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Last outing of the year in the Doubs
While I was hoping to do another 2-3 weekends in VivaLaVida before storing her for the winter, a family celebration and an episode of gastroenteritis for Emile only let us make one last bivouac of the year on the last November weekend.
We went discovering two natural arches located in the Doubs department, south of Montbelliard in France.
1. Here we are not far from the first arch.
2. After a short climb, we walk along the cliff towards the arch…
3. … which soon appears through the fog.
4. Called Cave of Bisontin, the arch was created by the collapse probably several thousand years ago of the roof of a large cave created by infiltrations in the limestone rock.
5. The arch is quite impressive with a span of about hundred feet. It is the largest I have seen in Europe so far.
6. Emile gives the scale as the fog creates a particular atmosphere.
7. To reach the second arch, the path is steep as it follows a limestone ridge with cliffs on both sides. While the fog makes everything very slippery, I give up going there with Emile as a slip would certainly lead to a serious accident.
We go boondocking on a viewpoint above Maîche where we cook a good sauerkraut on our last campfire of 2022! It is also an opportunity to break a “Marmite de l’Escalade” (chocolate pot) a few days in advance, a Geneva tradition which commemorates the attempted invasion of 1602 by the Savoyards.
8. Chilly wake up…
9. … above the mist…
10. … with beautiful colors.
11. On the return trip, VivaLaVida crosses the symbolic bar of 300,000 km (186,000 miles). It’s not huge for a vehicle that drives in America – those with between 300 and 500,000 miles are quite common – but given the miles driven on trails – probably approx. 35,000 since I converted VLV to 4×4 – and the twisty roads of Europe, that’s already a respectable mileage. 🙂
After this outing, VivaLaVida went back to its winter shelter. I am already looking forward to the next adventures she has in store for us!
Thank you again to all of you who follow our modest peregrination on board. I already wish you Happy Christmas time. 😉
Forced stop and start of the Pyrenees mountains
Today, we continue the road towards the Pyrenees.
After about fourty miles, I take VivaLaVida on the A6 motorway north of Orange. I take its cruising speed – about 65 mph – and I don’t have done 3 miles that a thudding noise intensifies quickly. No doubt, something is wrong with the chassis. I slow down immediately and pull over to the emergency lane. We are less than one mile away from a rest area and I slowly let VLV flow until there at 25 mph. As I go out to try to identify the source of the problem, amazement: 4 of the 8 studs on the left rear wheel are broken, the nuts having obviously disappeared! I take out the 21 socket and see that the 4 remaining nuts are really loose. As I tighten them, a fifth stud breaks. We really almost lost a wheel and I dare not imagine what the consequences could have been, as much for VLV as for other motorway users with an crazy wheel of three feet in diameter and approx. 100 pounds launched at 65 mph..!
This wheel tightened again, we drag ourselves to the next motorway exit 3 miles further. We go to a truck workshop and order a set of 32 studs and 32 nuts from the United States since they are specific to VLV’s 4wd conversion. Chris will send them to us the next morning by Express mail and they will finally arrive on Friday at 4 pm. In the meantime, we reach the “Manon” campgroung in Orang, where we will spend these 5 days of waiting. The swimming pool and the nearby town will somewhat entertain the crew stopped in its trip..!
1. Dinner in the campground…
2. Small compensation. 😉
3. The famous Orange roman theater and its stands.
4. We enjoy the swimming pool.
5. Distractions…
Once VivaLaVida has been repaired, we resume the trip to the Spanish Pyrenees. We get there at the end of the day on a Saturdayand it rains heavily. We stop at the trail that we will drive the next day when it is already almost dark.
6. Colored sunrise while Emile is still sleeping.
7. The trail which oscillates at about 6000 feet above sea level is gorgeous.
8. This is the opportunity to test the Isofix adapter that I made to install Emile’s seat in the front. He is in heaven! 😀
9. View of the plain, far South.
10. VLV is happy to be back on the trail.
11. We discover pretty villages…
12. …and a varied geology.
13. Another of these Pyrenean villages.
14. We reach a high plateau, the Pedró dels Quatre Batlles, after a climb where the 4×4 transmission have been very useful!
15. It blows a very strong wind. Is this why the vegetation takes the form of barkanes ?
16. The mood is beautiful as the sun goes down.
17. Last rays before sunset. The wind will shake us a good part of the night and it will only be 38 F in the morning.
See you soon for the rest.
Valaisan getaway (end)
Continuation and end of our great valaisan weekend…
1. Gentle sunrise light over the summits.
2. Chapel above Vercorin.
3. Our great camp spot in golden larches…
4. View over Upper Valais.
VivaLaVida then brought us back safely and I prepared her for wintering. She will be back soon… 😉
In the meantime, I will soon show here some pictures of another and different getaway. Stay tunned ! 😀
Must already go back……
After five days, it’s already time to go back home.
