Roc du Toviere via ferrata

Today Rhods and I had breakfast and walked up the road to the start of the Roc du Toviere via ferrata routes here in Val d'Isere. There were supposed to be 3 stages of this climb, but the 3rd stage was closed which is just as well because it was too difficult for us anyway!

 Then after the climb, I talked Rhodri into going off-piste and trying to find the path that followed the ridgeline above the via ferrata. We ended up traversing over some not very nice terrain, and then eventually we stopped for lunch and I realized that my iPhone had fallen from my pocket somewhere along the way! One of my worst fears confirmed. We left our bags and backtracked until we found it - phew! That was a close call!

Then after a spot of lunch, we hiked down and the up to the mountain called Bellevarde, which is where there was a gondola operating to take mountain bikers up the hill and it was free!

We took the very last gondola down at 4:45pm and were glad that we didn't have to walk down. It had already been quite a long and physical day, and what a treat to fly across the valley down from the glorious mountains

Val d'Isere!

I've been dreaming about coming back to Val d'Isere for 19 years, which was the summer that I did my Geology field work for 6 weeks in this place. Those 6 weeks were very long and traumatic for me, due to the fact that my backpack with wallet, passport, glasses, contacts, sleeping bag (i.e. everything valuable) was stolen on my way to Val d'Isere. I made it there eventually (a very long story) and survived the summer but my memories are still very intense and somewhat bad. What I remember most is being cold and hungry a lot of the time. Anyway, I've been dreaming of going back there in the summer to revisit my old field area and explore the gorgeous mountains. It is truly a beautiful place! And although Rhodri did briefly visit me there 19 summers ago - to rescue me and escort me back to Wales at least - he hadn't spent much time here at all so it seemed a worthy choice for our 15 year anniversary.

We flew to Lyon, rented a car, and drove to Val d'Isere, stopping in Bourg St Maurice for a look around which ended with a funny escape through the back roads of the town trying to outrun a cycling race!

Beautiful mountains and clouds on the way!

Nain and Taid come to babysit!

Nain and Taid came down yesterday so that Rhodri and I could go away for a long weekend to celebrate our 15 years (and a half!) of marriage!

Dogopoly first thing in the morning!

It was nice that they could come down a couple of days before we left so that we could spend time with them too! We leave tomorrow bright and early, and we are going to Val d'Isere to play in the mountains some more...

Surprise and welcome visitors!

We were straight back into the swing of things this week - I was back at work full time and Rhodri and the kids were back into summer holiday mode. This coming weekend is a 3-day weekend and that is ever so nice to soften the blow of coming back to work! The exciting news is that I got a text message from Llinos a couple of days ago letting us know that her and Trystan (Rhodri's brother) and their 3 kids were camping pretty close to us. We arranged for them to come over on Saturday afternoon, and it turned out to be a fantastic day.

Rhiannon, Rhyddid and Leusa playing in the back garden

Trystan, Tryfan, Rhods, Brython, Llinos, Leusa, Rhiannon and Rhyddid

Hopefully they will come visit us again sometime - normally we only see them when we go up to Llandudno to visit Nain and Taid, but we'd love to see more of this part of the family too...

Back to Bentley

After Nia and her boys finished staying at our house for a week, Bentley then spent the next 2 weeks with "Sheepy Gill", who is a friend of Cat's mum (and now, subsequently, a friend of ours too!). Gill has a smallholding sort of near us and she has 2 dogs already as well as a few horses, 18 sheep, 6 pigs, and a bunch of chickens.

Sheepy Gill with Flossie, Tilly, Bentley (in the car) and Rhiannon

Bentley clearly enjoyed staying at her farm because when Rhiannon and I pulled up to get him on Saturday afternoon (after having landed at Heathrow around noon and then taken the bus to Gatwick, then car back home to arrive ~3pm), he wasn't all that excited to see us. Flossie (the old black lab) was glad to see the back of Bentley as he had been crowding her bed, but Tilly (the 6 month old Dalmatian puppy) will really miss him. 

Stehekin to Poulsbo

This morning we were treated to huckleberry pancakes and they were such a nice way to start this day!

Rebecca, Mom, Tryfs, Will, Aunt Hobbie, Grandma Bucky, Rhods, Rhiannon, and Phoebe

We reluctantly flew downlake this morning so that we would have enough time to drive over to Seattle and make our way to Poulsbo, where Mom's cousin Susie and her husband Mick live for part of the year.

It was a stormy morning and our pilot was eager to get downlake before thunder and lightning filled the sky!

Getting on the plane, ready to zoom downlake

Rhiannon and Rhods, ready to fly

It was absolutely pouring rain as we got off the plane and scrambled for cover while Rhodri ran to get the minivan so we could load up. We piled in and drove over to Seattle and the weather cleared as we drove west. We had a bit of a job finding the ferry terminal to cross from Edmunds to Kingston but we got there in the end, and we even treated ourselves to some hot dogs while we were waiting to drive on board.

