Adrian's Photoblog

Well, 18 years ago on 30th July a little baby was born, and Dee and gazed down wondering what on earth we were going to do next. 18 years later and here she is - out at lunch with Dee, Izzy and I. So she's survived our parenting - and is still smiling..!![

We decided to have a birthday barbeque at the end of June when it was warm...but on 1st August the English summer rewarded our optimism with a day of heavy drizzle. But the arrival of lots of friends and relatives brought a smile to the occasion and it was lovely to see everyone....although it was a bit like the 'how many people can you get in a Mini' inside our house.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and you might see yourself on a photo if you click on the title above..!!

A bit late for the blog, but at the end of May this year Izzy and I went for an overnight camp in the wild area of the Mynydd Du, where I had been with Peter about 6 weeks earlier (see below). We had a nice spell of weather and the early morning when we woke up was Alpine fresh.
Izzy had a great time on her first wild camp, and the tent has had its 3rd outing so far this year.

It's difficult to believe that all this grand mountain country of the Maritime Alps exists only 1 and a half hours drive from Nice, and this 4 day tour with Peter of 7 passes and 3 summits was really special. After parking in the Vallon de Gordelasque we did a large clockwise traverse to the Refuge Madone de Fenestre, from where we did some summits to the northwest. On day 3 we did a classic traverse of 3 passes to the Ref Merveilles before a beautiful walk back over the Cime du Diable to the car. Apart from the bustling refuges, it was very quiet walking during the day...another feature of this less well known part of the Alps.

A long wet winter had resulted in massive snow volumes and there were extensive snowfields on our walks - with large periods on snow or rock...and paths very often buried. This added additional interest in route finding.
It was good to pass through the Vallee des Merveilles where I went with Dee, Sophie and Izzy in 2006.

The full set of photos is here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adeeh2/sets/72157621391332165/