1. We camped in the wild not far from Macinaggio, below a Genoese tower. First light of the day…
2. … gently move the village of Bettolacce out of the darkness.
3. To the East, Elba Island takes shape on the horizon.
4. Soft light of sunrise…
5. Good morning Sun!
6. Our boondocking spot.
7. Panoramic view of Macinaggio and its bay.
8. Maquis of Cape Corse.
9. Short stop to reconnect VivaLaVida’s swaybar.
10. Cristal clear water…
11. Lovely marina of Porticciolo.
12. Last sea play for Emile !
13. Loading VLV into the ferry.
14. Square in Bastia.
15. Last look at this beautiful city…
Back on the continent, we spend the night at my brother François’s place, in the Var valley, before driving the 400 miles bringing us home.
Thank you for having followed us during these short vacation! We hope to spend another weekend or two in VivaLaVida before I store her for the winter. We will share them here… 😀
Stay connected!
Nahanni Range (still in Yukon)
Discover of the second mining road built to access the Canjum Mine, another tungsten mine still active. The Nahanni Range Road, the road that crosses the mountain range of the same name, is much better maintained than the North Canol Road since trucks are borrowing it regularly to supply the miners and take down the tungesten. Yet, at taht time, the activities have stoped for the winter and hunting season is over, so the place was also completely deserted when I was there.
1. Nice river…
2. A beautiful small green lake that contrasts with the whiteness of the surrounding peaks.
3. VivaLaVida approaches the mountains of the Nahanni Range.
4. I found similar atmospheres to those of the North Canol, about 200 miles to the North.
5. The warm tones of the last willow leaves and marsh grasses will soon be covered by winter…
6. VivaLaVida approaches the pass where is the border with the Northwest Territories again, to almost 5,000 feet above sea level on a trail made very muddy and slippery by snow flurries which succeed.
7. On the other side of the pass, mountains look sharper…
8. … and lakes are already almost completely frozen. We feel that it’s colder here…
9. Small lake just under the summit.
10. The weather starts to snow again while I go hiking to the bottom of the valley.
11. Lichens are everywhere, beautiful and really thick in places.
12. In five minutes, I’ll be in the snow flakes. Seeing nothing anymore, I will have to give up and walk back to VLV, about 4 miles away…
I have also not been able to leave that night, the snowfall turning into real storm by a strong blizzard, depriving me of any visibility. So I slept there, snug in VivaLaVida and without the fear of getting stuck as on the Canol Road.
13. Got up early the next day to discover fantastic colors at dawn, in a true winter atmosphere…
14. The valley where I was hiking when I had to give up yesterday…
15. Sunray on the opposite side.
16. Probably more than two foot of fresh powder blanked the peaks…
17. … while it blew so much on VLV that there is only about 4 inches around.
18. Going down towards civilization…
19. … a road in winter conditions.
20. Sometimes some rays sneakly break through the clouds…
21. … before a new snow shower. Here, the small lake of yesterday has changed its face…
That concludes my stay in the Yukon Territory that I loved as much as Alaska. Much less touristy but with the same variety of landscapes and wildlife, they have another thing in common: the lack of access roads to a large part of their lands, making them difficult to reach. One thing is certain: if I have the opportunity, I will come back… 😉
VivaLaVida then proceeded South via the Cassiar Highway rather than the Alaska Highway which we drove up North. Obviously with some detours that I will count you soon.
Thank you for your loyalty over and over again … And feel free to share the address of this blog or my FB page “Vivalavida Photography” with friends or acquaintances, they are welcome. 🙂
Mississippi delta
After visiting the nice town of New Orléans, I spent a couple of days in the Mississippi delta, a huge wet zone and totaly flat. VivaLaVida sometimes slept on the beach it-self and I could observe many birds…
1. A nice campsite, isn’t it?
2. Half sun! 😉
3. A seagull at sunset…
4. Sunrise with sea mist…
5. Halo in the mist…
6. Work of the night probably…
7. Another campsite…
8. Royal terns resting.
The next day, I moved a few tens of kilometers and arrived in Texas in an area where there are freshwater marshes behind the dunes, promise an interesting ornithological fauna.
As I walked there, I met me a retired volunteer. Exchanging a few words with, she said: “From 5, mosquitoes will attack you!”
Me: “Really? Even in the wind?”
Her: “Yes , pray for having wind…”.
