Happy Birthdays, and a short report on ‘Three Weeks in Timperley’

Here are Jacob and Jessica, celebrating Jess’s second birthday last weekend. A lovely occasion.

Today is this blog’s eighth birthday! The last three weeks is probably the longest period in that entire time without a fresh entry. That’s because I needed a bit of R&R after going virtually non-stop since Easter. Not that I’ve been totally inactive.

I visited Altrincham to check on how the town centre improvements are getting on. Dyslexic staff who instruct workmen to ‘paint a tree’ when they really mean ‘plant a tree’ have helped to keep the costs down.

I’ve been riding my bike up and down the canal towpath for a bit of exercise. Here’s a view of the Watch House Cruising Club in Stretford.

On a more serious note, we got involved in an incident on a bike ride organised by a business called ‘bike-events’. If any reader plans to take part in an event organised by this lot … beware, you might find the event a shambles, with inadequate route instructions, food points, marshals, and other basic requirements.

It’s nice that Jess seems much more at home in our house and less clingy to her mum. We have some ace toys including this Duplo and some clockwork tin trains.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to de-clutter by selling a load of old computer games from the 1990’s, old phones and old GPS units. All quite time consuming – sometimes I think I should just bin everything.

I’ve enjoyed a 30 km bike circuit a few times, similar to this one, mainly on canal towpaths, from Timperley to Manchester, then through Salford Quays beside the Ship Canal to the Barton swing bridge, returning via the Bridgewater Canal towpath. Here are some images taken on that route.

The weather in Timperley has been glorious. Here are some canoeists enjoying an evening paddle.

Sue and I have done a few Saturday morning parkruns (5 km in Wythenshawe Park) for a bit of exercise and a sociable Saturday morning. Uncle Oliver is getting quite used to these weekly gatherings that block his line of sight to the Hall.

He breathes a big sigh of relief when the runners (290 last Saturday) have dispersed to the nearby cafe and he’s left with this tranquil view.

We live close to the River Mersey, beside which the paths offer the same sort of amenity as the canal towpaths, within the broad band of ‘green belt’ through which the river passes, offering a taste of countryside near the centre of Manchester.

Autumn crocuses are abundant beside the Mersey at this time of year.

That’s enough of my gentle domestic existence for now, as it’s time for some baking, book editing, etc.

Perhaps I’ll go for a walk soon, as I used to do when I started this blogging malarkey!

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PS Also during the last three weeks the period for nominations for the 2015 Great Outdoors magazine’s annual awards commenced. After last year’s ‘bloggergate’ fiasco I was delighted to see that there will be no ‘outdoors blogger’ award this year, and that there is no reference to last year’s ‘winner’, voted for by friends despite doubt as to its legitimacy as a genuine ‘outdoors blog’. My postings on the TGO Awards are here. I would have encouraged readers to nominate and vote for either Newtonmore Hostel or Bridge of Gaur Guest House as Accommodation Provider of the Year, but this category also appears to have been discontinued. Alpenstock has my nomination though…

TransAlp 2015 – Index and Slideshows

A slideshow for the participants and anyone else interested is now available, here. Click on the first image, then scroll through them - some are annotated.

A further slideshow may appear in due course.

Here’s an Index of postings, together with links to the Garmin/gpx files:

A TransAlp Bike Ride

The Alps - Days 1 and 2 - Timperley to Heidelberg

The Alps - Day 3 - Heidelberg to Dornbirn

The Alps - Day 4 - Dornbirn to St Anton to Berggasthof Bodenalpe, beyond Ischgl
Day 4 Garmin file

The Alps - Day 5 - Berggasthof Bodenalpe to Gasthof Mayor in S-charl
Day 5 Garmin file

The Alps - Day 6 - Gasthof Mayor in S-Charl to Albergo Pedranzini in Santa Caterina Valfurva
Day 6 Garmin file

The Alps - Day 7 - Albergo Pedranzini in Santa Caterina Valfurva to Hotel Ortles in Cogolo
Day 7 Garmin file

