After all the recent sporting excitements, we decided to take a leisurely start to the weekend. A short walk from our chalet is a little bench by a chapel that looks out over the valley and is the perfect place to take a cup of coffee to, having rolled out of bed. A good place to sit, watch, listen and think…

We’d planned on going on an overnight adventure in the mountains, so spent the afternoon, relaxing, getting some kit ready and letting the hot temperatures pass by. Then just after mid afternoon, we drove up to the village of Ceillac. On the way we picked up a hitch hiker, who turned out to be a trainee mountain guide. He looked pretty tired and as we talked about climbing, he explained that he’d just climbed a new 300m route in the mountains, with technical difficulties of 7b+! Once through the high alpine town, we parked up at Chalet Melezes, where a trail takes you up through some nice shady forests. You can height quickly and after leaving the tree line came across a herd of horned sheep and Lac Miror.

The lake was pretty idyllic although not one for swimming in, as there are lots of reeds around the edges. We contemplated camping in the meadows around the lake, but decided that we still had the time (and energy!) to push on to the higher altitude lake of Chapple St Ann. And the herd of sheep all had noisy bells on as well as some aggressive looking sheep dogs with metal spiked collars!)

The colours and variety of flowers in the alpine meadows were beautiful. So vibrant as we trekked on into the cool of the evening.

It was nearly 8pm by the time we reached Lac Chapple St Ann and were greeted with an almost perfect reflection of the mountains in it’s turquoise waters.

At nearly 2500m, we were above the tree line and much more into ‘alpine’ mountain territory. The views were just brilliant. There were a few others with the same idea as us already camped up by the chapel and lake, so we pressed on a little further to a secluded highpoint. We were pretty exhaushted by this point, so were very glad to find a tiny flat area of grass on which to pitch our little tent. But first we got our camp chairs out, wrapped up warm and cooked a big dinner. Swimming was tempting, but we didn’t want to get too cold and an evening breeze put us off!

As we sat and ate, the colours changed all around us as with the setting sun.

After dark, we hoped to see the full moon rise, but the rocky ridgeline that surrounded our camp prevented us seeing the moon. However, it tracked close to the ridge, reflecting light off all the surrounding cliffs in the cwm. It was pretty spectacular, even if we didn’t get to see the moon itself.

I set a time-lapse film running to see if I could capture the moment, if the moon rose over the ridge. It got close, but not quite! While I was filming, I was able to observe a few satellites passing overhead, but the best bit was watching a distant storm. Somewhere over the mountains of Italy, flashes of light would illuminate the big distant clouds every minute or so, which was incredible to watch.

During the night we woke to the sound of rock fall from the cliffs behind us. We were well out of harms way, but it was still exciting and slightly un-nerving to hear. Clare got out and tightened the guy lines as the wind picked up and we even had a heavy shower of rain pass though. Despite all this, we slept very well and woke to brilliant blue skies. It was a breakfast in bed day, but in an outside bed!

We defiantly would have spent a bit longer soaking up all the views, but our forecast had said that rain would be arriving anytime from 10am, so we didn’t want to get caught out up high.

But there was still time for a breakfast of boiled eggs and herbal tea while looking out for the marmottes that were whistling to each other across the lake.

Once we were fed and all packed up we walked down to the chapel and lake shores. It was breezy and we only had a few hours before the rain arrived, so didn’t linger too long.

The colour of the water is incredible. It felt cold, but not too cold considering the amount of snow draining into it!

The walk down soon had us back in the meadows then forests as we descended towards the road head at the end of the valley. More flowers including this Martson Lilly caught our eye.

From the end of the valley, where the path meets the road it is possible to catch a bus back to Cime du Melezet, (where we’d left the car), but there is also a lovely path through the forest so we opted to hike the remaining 3.5km as the weather still looked ‘okay’. However, with 2km to go, the rain beat us to the car and we had to don our waterproofs for the final few kilometres.

We’d been given a good soaking by the time we reached the car, but we were still dry on the inside. We were pretty exhausted having descended 860m and travelled nearly 8km. I was quite keen to check out the terrace of the old chalet cafe and enjoy the mountain views of this new area, but the thick low cloud and wet weather made this seem a little less appealing, so we rolled back down the hill to Guillestere, where Clare located a suitably cool cafe for a ‘second breakfast’. It was just before midday when we pulled up and demolished a couple of burgers and a plate of chips without pausing for breath. It was just what we needed!

As it turned out, a few minutes further along the road is a natural thermal pool. We were so close and in need of a refresh, that we decided to check it out. The water is by no means hot, but it’s certainly warmer than our local lake, so we got in and soaked up some of it’s healing minerals, before driving back to the hideout feeling well exercised, fed and refreshed.

After a coffee and a pastry on the balcony, we watched the clouds darken as a thunderstorm passed though the valley. We were grateful that we’d not lingered at the lake camp and were now safely back in doors! It was time for a shower and a snooze! What a great adventure…