Lescun & HRP Photographs for PW

Andy - really enjoyed pictures of high level route - smiled at the
killer cows and relaxing footwear!

:-)

Jackie

Niiiiiiiiiiice....made me quite nostalgic, especially Lescun campsite,
Man alive that is *the* best view from a campsite isn't it,
Cheers and thanks
Graham

"Andy Howell" <andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk> wrote in message
news:BF2EB241.454C3%andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk...

Quoted message said:

For Peewiglet (and anyone else who is interested).

Here are some photos of Lescun ([censored] weather I'm afraid)

http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/Lescun%2005/

And some of part of the High Route (Lescun to Wallon)

http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/HRP%2005/

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...

On 22/8/05 07:50, in article
[email hidden], "D and J"

Quoted message said:

Andy - really enjoyed pictures of high level route - smiled at the
killer cows and relaxing footwear!

The cows were really amazing. They made it clear who was really in charge,
but in a non-threatening way!

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...

On 22/8/05 15:10, in article [email hidden], "graham

blamey said:

Niiiiiiiiiiice....made me quite nostalgic, especially Lescun campsite,
Man alive that is *the* best view from a campsite isn't it,

If there is a better located campsite in Europe, well I've never heard about
it!

The other thing about Lescun is that everyone you meet there is so nice!
Must be something to do with the inspirational landscape!

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...

Andy Howell andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrenddotorgdotuk said:

http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/Lescun%2005/
http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/HRP%2005/

Andy, those pictures are stunning! Only problem, inspiration-wise, is
that it looks rather hot (apart from the snow bit of course)!
--
Rudi Winter, Aberystwyth, Wales

On 24/8/05 13:57, in article [email hidden], "Rudi

Winter said:

Andy, those pictures are stunning! Only problem, inspiration-wise, is
that it looks rather hot (apart from the snow bit of course)!

Thanks Rudi, the heat was a bit of a problem this year.

I started from Lescun. While I was there the weather broke and there were 2
days of rain. When I moved out I then had 8 days of amazingly hot weather.
Climbing mountains with really horrible scree slopes and no shade in temps
of 33C plus was not much fun at times.

In all honesty it is not too bad to cope with. You have to start walking
early. Getting up at dawn means that you get a good hour/two hours of
walking before the sun really gets going. After that you just have to be
prepared to take regular little breaks.

The real problem with all of this are the timings in the guide books which,
of course, are pure walking times and don't take into account rest time
(this is a well discussed topic here). I get annoyed over this because - in
such heat - you can easily find the journey times almost doubling.

I reckon in this heat a 5-6 hour walk (guidebook time) is a good day.
Nearly always stages over 8 hours plus are accompanied by the comments "you
could always break this stage into 2 by spending the night at ..."

This is shorthand for saying that you really should break the stage into 2.
After all you're there to enjoy it not to kill yourself!

On the High Route you will be carrying tents, food and water - probably
enough for a week to avoid un-necessary drops down into towns. In that heat
you do begin to wonder how anyone could do some of these timings in such
conditions - (and perhaps they never have!).

But then I might just be getting old !!!

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 21:35:46 GMT, Andy Howell

andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk said:

For Peewiglet (and anyone else who is interested).

Here are some photos of Lescun ([censored] weather I'm afraid)

http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/Lescun%2005/

And some of part of the High Route (Lescun to Wallon)

http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/HRP%2005/

Andy - apologies for missing this before. What brilliant pictures -
many thanks indeed for posting them

Only a week and a half until I go, now. Eek! :-)))

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

"I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy."
g.w.AT [guessthisbit].com

Andy Howell andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrenddotorgdotuk said:

The real problem with all of this are the timings in the guide books which,
of course, are pure walking times and don't take into account rest time
(this is a well discussed topic here). I get annoyed over this because - in
such heat - you can easily find the journey times almost doubling.

Maybe the locals just don't go during the hot season and the timings are
appropriate when you don't have to stop that often to cope with the heat?

I haven't been to the Pyrenees, but I found the timings given in the
Grands Causses (southern Massif Central), the Vanoise (Alps) and the
Vosges du Nord (Lorraine) remarkably self-consistent, ie once you
figure out your personal correction factor, you can predict your time
pretty accurately. My personal correction factor was close to 1. Being
rather a slow coach, I presume most here will be faster than advertised,
heat permitting.

Quoted message said:

This is shorthand for saying that you really should break the stage into 2.
After all you're there to enjoy it not to kill yourself!

I'll try to remember your words if I get to the Pyrenees. Well, I think
it's "when" rather than "if"!
--
Rudi Winter, Aberystwyth, Wales

On 26/8/05 13:29, in article [email hidden], "Rudi

Winter said:

I haven't been to the Pyrenees, but I found the timings given in the
Grands Causses (southern Massif Central), the Vanoise (Alps) and the
Vosges du Nord (Lorraine) remarkably self-consistent, ie once you
figure out your personal correction factor, you can predict your time
pretty accurately. My personal correction factor was close to 1. Being
rather a slow coach, I presume most here will be faster than advertised,
heat permitting.

In broad terms I agree with you but very hot weather and horrible weather
can make an impact.

Often in long trail books they say things like "could be broken into two
days". when you're carrying a full load this is almost certainly a good
thing to do. After all, you want to enjoy the place as you go along, not set
land speed records - or have I got that all wrong!

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...

"Andy Howell" <andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk> wrote

Quoted message said:

In broad terms I agree with you but very hot weather and horrible

weather

Quoted message said:

can make an impact.
Often in long trail books they say things like "could be broken into

two

Quoted message said:

days". when you're carrying a full load this is almost certainly a

good

Quoted message said:

thing to do. After all, you want to enjoy the place as you go along,

not set

Quoted message said:

land speed records - or have I got that all wrong!
Andy Howell

### Spot on IMO. When we do the GR11 I wouldn't dream of sticking to the
timings in Paul Lucia's book. His day usually starts in a village or
refuge, goes up high through some spectacular scenery and +- 30k later
finishes in another village/refuge. We much prefer to split the day with
a high camp at about 3pm and spend the rest of the day
enjoying/exploring the surroundings,
Graham

Andy Howell andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrenddotorgdotuk said:

Often in long trail books they say things like "could be broken into two
days". when you're carrying a full load this is almost certainly a good
thing to do. After all, you want to enjoy the place as you go along, not set
land speed records - or have I got that all wrong!

Couldn't agree more!
--
Rudi Winter, Aberystwyth, Wales