The Alps - Day 8 - Hotel Ortles in Cogolo to Albergo Brenta in the Algone valley
Day 8 Garmin file

The Alps - Day 9 - Albergo Brenta in the Algone valley to Arco, near Riva (Lake Garda)
Day 9 Garmin file

The Alps - Day 10 - Dosso Grande from Arco (Hotel Garden)

The Alps - Day 11 - Return to Dornbirn

The Alps - Day 23 - Montreuil-sur-Mer (Chambre d'Hote St Justin) to Timperley

Thursday 10 September 2015

Another cloudless morning for our last day on the road after an excellent breakfast at the B&B.

Then an uneventful drive home. Nothing much has changed. Not even the roadworks at the end of our road.

Wine supplies have been replenished, though at the price we paid the it may all be best used for cooking!

Photos need downloading and sorting, but my first job is to get my front tooth replaced and recover Sue's plants from a couple of 'plant sitters'. 

The towpath is in good shape, with just a hint of autumn in the leaves.

Well, that's the end of 'Summer in the Alps and Pyrenees'.

Life seems momentarily a little empty....

The Alps - Day 22 - Saverne (Hotel National) to Montreuil-sur-Mer (Chambre d'Hote St Justin)

Wednesday 9 September 2015

Another cloudless morning.

We enjoyed croissants and coffees from a boulangerie next door to the hotel, rather than pay lots for a buffet breakfast in a smoke tainted room. It was very pleasant outside.

The 380 mile journey to Montreuil-sur-Mer (a name which always puzzles me as the sea is nowhere to be seen) passed largely uneventfully. Just a very short section of French motorway was followed before we travelled through Germany, Luxembourg (good coffee), Belgium, and back to France for the final stage along 'A' roads and through Arras.

We'd not stopped in Arras before, but we found a large town not without interest. The town hall is dominated by a tall belfry, and its front door looks out onto a magnificent square (pictured top). We wished we had more time to explore.

Sue had wisely phoned ahead to book a B&B for tonight. It's excellent. We are the only guests. We arrived at 6.30 and enjoyed a cuppa before setting off to stroll around the town walls (bottom picture) and top up our bellies.

The town is preparing for an event at the weekend. Frappadingue are setting up a challenging course under the banner:

'Extreme mud racing for crazy folks' - the sort of thing our good friend Alan Roberts gets up to. We will be home by the time it takes place. What a shame!

The Alps - Day 21 - Chiesa (Hotel la Betulla) to Saverne (Hotel National - but we won't boast about that)

Tuesday 8 September 2015

Another cloudless morning in Chiesa. But as we drove towards Lake Como it clouded over and even drizzled.

Coffee was taken in Porlezza - the view from the café is shown (top), then we headed on to Lugano.

Lugano is a large, ugly town, with dreadful traffic. We got in what appeared to be the right line but was in fact the left (wrong) one and spent a while touring the town despite TomTom's best efforts.

Once on the motorway to Basel everything went smoothly and the sun came out. We whizzed past our final views (middle picture) of the Alps before going underground in the 17 km St Gotthard tunnel.

Our target, Colmar, was reached by 4 pm, so we continued for another hour to Wasselonne. The good value hotel we wandered into had no rooms available. What a contrast to our experiences in Italy, where we were often the only guests.

We were told that all the rooms in the vicinity were booked for tonight.

Q: "Has a cruise ship full of migrants just landed?"

A: "No, a fleet of airliners has arrived with the European Parliament, and they need somewhere to stay."

So we continued to Saverne, a big place - we preferred somewhere smaller. A little further on was Phalsbourg, a nice town with a good looking hotel. Just the one. €160 for a basic room. We were beginning to wish we'd brought a tent.

On the advice of the nice lady in the expensive hotel, we returned to Saverne, where there would be "lots of rooms". The place is pretty quiet but the first two (large) hotels we tried were both full.

Beggars can't be choosers. Hotel National had a room for €58 which is actually a bit better than my room on Day 1 of the trip.

