France
Day 20: Misadventures in Montgenèvre on a Monday…
Day 20 - July 22 - 27 KMS - 10 HRS - 384 KMS TOTAL Start: 7:35 AM, Plampinet, End: 5:30 PM, Briançon Ascent: 1350 m (21 215 m total),...
Day 19: Lazy day in Plampinet
In one week, I fly to Cuba for my first non-hiking vacation in over five years. It isn't hiking I need a break from, but from the meticulous planning necessary...
Day 18: The mountain air smelled like brown sugar and butter melting in a skillet…
Day 18 - July 20 - 23 KMS - 9.5 HRS - 343 KMS TOTAL Start: 8:03 AM, Modane, End: 5:32 PM, Les Granges de la Vallée Étroite Ascent: 1500 m (19...
Day 17 – Gawd bless Camping Les Combes in Modane!
Day 17 - July 19 - 21 KMS - 6.5 HRS - 320 KMS TOTAL Start: 7:51 AM, Peyra Levrousa, End: 2:35 PM, Modane Ascent: 625 m (17 840 m total), Descent: 1675...
Day 16 on the GR5: hungry and agape!
It has been five weeks since I finished the sometimes dangerous and always stunning 700-kilometre long GR5, including nearly forty thousand meters of ascent. Unfortunately, between all the hiking
Day 15 on the GR5
Day 15 - July 17th - 15 kilometers - 4.5 hours268 kms total so farStart: 10:07 AM, Refuge de CuchetEnd: 2:37 PM, Refuge du Plan du LacAscent: 715 meters (15...
Days 13 and 14 on the GR5…
There is a slight sour taste to my morning mixture of powdered milk and three instant coffee packets with 400 mL of water; shaken, not stirred. I guess it’s time...
Days 7 to 12 on the GR5!
It is just after six and I have awoken to the call of Nature. Les sanitaires, otherwise known in English as the washrooms, are only 100 metres away here at...
The first 6 days on the GR5!
The feet are mangled; their shape resembles a tightly wrung towel. Withered, wrinkly and snow-white in spots, they ache. The heel spur on my right foot is crying the saddest...
The Last Shower
Unlimited hot water, excellent water pressure, no coin machine to race against or fee to pay, and I can stay under this warm and cleansing spray for as long as...