This story starts with thunder and lightning roaring in Friday on our last day in Annecy as we sat on our Bluffy chalet balcony with a bottle of Rose for lunch and getting ready for the transition from 2 weeks in Annecy to driving to Chamonix to relax for a week. Travelling day Saturday, as we arrived in Chamonix after checking into our Brevent Apt. the same place we have rented so many times in the past, we walked into town to watch the ending of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. Amazing how many people were here cheering these competitors on at the finishing line! The winner completed this race in 18 hours which took us 10 relaxing days to hike!!!
Sunday dawned with the brightest sunny clear blue skies you have ever seen, so we took advantage of it and drove next door to the Passy Valley to climb a killer Via Ferrata Jeannine had planned for us under Refuge & Aiguille Veran, a shear granite rock face that I have flown over for years & now I'm hanging on for dear life as I climb straight up this granite face with views toward the whole of the Mont Blanc Massif in crystal clear blue skies! After a nice relaxing hike back to our car we drove back to Chamonix with a stop at the Gorges du Diosaz between the Chamonix & Passy Valley where it narrows to a knifes edge as the river traverses the two valleys to complete another little hiking excursion. I think I'll need a vacation from our vacation after all this is over! It never ends as we drive one hour the next day to Sixt Fer A Cheval just past Samoens to climb another Via Ferrata on a shear granite wall, then after drive to the end of the road to the Cirque Fer a Cheval with waterfalls surrounding us almost completely! Spectacular to say the least, anyone up for just a little hike? Switzerland is just on the other side...
The sun still shinning the next day & I get to fly all day as I tired out Jeannine finally & she needed a rest, so up to Plan Praz in Chamonix I went for a flight which was tough to stay up as big high overcast drifted overhead to shut down the thermals just an hour into my skyalis. So a short drive to Passy Valley & Plaine Joux site was in order for the afternoon session & a continuation on my second flight of the day led to cloud base two grand altitude above launch height for 2+ hours with a cross country mission up & down the Passy valley twice before needing to land for a ice cold brew. The next day Jeannine was well rested & brought me via Ferrata climbing again in the Passy Valley, but as we finished the 2 hour adventure she dropped me off at Plaine Joux Launch next to the climb we just finished then headed back to Chamonix. I skied out again for a two hour flight to cloud base then landed at the LZ in Chedde just in time for the train back to Chamonix! Jeannine was nice enough to pick me up at the train station with a ice cold pelforth!
Thursday dawned with expectations of a fantastic hike we have always wanted to do, totally clear sunny blue skies & we headed off to the end of the Chamonix Valley to the village of Tour to hike 2+ thousand feet up to the Tour Glacier & the Albert Premiere refuge. Amazing views of the whole Chamonix Valley & Mont Blanc towering 15 thousand feet high in the close distance at the other end of the valley! Short 2 hours up & 2 back down to the valley floor then a short drive home to our Brevent balcony & well deserved beers & bottle of wine later for dinner. Wow I need a vacation...So I got it on Friday!
Friday was my last flying day in the Alps so up the lift I went from just outside my front door up to Plan Praz Launch, perfect as perfect could be! Sunny, minimal clouds. Launched straight up to cloud base to almost 10 thousand feet, flew up valley to Flegere ski resort first, sank out a bit, such radical big air! Then back down to Brevent & climbed in a thermal back to 9500' altitude & went over the back of the ridge into the Passy Valley to the Chaine des Fiz Range behind Plaine Joux flying site. To early in the day to be their for good thermals as I scratched back up to the top of the granite face & continued toward Aiguille Veran with no lift to be found, but still onward I proceeded down valley to above Magland, hoping I would catch one up to cloud base that was towering above me, as I desperately wanted to get high & cross to the Chaine des Aravis on the other side of the valley 10 miles away & do the return flight to Annecy that I did a week ago from Annecy to Chamonix! Dreams. You never know when they come true? But not twice in the same vacation as I slowly sank out & headed back to Plaine Joux site, buzzed launch, then went into land at Chedde in the Passy Valley after another amazing flight! As I was folding my wing I heard a familiar voice, Hey Chris! As I look up it is my long time Maui Hookipa windsurfing buddy Paul Smith who I've known for 30 years & now flys paragliders also! Small world indeed. After packing up and a short 2 block walk to the train station in Chedde it was back to Chamonix & another pick up at the Chamonix train station from Jeannine with yet another ice cold Pelforth Brune waiting for me! I am truly a lucky man with an out standing young lady to live my life with!
Saturday was check out day & after a fantastic last lunch on our balcony with views of many pilots skying out above Brevent in perfect conditions as Chamonix has to offer, we drove off to relax for a few days in Dijon, France with the family before returning to our beautiful home in Hawaii. All great things must come to an end... Till next year? Who knows whats next...
Aloha Mad Dog et Jeannine
Mad Dog, I was wondering if we'd get to read about your week in Chamonix! Great story and great pictures. In the pictures it looks like you are above the inversion over Brevent on that last day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Mad Dog! Beautiful pictures! You both certainly made the most of this trip (and the whole place over all the years). Wish I could make myself into a little stuffed critter that you could bring along on your travels :-)
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the ending.....Till next year?
ReplyDeleteIke will never stop talking about his trips to France. I will never forget the little xc from Brevant to Plan Joux sorry about the spelling.
Your writes are the only coffee reads i am getting and I deeply appreciate it.
It's Time To Fly Try to Catch the Mad Dog and Go!!!