Izoard

I got up early and rode Izoard today, again from the North side. I have discovered that one problem with leaving early is that I ride slowly. Therefore, I had a pretty pitifully slow pace up to the top, but then again, it is more than 1200m of gain. In any case, the upper part of the col is totally beautiful, and only surpassed by the Casse Deserte on the other side. Indeed, I descended the short distance down the South side to wander around and take pictures of the moonscape.




Back at the top, the bonbon guy had set up his stand, with promises of natural flavored candy.

I bought an incredibly overpriced sachet for the kids, and then did the descent back to Briancon. I packed up the stuff and was back at the Chalet by 10:30. Not too shabby!

The babysitter arrived at noon, and Chloe and I got to enjoy a little spa time at les bains! Very nice.

We also finally bought another rope, after almost six years of loyal service:

At the fabulous AlpiMat store in Briancon. We bought exactly the same rope as before: A Beal Booster. I've bought a decent number of ropes, and Beal have always treated us well, and in stark contrast with other ropes which have suffered a variety of shortcomings like sheath shrinkage, extreme fuzzification and weak sheaths. The Beals have been perfect however.

Later that night, Chloe and I went for a walk and stumbled upon a hedgehog! I had never seen one in the wild and actually would not have seen it at all had Chloe not jumped into the air, temporarily lost her English vocabulary and started shrieking "HERISSON!, HERISSON!". It was a cute little dumpling shaped thing, but scurried off into the bushes before I could get a picture.