outing - Jallouvre. Not too difficult but also not too easy - just fine for the start of the season. And the views...

After a mild and longish start where we somehow managed to lose a path, we began the ascent. We were moving quite quickly wanting to leave the heat behind and reach cooler temperatures in hights.

We were fast so we reached the fun part in no time. I knew we would be going on a dramatic ridge but apparently we became too much of daredevils as our heart rates didn't speed for a second while crossing it. But it's always fun to go past such a technical passage.

After the ridge there was a short steep passage and the top already. The views were truly amazing.

Stats: Length: 13 km; Elevation gain: 900m; Time: 4h

Roc de Tavaneuse (2156 m)

What can you do when the temperature rises to 40 dg. C? Go to a beach or in the mountains. But the latter is also quite an extreme experience unless until you reach elevation of around 2k. I had a chance to learn it. My today walk with Arnaud wasn't really challenging but the heat wave made it super difficult in the beginning. Also, I forgot my camera so the quality of photos leaves a lot to be desired. Therefore I show you only a couple - just to give you a taste of the views we had. I regret just one thing - I should have jumped in that lake!

Passerelle de Bionnassay

Today we made a family walk in valley of Bionnassay. Five adults, three babies, 7 kilometres, 500 m elevation gain and one suspension bridge - that was the plan for today. We had lots of fun together, it's nice to be watching kids discover the beauty of nature.

There is really not that much to say about this trip. We escaped the heat (over 30 dg. in the plains) to a nice mountain breeze, we enjoyed the easy path and had lots of fun crossing the passerelle. We will soon be back in this region with Radek, but we plan to do a more challenging hike that will lead us to the glaciers that we can see in the pictures. So stay tuned!