Europe – Page 12

East Sussex and the South Downs Way

December 4, 2019

Rain during the last two days here on Lanzarote gave me time to pull together some of the photos from the south of England I’ve taken this past year. Throughout 2019 when I haven’t been traveling, Hastings and the surrounding area of East Sussex on the south coast of England have been my home. Interesting topography, a relatively convenient location, and the English Channel all contributed to my choice. In 2020 I plan on even more extensive travel, centering on Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. Between trips, however, I will once again find myself on England’s South Coast, so I thought I would share some of my photos, including highlights of a two day circular hike on the South Downs Way.

Hastings Pier and a spring storm. This photo was from an AirBnb rental on the Grand Parade in St Leonards, the town immediately adjoining Hastings to the West.

A late afternoon view from the balcony of another AirBnb apartment I rented in St Leonards. These sea front apartments were reasonably priced in the off season, but were too expensive for me during the summer.

Warrior Square in St Leonards, allegedly the largest waterfront garden in England

Rocklands on East Hill seen from Hastings Country Park. I discovered Rocklands from hiking in the area and have made it my home in Hastings ever since. The apartment building is to the right of the brick Rocklands House, partially hidden by a chestnut tree.

Sunrise from the balcony of my apartment in Rocklands. The property is surrounded on three sides by the park. Very peaceful as it allows neither children nor dogs, it is only a 15 minute walk down (and about 20 minutes back up!) to all the amenities of Hastings Old Town.

Another coastal view in Hastings Country Park. The yellow shrubs are gorse. At over 850 acres, the park is a fantastic and diverse area for hiking, picnicking, and simply enjoying nature. And some days there is sun!

Church Square, Rye. I spent a long weekend in the nearby ancient town of Rye, attending a chamber music festival.

Castle Water, Camber. Within a short walk of Rye, it is a great location for watching both resident and migratory birds.

The restored Bodiam Castle, a National Trust property about a half hour drive along country lanes from Hastings. Nearby Hastings and Camber castle are just ruins, but Bodiam gives a good sense of medieval life, at least for the fortunate few.

Eastbourne, from the start of the South Downs Way. It is the next good-sized town, a half hour drive west of Hastings along the coast. The South Downs Way traverses about 100 miles along the chalk downs of Sussex and Hampshire, from here to Winchester. I walked a 21 mile, two day circular portion.

View of chalk cliffs and the English Channel along the Seven Sisters, South Downs Way

Panorama of Cuckmere Haven and Seven Sisters Country Park from the South Downs Way, which headed inland here.

A picturesque cottage along the South Downs Way

Inland forest path along the South Downs Way

The bucolic Alfriston seen from the north loop of the South Downs Way

Unidentified pink flowers along the South Downs Way

Deans Place Hotel, Alfriston, where I spent the night. Decidedly not slumming!

I’m in the process of making some changes to this website. The most obvious is that I replaced the increasingly cumbersome Archives at the bottom of the Homepage with a drop down hierarchical Categories menu listing the continents and countries from which I’ve blogged. At least I’ll be able to find some of my earlier posts now!

I’ve tentatively planned most of my travel for 2020 and will share it with you in a couple of weeks in a year-end blog post. In the meantime, enjoy an active Holiday Season with family and friends!

The Vagabond Hiker

Lago di Garda, Italy: walks and ferratas

October 1, 2019

While Riva del Garda, at the north end of Lago di Garda, is most well-known for its world-class wind surfing and sailing, it also offers an amazing variety of walks and via ferratas, ranging from woodland strolls to a couple of very challenging ferrata routes. My Airbnb apartment above the town had a nice city and mountain (and a bit of the lake) view, featured a 25m outdoor pool (at least until it closed in mid September!), direct access to nearby trails, and less than 1/2 hour walk to the lake front and many restaurants in town. What’s not to like?

Evening view from my balcony above Riva del Garda

Part of the Lago di Garda medium trek near me. (There are low, medium, and top trek paths around the lake, referring to their average elevation). Some paths are frequented by mountain bikers, one of the area’s most popular sports.

Cyclamen by the gorge near my apartment. Most flowers had faded by September, but I spotted many cyclamen early in the month.

