Archive for August 17th, 2006
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So we're about to have the second Scott / Reese wedding in our family. The first was mine (which is further complicated by the fact that my father-in-law's first name is Scott). My little brother Ryan is marrying Sarah from New Mexico. I haven't met her yet and won't until they come up for the local reception in a couple of weeks. This makes him the sixth married sibling in the family. Only David and Amy remain strong against the tide of matrimony.
Best wishes!
August 17th, 2006
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Our last day on the GR4 brought us to some unique scenery above Rougon and on the north face of the Verdon River. We left our house at Rougon at 9:30 and began a long, steep ascent out of the valley for about thirty minutes. When we crested the hill, we found ourselves on an empty, open plateau that reminded me strongly of the western United States (think Wyoming). A herd of sheep were grazing in the shade and we explored the ruins of a farm that sprawled along the middle of the plateau. The rest of the day was spent on the north side of the Verdon River valley, winding in and out of ravines and eventually making our way to Castellane, a tourist town on the banks of the river. Kayla convinced me to stay at this huge campground complete with twp heated pools and what seemed like about a thousand campers from all over Western Europe. We spent part of that evening climbing yet another impossible cliff on which the local medieval church was built....
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What a wonderful feeling: waking up on the edge of a panoramic gorge, watching the sun pouring slowly down the far side of the canyon as it rises above the rim. We packed up early and set off in great anticipation of a day spent in the bowels of the Gorges du Verdon. We weren’t disappointed. The trail quickly begins a steep descent through the trees, zigzagging down the cliff to the Verdon River flowing in azure curves below. We soon found ourselves walking a gently rolling trail just above the level of the water, getting glimpses of the sandy banks and the cavernous bowls carved into the side of the canyon by the meandering stream. It was simply amazing to stand at the bottom of the canyon and look up at the towering weight of all that rock, seemingly piled on top of you, up to the forested rim high above. In several places the entire vertical length of the canyon wall was covered in small scrub trees clinging impossibly to some miniscule crack in the cliff....
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For the stretch of the GR4 from Moustiers Ste-Marie to Chalet de la Maline, we chickened out and hitchhiked. I guess we couldn’t face the prospect of an eight hour day on the trail. After putting out the thumb for only about five minutes, we were picked up by a twenty-something who lives in Moustiers but works in La Palud. His French was pretty difficult to follow—he rattled off at light speed while I tried to keep up with the slang and slur. As we drove we quickly ascended past some amazing scenery, as the Gorges du Verdon cut a crooked swath through the mountains. The canyon is quite deep, but very narrow—from a distance it looks as if someone took a knife and cut a slit in the mostly flat surrounding countryside....
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On Day Eight we finally arrived in the mountains. Most of the day was spent on the plateau, but about halfway between Riez and Moustiers we began to see views down into the canyon that separates the plateau from the mountains. We also glimpsed the bright-blue Lac de Ste-Croix far below to the south. Right before descending the plateau we met a couple in their 40's from the Netherlands who were hiking the same route as us. These were the first people we met who were hiking the GR4....
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