Yesterday I went up Glider Mountain again. I was still a bit weak from the last cold, so took it slowly. From Murat le Quaire onward I took photos along the way, so you can join me on the hike if you like!
I always walk the car route, rather than the hikers' route, so it is about 8 km up to base camp, plus another 500 ms or so to the mountain top. I did take the hikers' path on the way back, and ended up on a dirt track. I am not doing that again! Very uncomfortable walking, stones and pebbles on a steep downhill path - my feet still hurt!
Here is a google map link to my route:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/La+Bourboule,+France/La+Banne+d'Ordanche,+63150+Murat-le-Quaire,+France/@45.5991283,2.7174958,13z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x47f7760fd959c35b:0x4093cafcbe5ca10!2m2!1d2.738992!2d45.587241!1m5!1m1!1s0x47f7743109955b81:0x5ce980cc13cace0a!2m2!1d2.772513!2d45.6112442!3e0
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| Here ends Murat le Quaire |
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| The long and winding road ... |
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| Near the Cabane restaurant and hotel - they have the only webcam anywhere near the mountain. |
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| The Lorelei lake |
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| Getting closer |
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| Not la Banne, but some other, lesser, mountain |
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| It is late Summer, and the vegetation is dried up |
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| On one side at the bottom of Glider Mountain - secret hideaway of La Dame d'Ordanche? |
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| Base camp |
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| Club cabin of the Glidermen, where I left a donation of toilet paper (they are always short) |
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| It's further than you think, especially after the trek up from la Bourboule |
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| The antenna - radio controlled gliders need signal strength |
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| The first scale model gliders zoomed into view |
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| Four Flyboys enjoying the sun |
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| Lovely gliders, though they cheated - a motor jumped into action whenever the glider veered off course |
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| Last few meters up to the summit |
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| Amazing number of wooden steps |
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| Once there the view is breathtaking! |
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| My fellow summeteers - they rested up while I descended again. It's a long way back down! They all had cars at base camp. |
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| On the road again |
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| Lorelei Lake peeking through the trees during one of my ill advised short cuts |
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| Back in Murat le Quaire |
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| I found another short cut - not a good one! |
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| Back in la Bourboule. Notice the flower pots in front of this house just before a hairpin curve? I wonder how many pots are lost each year due to faulty breaks! Might be a nice little earner for the householder - I can see no other reason for this ill-advised siting of so many fragile pots. |
All in all I marched about 14, at least 4 of them on very rough paths. Strangely enough I counted only three very small blisters, but did manage to get a sunburn on each arm (a scarf prevented neck burns!).
Today is for farewells and distribution of thank you gifts to my cure-administrators and hotel staff, cleaning up my apartment, polishing the plaque on the bench, and preparing for the trip home. Given my weighty suitcase I am not exactly looking forward to it. Oh the curse of possessions!