Riva del Garda view from the Via Ferrata Cima Sat. This was the nearest ferrata to my apartment, about 75 minutes’ walk to the start.

Ladders on the VF Cima Sat. There were 8 ladders altogether, some quite long and vertical.

View north to the Brenta Dolomites (in the background) from the summit of Cima Sat. See my blog post from September 2018 when I traversed this group.

Maggie on VF Colodri. It was a great short ferrata to get your equipment dialed in and a local equipment rental shop for ferratas and climbing was conveniently located at the start in the town of Arco.

A lizard on the VF Colodri. On warm days we saw and heard tons of lizards.

Goats on the top plateau of Cima Colodri. We could smell them before we saw these friendly critters.

Lago di Garda view from the Cima Colodri. Riva del Garda is in the background by the lake and Arco is directly below.

Castello d’Arco tower. The castle was only a few minutes detour during the descent from Cima Colodri. Well worth the effort, with a short film and numerous buildings in various states of disrepair. There was also an outdoor bar to quench your thirst and take in the views, which sadly several days were obscured by haze.

A fresco in the Castello d’Arco showing court life. Note the incorrect orientation of the chess board.

Cima Colodri from Castello d’Arco. The black cross against the blue sky marks the high point. The terraces below are predominantly olive trees.

Maggie on the VF Rio Salagoni. While it is highly artificial, it was also quite challenging in parts, with overhanging walls to traverse. As a canyon ascent, it was unique.

Rio Salagoni view where the canyon opened up for a short distance.

The Castello Drena where we emerged from the Rio Salagoni canyon. Another worthwhile cultural diversion at the end of a ferrata.

Monte Baone summit cross with an artistic Jesus. This was the end of the way-marked scramble route up from Arco. Although not particularly difficult, sections where quite exposed – enough so that I didn’t take many photos.

The Arco Arboretum is only a short distance from the start/end of the Monte Baone scramble. Here are a few of the many turtles in the pond. It was a worthwhile (and free!) hour to spend in town, featuring dawn redwoods, varieties of bamboo, and yew trees, among many others.

Cima Capi from the VF Susatti. This ferrata was probably the most enjoyable I did in the area, with lots of World War I tunnels, trenches, and buildings. Although not particularly hard, it had an enjoyable – if long – wooded approach from the village of Beicesa and featured fantastic views of the lake and mountains.

Another view of Maggie on Cima Capi, pulling over a steep section with Lago di Garda behind.

The Vagabond Hiker on Cima Capi. Photo courtesy of Maggie.

Lago di Garda view from Cima Capi. This was taken on my recon climb two weeks earlier. Fortunately the rains held off until later in the day.

Piccolo Dain from Sarche, about 15 minutes’ drive north of Arco. The VF Rino Pisetta climbs up this peak.

The VF Rino Pisetta from near the start of the cables. This is the hardest ferrata in the area, perhaps the hardest outside of the high Dolomites. I soloed it on my last day before returning to the UK.

View of Lago Toblino from the ascent of Piccolo Dain on the VF Pisetta. The northern-most olive trees in the world grow here due to the mild micro climate.

Hanging off my lanyards on the ascent of the VF Pisetta. Here the cables traverse and then ascend another vertical section. My arms were definitely ragged out by the summit.

View of the valley and Rio Sarca from summit of Piccolo Dain

A forest at the start of the descent from Piccolo Dain. The lower elevations around Lago di Garda (compared to the high Dolomites) make the area’s ferratas great choices in the spring and autumn.

A picturesque fountain in Limone sul Garda. We took a day off from the rocks to do a triangular ferry route around the upper portion of the lake. Limone was the first stop.

Torrente San Giovanni in Limone. This pleasant path leads out of town up through a valley.

Limone lemon trees from which the popular town gets its name. Glass panes are inserted into the larch frames from November to March to protect the trees. They had numerous varieties of citrus growing in this warm micro climate that is well protected from north winds.

Malcesine castle and town from the ferry. In addition to the castle and a large pedestrian zone, Malcesine on the east side of the lake features a cable car up to the summit of Monte Baldo. Unfortunately the low clouds that day precluded riding the aerial tramway.