I found a place to sleep on the beach and after photographing the sunset, I walked into VLV and have undertaken to postprocess some images. Around 9:30, when I turned on the light, stupor: it was almost impossible to see through the windows as there were so many mosquitoes above! Thousands at least. Then I realized that a good fifty were able to enter VLV, where I’m not sure yet . Perhaps through Dashboard ventilation since all other issues being closed… So I had a pretty mosquito hunt before cooking my diner and after because obviously they continued to enter. The next morning, there was again a good fifty but fortunately, as these little creatures have never loved me, , I had only one bite on a toe… : – D
So much for the story.
9. The campsite in question under a nearly full moon.
10. A snowy plover.
11. Two others…
12. Readheads.
13. A nice heron…
14-16. A small series on the brown pelican, wonderful.
17. A neighbor of my camp…
Bye for now……
Atlantic Ocean!
I had announced it in my last update, Vivalavida discovered the ocean on Christmas Day. The desire to see something a little different after more than three months of Appalachian, so I took the road to South Carolina after a detour through Atlanta to discover a great World Market (in which he was unfortunately forbidden to photograph…) where I bought my Christmas dinner…
I left Atlanta late and since this huge city is perpetually congested with dozens of miles of trafic jams, I stopped in a National Forest about 70 miles away to spend the night near an old fire watchtower.
1. Boondocking…
Having decided to take the back roads to better discover the landscapes of eastern Georgia, I crossed areas where walnuts are grown. Some “walnut fields” stretched out of sight, like the one I squatted to lunch.
2. Walnuts…
Taking my time, I discovered the ocean only at dusk. Time to find a place to spend the night on Hunting Island, I had a good Christmas diner: Scottish smoked salmon with dill and Moscato d’Asti Nivole..!
3. Christmas diner
I still made a small walk on the beach and enjoyed photographing the sky. The brightness was curious, with the moon just before moonrise, below the horizon…
4. Christmas sky…
5. Waked up early to go seeing the ocean before sunrise, I enjoyed right again splendid colors…
6. Almost slack…
The recent hurricanes have claimed more than 100 yards from shore, gnawing the beach and sometimes leaving a standing tree which now seems to have grown in the sea .. Superb for images!
7. Survivor, well almost…
It is hard to see on the pictures but there was a strong wind and it was 34°F. I had really cold fingers coming back to VLV after 2:30 walk on the beach!
Having spotted a pond behind the dunes, I left again a little later to go birdwatching.
8, 9 et 10 : Willet
11 et 12 : Sanderlings
13. Great egret
14. Heron
15. Another survivor…
I then moved to the salt marshes behind the island that sheltered me for the night.
16. Sweetness of this flat wet land…
Having spotted an osprey with binoculars on the bridge deck that allows access to the island, I used Vivalavida as approach him when my silhouette would have made him to scamper at 150 yards…
17. Watchful hunter…
18. Just beforedoing what we do in the bathroom… 😉
19. A last one..! It’s not everyday that I can get so close of such a lord… 😀
I then returned buck to the wet land and I had the chance to see some other species…
20. Eastern bluebird
21. Great-tailedgrackle. It’s a verry common bird here, not apprehensive. Here is the male
22. … and his female…
23. I end this update with a picture taken from the long bridge that provides access to the island. It allows you to discover the wet land covered with rushes and flooded at each tide…
To be continued…
And as the days go by and I’m never sure when I can connect properly, I already send you my best wishes for the new year approaching. Can he invite you to fully experience your desires and dreams as I have the chance to do it with Vivalavida..!
A big thank you for your faithfulness to follow this blog… 😀
Grandfather Mountain
Nothing to do before next monday to regularise my situation, I decided to head North in the Appalachian.
I slept near a small lake under Grandfather Mountain and enjoyed a gorgious sunrise.
1) Grandfather Mountain late afternnon. The night will be rainy and cool…
2) early Wake up, no cloud in the sky. I Wake up to enjoy the sunrise on the small lake.
3) The sun arrives…
4) … and brings colors with him!
5) Contrejour…
6) some hundreds yards further, what a spectacular sighting…
7) …Still Grandfather Mountain in the back.
8) At this altitude – about 3’600 feets high – leaves trees are everywhere.
9) VivaLaVida continues to head North on nice forest roads…
10) Clouds arrive but sightings are still awesome…
11) The spot I wanted to see is closed because of the shutdown. Never mind, I drive back, stopping sometimes to take pictures… 😉
12) Back to the Grandfather Mountain late afternoon when the rain comes back. I still did a hike in that wild area…
13) dawn is coming, time for me to go back to VivaLaVida and find a place to sleep…
I wish a good wwek to all of you ! 😀
D5 Creation