We drove another 20 minutes or so until we found Susie and Mick's lovely house. It was so nice to see them after all these years!  After they gave us a tour, they kindly let us borrow their kayaks for an evening paddle before dinner. Mick took these photos of us in the bay by their house

We were treated to delicious cheeseburgers, fries, salad and wine, with ice cream sundaes for dessert. What a feast!
First thing in the morning, Rhiannon and I went for a paddle together (each in our own kayak) in the bay when the rest of the world seemed to still be sleeping, and it was so special.  We left in the late morning to take Mom/ Grandma Debi to the airport.

Susie, Mom and Mick

On our way, we drove over the famous Tacoma Narrows bridge. If you've never heard of Galloping Gertie or seen this footage, check this out....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

It was sad saying goodbye to Mom/Grandma after these two great weeks with her, and it was also a bit frantic because we were in the "No Parking" zone at the airport! But we are grateful to have had all this time together, and she was very kind to look after the kids so that Rhodri and I could go play in the mountains and fish without them. Thanks, Mom :-)

After dropping her off, we went to the REI flagship store and spent several hours there before going to catch our own flight back to London at 7pm. It has been a really great trip! We are so grateful to have been able to spend so much time with long lost friends and family.

Last full day in Stehekin

Today was our last full day and we tried to make the most of it, although the day started out rainy. We decided to go try and fish Rainbow Falls. That was a no-go, because there was so much water flowing over the falls! We couldn't get near enough to even try to cast into the upper or lower pools.

 It was fun getting out there, though. Soon the clouds cleared a bit and we rode bikes down to the Landing (first stopping at the Bakery, of course).

We had been renting bikes from Ron at Discovery Bikes and it was sooooo great to have them and tool around the valley!
In the late afternoon, Will, Rhodri and I went for a "fishing run". This is where you wear running clothes and shoes and carry a fishing pole, then run up a trail (in this case, the Rainbow Loop trail) until you get to a creek, then go fishing, then run back home.

Us 3 at the Loop trail overlook

Me fishing

The fishing runners

We got back to G-Buck's house around 6:30pm, went for plunges in Rainbow Creek, and then we were all set for dinner.

Horse riding lessons

Rhiannon had a horse riding lesson today with Nancy up at the Ranch. It was actually quite a crazy day because this morning there were mudslides in several places near the Ranch, and one of the mudslides went straight through the horse corral! It was so mudded out that we had to get a lift in a bulldozer in order to get to the lesson!

We got there in the end, and Rhiannon was a very happy girl.

  

  

 

Fishing

We've done plenty of fishing too this trip, though not much catching while we were out on the lake in Dave's boat! Yeah, Dave had invited us to come out and do some trawling on his semi-new boat so we took him up on the offer this morning.

Me, Dave, and Will

 We got totally skunked, but it was great to catch up with Dave. He always has interesting opinions and thoughts about current events and life in general, so it was great to hear the latest.

Dave and Rio

I got to drive while the boys messed around with lures

 Later in the afternoon, we went fishing out on the river and were more successful. Will and Rhodri both caught good sized trout.

Will and Rhodri

More family arrive!

Today Aunt Hobbie joined the crowd at Grandma Bucky's house. Even with all the people coming and going, the main living space has retained a calm and pleasant atmosphere with lots of reading going on, some puzzle-doing, some games, and some chatting. Perfect!

Dinner at the Ranch

It is always a treat to have dinner at the Ranch, and tonight was no different. We got there just as they were opening for the evening and we sat at the table we always seem to sit at. Rhiannon was great at looking after Phoebe (of course!).

Post-dinner relaxing at the Ranch

Rhiannon and Phoebe

 I should have taken a group photo of all of us sitting at the table, but we were too busy eating and enjoying ourselves! And when I say "we", I mean Grandma Bucky, Grandma Debi/ Mom, Will, Rebecca, Phoebe, and us 4.

Grandma Bucky and me

The Emerald Pool

This morning we took the canoes out again to visit Dave. Rhodri had left his backpack there so we had to get over and fetch it. We took the kids, Will, Laura and Lili along also! It was a lovely, calm, hazy morning (hazy from the forest fires burning nearby) and again was such a treat to be out on the water.  We got the backpack, paddled back, stopped at the Bakery for treats, and then said goodbye to Laura, Lili, Jo and Phil who left on the slow boat around 2pm.

By this time, the day was really hot - perfect conditions to make a trip up to the Emerald Pool, which is a hike and then several hundred meters of wading upstream until you reach the big fallen tree and the boulder at the entrance to Boulder Falls.

Tryfan with Lisl and Rhiannon in the background

The Emerald Pool

The Fam

The view back downstream from the Emerald Pool boulder

 It was about 10 degrees cooler once we got near the water and that felt so wonderful. There was still quite a bit of water coming down so you had to choose safe places to wade through the creek, but it was fine. Once we got up to the pool though, the waterfall was so loud and relentless that it was quite unnerving! Rhodri jumped in the water, but he said he could feel a current pulling down so that freaked the rest of us out although the kids got in a little bit with Rhods' help.

Beautiful afternoon light and Tryfan looking weird

We got back down and rode our bikes back to the house so that we could get ready for dinner up at the Ranch.