this is a video is the french side of the mont blanc massif. I hiked 5500 feet uphill from Les Houches to get this shot. Sorry for the nostril shot, Jimmy.
the Italian side of the Mont Blanc range, day 4 of the 10 day 105 mile trek from hut to hut
this is the rifugio bonatti near courmayeur, italy. Its one of the nicest huts on the tour, built in 1998, you get a 5 course meal and a bed with this view for about 40 dollars. Bonatti was the first to climb K2, the north face of the matterhorn solo in winter, etc etc. read some of his books you wont believe it. He retired in his 30s just in time, before he could kill himself.
I bet you 100 dollars you have never seen human cow bell ringers like this before. It was part of a desalp celebration, a festival when the cows come down from the pastures, from ferret to la fouly, switzerland. i was taking a day off from the rain when luckily this festival happened that day. raclette with fendant wine, alp horn singers, and cow wars, which was really 2 hyped up cows pushing eachother until one gave up.
Here we are walking down the road, me and the cows and the cow herders, a real cow parade. I told one: Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore
Here is another refuge, really a nice hotel with dorm rooms in the alps, this one above Lech, Austria. Sehr schon, gell? Nice, huh?
this is a quick 9 second video showing the scene near klagenfurt, austria
my favorite church in vienna, st. michaels
Hey Kevin!
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to post these great reports from your Swiss and Austrian mountain adventure, I admire your techie-ness in doing it so well. The pictures are all of high quality and the videos have the added appeal of movement and sound--like cows coming at the viewer with their bells ringing. When you manage to get in the picture, I see proof positive that there is less of you than when you left, perhaps 20 pounds less.
Here are some comments. They are in reverse chronological order, because that's the way I read your blog, from top down until it becomes familiar from a previous reading.
The "Movie Page" was terrific! A video from the French side 5,500 feet above Les Houches, featuring the Chamonix Valley and the Mer de Glace, just three days ago. I remember hiking across the M de G, hopping crevasses and not falling into any of them.
Then a video from the Italian side, with the Grande Jorasses, the Dentes (Teeth) of Midi, Mont Blanc. Awesome!
The Rifugio Bonatti! More beautiful than I imagined it. Best view from a refuge bed in the high alps!
The desalp celebrations, which was already in my mind from your vivid description earlier, and is now corrected and elaborated. The video of the cow bell ringers was striking, but you don't want to bet me $100. I once chanced upon a holiday parade in Zurich that had more bells and some bigger ones. That's what I remember, but I can't prove it
The parade of the cows was my favorite, with you apparently standing right in the middle of their route to the battlefield, their bells ringing and their horns threatening, but you fearless because you'd turned your jacket inside out.
I also enjoyed the videos of the grand refuge above Lech, the scene from the train window near Klagenfurt, and the inspiring interior of St. Michael's church in Vienna. It's fortunate that the bombs of World War II did not destroy all of the great cathedrals of Europe.
I also admired the photos of the Stubai alps, Innsbruck and Lechtaler alps, the site of the ankle sprain, the great glacier and cow shots, the Innsbrucker hutte, ice on the rocks in the morning, I found your lunch hut on the ridge and the other hut in a valley, the photo of the glacial lake including your pack and hiking poles reminds me of how much weight you were lugging around on your back at that time.
Great views of Innsbruck, nice hut near Lech with dinner and showers, amazing marmot photo, towns of Lech, Klagenfurt and Graz. Yes! They were the first photos I've ever eyeballed from Graz.
Thanks for sharing!
Love from Dad
Cool videos dad! haha I liked the cows!
ReplyDeleteDad, there may be less of him, but did you see those whiskers? That's got to add a few extra pounds. Plus save money on razers and a face mask. Win win. All that, PLUS you don't have to worry about any women trying to pick him up.
ReplyDeleteThe videos are a great addition. We all love the cows. I wish you could have gotten the cow battle. It reminds me of John Travolta playing arch angel Michael in the movie "Michael" where he head butts a bull.
You're not missing much back home. Yesterday was 115 degrees in L.A., hottest day ever recorded. Lakers are starting training camp. USC is 4-0, but will have its first real test of the year against Scott's UW Huskies this weekend. UCLA started out 0-2, but then beat two ranked teams, crushing #7 Texas, so they are back in the running. Stanford looks stronger than all of them combined. Jim Cary had the cover in Parade magazine and talked about his dramatic weight loss and his first 10K race in Santa Barbara. He failed to mention either you, McConnell's, or me (who allowed him to finish ahead of me). But he did say that after the race, he ate ice cream, and then went home and pigged out on bad food. The photo of him finishing the race will be plastered here and there in the media. Scott starts his Junior year at UW this week. Christopher starts his PhD program at Stanford this week. Debbie and I are childless again. Jazz got a bath. That's about it from Manhattan Beach.