It turns out to be a nice town with a canal (pictured bottom) and a good pizzeria.

We should sleep well. We are 350 miles closer to home than we were this morning. 

The Alps - Day 20 - Alta Via di Valmalenco - Day 8 - Rifugio Cristina (2233 metres) to Chiesa (Hotel la Betulla)

Monday 7 September 2015

16 km, 200 metres ascent, in 5.7 hours including breaks.

Weather: blue sky with frost that didn't clear in the shade until the afternoon.

Cumulative statistics for the full eight day round trip from Chiesa are as follows:

102 km with 6750 metres ascent.

These figures may be amended when I've downloaded the data from my Garmin Forerunner 310XT which was used throughout the trek.

What a beautiful day on which to conclude a gorgeous mountain walk.

We appreciated the ambience of Rifugio Cristina's fine location before heading off across the frosty alp. There was very little climbing today, the belvedere path leading gently down to the tree line that we were last below on the walk up from Chiareggio several days ago.

It was shorts and t-shirt weather, if a bit chilly in the frosty shade.

The views to Monte Disgrazia and to the Bernina massif were immaculate. The recent rain seems to have cleared the atmosphere and there was no discernable haze to cloud our views. The morning remained cloudless, with wafts of high cloud appearing in the afternoon. (I nearly said 'after lunch' but we didn't really have any as all the shops seem to be shut on Monday afternoon.)

Luckily we'd had a good rifugio breakfast. That and the flask of tea and some biscuits fuelled us sufficiently to see us happily meandering back to the hotel from which we set off eight days ago. They spotted us arriving and the doors opened to welcome us in as the day's only guests.

Then it was a quick sort out for the trip home, beer o'clock, and an excellent meal at the ever friendly Restaurant Malenco, just around the corner, where the waitress spent a year on Jersey (40 years ago) and likes to practice her English. It's a great place in which to finish a trip like this one. We had a pizzocheri for you Gillian, and raised our glasses in appreciation of your encouragement to us to visit this area.

We will come here again.

Today's pictures:
Pizzo Scalino and Sue
Bernina peaks from Alpe Acquanera
A spring/shrine equipped with a ladle
Looking towards the Bernina massif from Alpe Cavaglia
Close up from the same place
Looking down to Caspoggia, with Monte Disgrazia
Chiesa (2)

Flowers of Valmalenco (2)

Here's the list I promised. A flower expert would probably have identified at least three times as we (mainly Sue) did, but for anyone coming here in September this list would give you a start...

Adenostyles
Agrimony
Alpine aster
Alpine birdsfoot trefoil
Alpine clover
Alpine gypsophila
Alpine moon daisy
Alpine rock jasmine
Alpine toadflax
Alpine willowherb
Alpine wood forget-me-not
Autumn crocus
Bavarian gentian
Bearded bellflower
Bistort
Bladder campion
Common monkshood
Cowberry (red fruit)
Creeping avens
Dark stonecrop
Eyebright
Garland flower
German gentian
Glacier crowfoot
Glacier mouse-ear
Globe-headed rampion
Grass of Parnassus
Greater stitchwort
Grey alpine groundsel
Harebell
Heartsease
Himalayan balsam
Horse mint
Kidney vetch
Knapweed
Lady's mantle
Ling
Meadow buttercup
Meadow cranesbill
Mountain sorrel
Mountain thrift
Moss campion
Nottingham catchfly
One-flowered fleabane
Orpine
Ortica
Paniculate saxifrage
Perforate St John's Wort
Primrose
Raspberry
Red campion
Rosebay willowherb
Self heal
Spiniest thistle
Spreading bellflower
Starry saxifrage
Stemless carline thistle
Tormentil
Vernal sandwort
White stonecrop
Willow-leaved gentian
Yarrow
Yellow mountain saxifrage
Yellow wood violet
Plus sundry Avens, Pinks, Cinquefoils, Clovers and more

I may add to this list when some of the photos have been processed and further flowers have been identified.

