15 Jun 04

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English Weather (1)

The hot days and high cloudbases of the previous week were now long gone, and we now had to contend with showery weather and uncertainty about the best direction in which to fly. I decided to fly south and reached the lac de Verdon, near Vinon, before heading back north again to the higher mountains.


Early build-up over la Blanche


Col de Couleau

Most of the ridge tops on the parcours were covered in cloud, but the Blayeul was clear enough for me to route via Seynes onto Dormillouse, Morgon and Guillaume. Cloudbase was high enough there for me to cross into the St Crepin valley via the col de Couleau and across to the western Queyras. Cloudbase was not much more than 11,000ft and after reaching the Roche Bernaude, north of Bardonnecchia, I decided to call it a day and return.
The cloud over the Ecrins had  built up considerably and my initial plan of using the pas de la Cavale to get back into the Gap valley were abandoned for a slightly lower route. I followed the ridge line of the southern Ecrins until I could see a gap over Guillaume through which I could post myself. The rest of the flight was spent exploring a large convergence zone over the Sisteron valley. Totting up the distance flown gave me a surprising 400km, which wasn't too bad for an 'iffy' day.

Logger


Letter-box in Col de Guillaume

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