DAY 12: Wednesday June 13th - Costeplane to Savines Le Lac: 26k, 8hrs30mins: Blue Skies,4°C to 18°C
Saying good bye to Patricia and they large sheep dog
Views of Lake Serre Poncon
More spectacular views of Lake Serre Poncon
It's a long haul up this gravel track
The GPS leads to a landslide. We backtrack down the last hill
Two cyclists appear and ask if the track gets any better - nooooo!!!
I think the views were worth the climb
Getting lost. The track had to be here somewhere
And the views just got better
Arriving at Les Chaumettes 3 hrs later than expected
A really hard day. Our GPS worked perfectly but the IGN maps (although the latest) had not been updated by IGN from the FF Randonnee association to show the new Le Lac de Serre Poncon cycling track which we were following, and the yellow/black signs on the path were few and far between - I'll have to have a word with IGN about this. So 3k extra in back tracking, and up and over a high Mountains of Morgon, saw us arriving into Savines le Lac at 6.15pm buggered.
The day started really nicely at 4°C when we awoke to have breakfast with a view of the Mount Dormilouse on the opposite side of the ravine - capped with powdery snow from two nights before. We pack, say good by to Patricia and the sheep dog, and set off along a well marked wide track towards Savines le Lac. The track quickly narrows and starts to climb and soon we are headed down a wider path and we think this is good if it's like this the whole way. The views of the lake are spectacular as we wind our way around the contour line in and out of forests.
The track widens and we climb up a really steep straight gravelly track for about 1k. It's so steep it's slower than Granma climbing the stairs- dig the poles in, pull yourself up - I'm now glad my second trekking pole didn't fit in the box to post home from Sisteron a few days previously. At last we get to the top and follow a wide track deep into the forest, but when Ian checks on the GPS, we are way off mark - how could this be. We take off our heavy packs and walk up and down, Ian holding the Samsung tablet with GPS pointer in the palm of his hand and we pinpoint where the track should be - straight down like a giant slippery slide into the valley below - NO WAY are we going down there. There's clearly been a giant landslide. And what's scary is the track we are following is supposed to be a cycling track - I doubt the most daredevil cyclist would go head first down here. So we have to back-track down the steep slope - if it was bloody hard coming up it was fn hard going down. And by now I'm beginning to realise my shoes are becoming unglued and the sole is so worn they're acting like skates. 9/10 of the way down we see a yellow/black marker to go right and there is an obscure yellow/black cross up the path we have just been up and down - and IGN don't know about this detour??
we follow this obscurely marked goat trail and find two cyclists pushing their bikes up towards us and they ask us if the track gets any better where we have just been. It makes me feel better knowing we are no alone on these unmarked trails and that what I had read beforehand, that the track was a cyclists track, was correct. But that doesn't make the day any better. For the next 10k we are constantly being rerouted off track, the GPS only pinpointing our spot, not the apparently new route. And it's hard.
At 1.10 when we see that it should only be 1k to the road, we decide to have lunch when we get there. Almost 2hrs later after being detoured, lost and climbing hills that are so slippery with mud that we have to haul ourselves up with trekking poles, we reach the road and sit down exhausted. We are supposed to be finished the whole walk by now and there's still 10k to go - and no gas to have a cup of tea.
We decide to follow a real road down to the valley - at least there won't be any surprises. But 10k down takes us 2hrs 30mins - at least the views of the lake continue to inspire on this picture post card day. We take a small detour to Les Eygoires hoping to buy a cup of tea. But the place is deserted - there's lot's of cabins used for by holiday makers for winter and summer sports, but early june is in-between. No cup of tea. We trudge down the road, and with only 3k still to go, come across a roadside snack bar - tea time - and we can see Savines Le Lac in the distance. It's easy to see why they flooded the valley as a reservoir - the mountain sides are so steep and the water in the lake is very deep.
We drag ourselves away from the chairs and trudge towards our Hotel Les Chaumettes, and are warmly greeted by our hosts, a lovely Belgian couple. We go up to our room with spectacular views of the Lake, do some washing to hang in the window, and go down to have a beer. I'd like to write up my diary but we don't have accommodation booked for after this. It was always going to be a difficult part of the trip - the villages are not well spaced and if they are they are either high in the mountains or low in the valley and it's difficult to cross sides as the main highway and train line and the Durance River, have very few access points to cross. We have a shower, do our washing and hang it all in the sunny breezy window, and go downstairs for a beer and Perrier. Christine books Chatereauroux Les Alpes for us and we study the map for the nth time trying to space the days, whilst drinking beer in the beer garden and picking at nuts.
It's all too hard to plan right now and it's already 9pm and we haven't eaten. The hotel doesn't do meals, so after getting down our washing that's already dry (the air has no humidity), we walk to the very first restaurant we see and order steak, chips and salad - not very Frenchy - but really nice - followed by Creme Brûlée. We are not very hungry and probably should have ordered one between the two of us, so I wrap the left over steak in a serviette, slide it into my map that we had bee studying, and walk home. I sit up til midnight (we have a very good WiFi connection) checking out options for the next few days and go to be satisfied that I have found a chamber d'hôte in Prelles, a very convenient location to space out the next few days evenly. I turn off the light thinking about whether or not to replace my shoes. My Keen walking shoes are my favourite, but a) the glue is coming unstuck, b) the tread on the soles has worn making them slippery on gravel and c) I'm beginning to think the stones I've been getting in my shoes are coming through the cracks in the bottom,e not slipping down the sides. I'll think about it.
A few hours or restless sleep I have to get up and take a voltaren. The right side of my chest hurts so much I can't turn over. I'm sure I've pulled a chest muscle pulling myself up steep slippery gravel slopes all day. I get up to a have a rice cracker and a Voltaren as I can't have it on an empty stomach, and finally get 2hrs sleep.