After the heat of the day had mostly passed over, we drove up high to the Col D’Izoard in search of higher altitudes and their cooler temperatures as the skies began to cloud over.

An hour walk from the just below the Col gets you to a small lake and some super views. Although the distant horizon was darkening, the sky didn’t look too threatening, so we set out with a lightweight pack and a picnic. Shortly before arriving at the lake, we came across an enormous flock of sheep. They were being sheperded towards the lake by a sheperd and some very big ‘Patau’ sheep dogs. It was facinating to watch as the dogs seemed to know what they were doing and working independently of the shepherd, who we were yet to spot.

Not wanting to get in the way (as the dogs are big, ferocious and have been known to attack hikers!), we hung back while the sheep crossed our path, before heading up to the lake.

Although the clouds were building, we had plenty of time to kick back and cool off. We had our swimming kit with us, but it looked like the sheep were going to get priority access to the water. As we took our shoes off to cool down our feet, we spotted the shepherd with two other dogs at their side, way up on the mountainside.

All of a sudden, the quiet of the hills was inturrupted by the sound of bells as thousands of sheep appeared over the horizon. The dogs expertly brought them all down to the lake to have a drink. It was not dissimilar to a African migration across the plains of Kenya! Happily, we’d sat down on the far side of the lake, away from the chaos and with the perfect viewing point. This video shows the first sheep arriving…

Once the sheep were watered and we were fed, we all set off on our separate ways, each descending a different valley, as the clouds closed in around the last of the blue sky.

It was about 19:30 when we reached the car, but still plenty warm enough to finish off our picnic while enjoying another great view before finally driving back to the pad.