The Alps - Day 19 - Alta Via di Valmalenco - Day 7 - Rifugio Bignami (2401 metres) to Rifugio Cristina (2233 metres)

Sunday 6 September 2015

15.5 km, 550 metres ascent, in 6.4 hours including breaks.

Weather: blue sky with frost, turning to sunny periods with a cool easterly breeze.
We woke to frost and a clear blue sky. Allessio and the three dogs supervised the traditional rather paltry high rifugio breakfast, but unlike yesterday I enjoyed a large jug of coffee.

We were away by soon after 9 am on the sunny but cool morning. Marmots were playing nearby. Some look so small that we wonder how they'll survive the winter.

The path was straightforward, with no need for white lines to accompany the yellow guiding triangles. Luca had explained how the hut teams set out every year with pots of paint in an effort to mark the best routes across the ever shifting boulder fields. We found their white stripes on the rocks on which it was safest to step very helpful when crossing Forcella di Fellaria yesterday.

Today we decided against Gillian's suggested route across the Lago di Gera dam and instead took Allessio's advice and rounded the northern end of the lake, a route of similar distance and timing.

Wrens and redstarts were encountered. We've also seen snowfinches, choughs, dippers and a number of other species.

Soon we encountered other walkers. Having seen virtually nobody for 3 to 4 days this was something of a novelty. There were lots of people out today - including a group of about 40 on the path that traverses high on Sassi Bianco. We even met a large chap descending Valle Poschiavino with a cigar in his mouth.

Elevenses were taken overlooking the reservoir, which is by no means full and is a rather sickly pale turquoise colour.

Alpe Poschiavino had shut for winter, the cattle having been returned to the valley. It looks an idyllic place in which to spend the summer.

Above the alpe we soon reached the snow line again and we enjoyed the gentle climb, subject to a few easy chains near the top, to Passo de Canciano on the border with Switzerland.

Lunch comprised cups of tea and a twix/snickers bar. Don't feel sorry for us, we've been eating far too much!

Even at this late stage of the year, the kidney vetch and moss campion described by Gillian were still in evidence as we made our way up to our high point of the day, 2615 metre Passo di Campagneda, where we enjoyed views towards Monte Disgrazia through a large wooden arch. There are also excellent views towards Bernina from here, but today those summits were embraced by cloud.

The descent to Rifugio Cristina was gentle and uneventful, past picturesque lakes with the fine peak of Monte Disgrazia in the background.

The rifugio is in a lovely meadow together with a number of small dwellings, mostly adorned with solar panels. The rifugio itself is powered by a turbine, and a small stream running past the front door powers a butter making churn.

Pizzo Scalino, the 'Matterhorn' of Valmalenco, towers above us at 3323 metres.

After being the sole visitors at the last two rifugios, tonight we have the company of a family of five. The family run establishment has fed us very well. I've come to prefer these family run concerns to the places run by highly qualified people who are escaping the rat race for a while.

Whilst at Bignami last night a couple of campers passed through. It would be perfectly feasible to walk the AVV on a wild camping basis, especially in September when the cattle and their shepherds have returned to the valley. We have enjoyed the hospitality of the rifugios though, and the benefits of carrying just a light rucksack. The cost of the eight day circuit will be less than the 900 euros we set out with.

Today's pictures:
The view north from Rifugio Bignami
Alpe Poschiavino
Ascending Valle Poschiavino
On the Swiss border
A chat with a chap from Ecuador
The view down Piano di Campagneda with Monte Disgrazia
Outside Rifugio Cristina with the butter maker

Flowers of Valmalenco

Despite the lateness of the season, we've seen lots of Alpine flowers.

A list will follow, but a few are shown above:

Eyebright - possibly the most abundant
Bavarian gentian - high in the mountains
Yellow mountain saxifrage - loves to be close to water
Bearded bellflower - an old favourite
Alpine toadflax - very pretty
Willow-leaved gentian - quite rare