the big V - what an incredible place!

What an incredible place!! Verdon. Had amazing times here before, but this is our first visit climbing without the amazing Alan C, so feels like punters starting on a long apprenticeship! All the best things are hard...a week in and I can't say we have our systems & heads totally dialled but we're getting there.


[easy to spot the morning abseil queue, but can you spot our van Stanley perched on the rim looking down at us?]

 
[P on the look out for our abesil start point]


[In we go...moments of commitment...]




[the new morning commute, 4-5 abseils]
      Excited and apprehensive mornings finding abseils, dropping in for a few hundred meters, trying to avoid rope epics, gawping at the views, dealing with any self doubt about whether we can actually climb out of the route we've picked, then the climbing out, often brilliant and varied and long, and onsight, and trickier than we thought, with beautiful airy views, and usually at least one moment where the movement or the bolting philosophy stop us! 

 
[P coming up final pitch of Trous Secs, getting a close fly-by from a Griffon Vulture on the left]

Mostly finishing exhausted but exhilarated, back to the van, watching the sun set over the hills around La Palud from a Belvédère, waking up fresh the next day,...wanting some more.

 
[sunset over the hills around La Palud, from Belvédère Carelle]

 
[P arrived in one of the Jardin, suspended gardens on the cliff]

 
[bad weather day, off exploring a bit, the tyrolean traverse over the river]

#vanlife 

as usual arriving somewhere new takes a few days to work out vanlife logistics efficiently. we found we can wild camp on the route des cretes and point sublime, and use a campsite once a week for washing, wifi, and water fill ups - the one 3km toward Castellane from Point Sublime works well. 11 Euro and natural by the river. the Casino supermarche in Castellane is largest/cheapest and has cheap fuel.