D27 - TMB Le Brevent to Auberge LaBoerne

TOP 3 Highlights:

1. Waterfall - About halfway through our hike today, and just when the sun was starting to smart a wee bit, we stumbled across a waterfall. Even better, it was a waterfall that we could walk up to, sit near and soak our weary feet!

2. Wildlife - heading out from Le Brevent we were quickly greeted by a chamois in the distant skyline, spotted by the keen-eyed Kate. Even more exciting was that in a matter of minutes it was on the path not too far in front. For the following hour we saw many chamois running up and down what seem impossible routes, nose diving towards rocky deaths but recovering every time at the last minute. They’d watch us intently, with no doubt others peering down upon us from rocky ledges above the trail. Later in the day, I stopped in a spot that a few other walkers ahead of us had and peered upwards to some rock climbers high on a massive slab. I panned down and at the bottom of the face in a patchy meadow lay a huge horned Ibex lapping up the afternoon sun. He was at much lower altitude than I would ever have imagined. He looked pretty relaxed, using his curved horns to scratch his back, lucky guy.

3. Weak knees - the last section of today’s hike saw us clambering down Via Ferrata style steel ladders and pins bolted into the rock faces. Always keeping three points of attachment, we slowly lowered ourselves down steep faces with drops of up to 20m. Scary (fun) stuff!

*Bonus* - the very French style freshly made apricot tart and delicious coffee on arrival at Auburge La Boerne went down way too quickly, seeing as we’d missed out on lunch! So quickly, in fact, that a photo opportunity was missed. We made a new friend in the form of a Border Collie, one eye brown and one blue, totally up for pats and crumbs.Read more