I’m back in the UK until Tuesday next week, then off to Bhutan to do the Snowman Trek, which has been on my bucket list since I first visited the country in 2012. One of the most challenging in the world, the trek covers more than 200 miles over 25 days (including rest days) through some of the most remote valleys in the world and features 11 passes over 4500m (14,760ft), five of those more than 5000m (16,400 ft). My Snowman trek with KE Adventures is timed to permit us to observe two local festivals, the Chomolhari and the Laya Royal Highlander. If you’re interested, a book published a few years ago on the trek is Kevin Grange’s Beneath Blossom Rain.

The Vagabond Hiker

Italy: Via Ferratas of the Gruppo del Catinaccio

September 13, 2019

Late in August I joined some friends of mine for a guided hut-to-hut via ferrata trek in the Gruppo del Catinaccio of the Dolomites. Also known as the Rosengarten Group, it is located about an hour drive east of Bolzano, the capital and by far the largest city in the province of South Tyrol. The entire trip was 10 days, but I climbed only on the first 6 as I had done some of the later ferratas only last year (see my blog from 15 September 2018). (For those who aren’t familiar with via ferratas, they are cables attached to the mountain that you clip into with caribiners using a special ferrata lanyard attached to your harness).

While many of these photos are similar to the ones I shared last year, the stupendous scenery of the Dolomites never tires (at least for me!) and of course there are several photos of my Utah friends included here. Enjoy!

Our day 1 approach to Roda di Vael. A short and easy route in dry conditions.

Common Monkshood. We saw a lot of Monkshood, one of my favorites.

Other climbers on the Roda di Vael crux, an ascending traverse. It was raining by the time we reached it, making it even more difficult.

Vista from Vael Majare. Some beautiful shades of green!

On our day 3 approach to Via Ferrata (VF) Santner

Me (with others behind) on an airy traverse, I believe on VF Santner. I usually climbed the rock rather than the cable if it was possible. Photo by our guide Tomas.

Looking back on our VF Santner descent route, the large crack in the middle of the photo

Our lodging for the night, Rifugio Re Alberto Premier. Most rifugios are in unbelievable locations.

Bob, Denise and Robert topping out on one pitch of the VF Antermoia on day 4

Bob, Don, Leslie, and Csilla on the summit of Antermoia. It seems nearly all peaks in Italy feature a cross.

Bob, Robert, and Denise on the descent of Antermoia, with Rolando behind the lens.

Antermoia vista. I stitched together 6 photos for this panorama.

A lake near Rifugio Antermoia on the fourth night. Unfortunately, too cold for a dip.

Morning light with Rifugio Antermoia, day 5

Csilla (seated) and Rolando on VF Laurenzi, day 5. Laurenzi was the most technically difficult of the 6 via ferratas I climbed.

View towards Sasso Piatto from VF Laurenzi. The rest of the group was heading in this direction after I left.

*Potentilla nitida* (Dolomite cinquefoil), seen on VF Laurenzi

Bob on a VF Laurenzi traverse with Tomas, our lead guide, behind

Rifugio Alpe de Tires, a welcome sight after our longest and toughest day. VF Maximiliansteig, our day 6 objective, is behind it.

View along our traverse of VF Maximilianstieg on day 6. Not technically difficult nor long, it was quite airy nonetheless.

Saxifrage (*Saxifraga caesia*) on VF Maximilianstieg day 6

Csilla and I on the Maximilianstieg. The Rifugio Alpe de Tires is in the right background. Photo by Rolando.

A “Monkshood” meadow seen on the descent of VF Maximilianstieg

Likely Black Vanilla Orchid, seen as I was heading back to the valley and on then to Bolzano on day 6 after the Maximilianstieg

Thanks to Bob for organizing this fantastic trip and to all who joined in climbing in this special area of Italy!

Speaking of which, I’m still in Italy, above Riva del Garda with views to the town, mountains, and Lago Garda. My next blog will be in 2-3 weeks, featuring lower elevation hikes, scrambles, and via ferratas nearby here.

The Vagabond Hiker

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