Day 4 Point Sublime to La Maline along the Verdon River Gorge

Recounting our 2002 journey, a 6 day walk from Saint-André-les-Alpes to Riez in Southern France...

Day 4
Sept 21, 2002

The day started out with fog as we left our auberge and started the descent into the canyon. 

Vista after vista opened up, too beautiful to describe, so I took a lot of pictures.  As we descended to the floor of the gorge the fog gradually lifted and we were left with high cloud.





We were following the route known as the Sentier Martel.  The route weaves it's way along the canyon walls, following ledges, sometimes descending to the canyon floor and up again, climbing ladders, and passing through three of seven tunnels to add to the adventure.  These tunnels were originally excavated, as part of a project to dam up the Verdon River, but the work was interrupted by World War II and then abandoned.

 

The hotel had packed us a picnic lunch, and along with a bottle of wine, we enjoyed a break on the canyon floor, tempted by the inviting waters to cool ourselves off.

Afterwards, it was more ladders and ledges, with occasional rolling thunder overhead and the threat of rain.

At the end of the route was a last series of ladders and stairs from the floor of the canyon to La Maline and this was where the skies opened and the rain came down in a deluge.  We arrived at the climbers hut at the top where we slaked our thirst with fresh squeezed orange juice, and either beer or wine.
 We had timed the journey just right, for after our break a bus arrived that took us to La Palud, a short drive away, where we had hotel reservations.  La Palud is a "climber's town," full of young climbers here to experience the Gorge and we talked to some of them who staying at the campsite.

It had been a long day in the canyon and after an excellent dinner in the hotel restaurant we all slept well.