Thursday 6 September 2007

Summer trekking

It's been a great summer for Trekking in the Alps even if the sun has not been shining every day. Although hiking in the rain and snow is not quite what we have planned, it can be quite an adventure, notably on the Tour of Mont Blanc when we had two days of snow. A big plus about bad weather is that when the sun returns the views are generally quite stunning: fresh snow coats the mountains and everything is very clear and glistening. This was certainly the case in the latter part of the TMB when we had unbeatable scenery.


The Austrian Otztal week was as much a quest for fine wine as a trekking holiday. And we certainly had fun doing both. The hiking was good, although again the sun was a little shy. A highlight of the trip was managing to make our way up to the Austro-Italian border to the exact spot where the 5000 year old ice-man "Otzi" was found some years ago. As for the wine, I can now vouch for the fact that Austrian does have some great wines. There are also lots of lederhosen around and dancing and yodelling.



The autumn has begun here with morning frosts and beautiful clear days. The trees are already beginning to turn orange and days are that little bit shorter. This is a great time for trekking and my Highlights of the Tour of Mont Blanc starts tomorrow. Perhaps we are due for an Indian Summer - certainly we must make the most of these mellow days before the winter arrives as it surely will. Bookings for the snowshoeing season are coming in and some weeks are already full. Check www.trekkinginthealps.com for availabilty and be sure to keep an eye on the latest blog postings.



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