Italy has now become the French Alps. We have a hotel right on Lake Annecy with phenomenal views from the balcony of the lake and then the mountains beyond, and behind us a beautiful tree swept monster that starts the foothills heading towards Mont Blanc.
Running along the lake is an option, and one that Mrs CC5 is considering… but it’s flat and I would have to run back along the same route. So I decided to ask the receptionist if there were any tracks up the hillside behind the hotel. Her response was positive, there was indeed a track up to the Angon Cascades… but she went onto say that if I was interested in running, there was a lovely track along the lake. I raised my eyebrows, and pointed out that I was a trail runner and liked running up hills… she just stared at me. I went out to recce the route. She may have a point.
This evening after a morning high in the mountains (by car) booking a paragliding session for myself and the rest of the CC5 clan and then spending the afternoon kayaking on the lake, it was time to hit the slopes. Just as I was heading out of the door, it started raining. In normal circumstances this is ok, but I know from yesterday’s recce that the track is very rocky and my runners are hopeless over wet, slippery rock.
All I can say is that I ran (walked) 3 miles and climbed 494 metres… 300 of those metres were in the first 0.8 of a mile! I would argue, and indeed BGG has already pointed out, that this is closer to mountaineering than running. In the very steepest sections there were ropes hung to help the unsuspecting runner up the hardest bits. I must admit that my pace was a little off the mark in places…
As for the Angon Cascades… they were incredible. The experience of running behind a waterfall before reaching the edge of a 200 metre cascading vertical drop of water was just out of this world.
August lashes out in volcanic fury
