I Did It!

Now that I have less work I took the time to go to « le Piton des Neiges ».



We left Cilaos on Thursday and got some rain as soon as we started walking. The hike to “le Piton des Neiges” can be done in two different ways: you can walk roughly 5 hours with an elevation of 1700 meters, you can walk roughly 3 hours with an elevation of 1100 meters, spend the night in some sort of cottage and start walking at 3 in the morning to walk the remaining 2 hours with an elevation of 600 meters. We chose the second option. You can only walk up during the hike and the few moments with no elevation are very short. You start the hike in a quiet forest and it is very pleasant but the steps made to avoid the path from becoming too slippery can quickly become tiring. I don't hike often, I need some time for my body to get warmed up and to be able to walk properly, things are easier when I am walking on a flat track or a track with a small elevation. In this case having to produce such an effort to walk along the steep track that lead to the pass on the way to “le Piton des Neiges” was very difficult for my legs. We couldn't really enjoy the landscape on our way up, the clouds that were quite low were blocking the view as well as bringing rain. I started reducing my speed as soon as I felt my heart beating too strongly, I did exactly the same thing as when I was riding a bike on “la Route du Volcan” I would go as slowly as possible to be sure to get to the end.



I didn't need to achieve anything, I just wanted to reach the goal of the day which was the cottage. I was slowly walking behind my hiking partners with small steps, I had my poncho on and my eyes were only looking at the ground to avoid loosing my motivation. My partners had a nice rhythm but there was no way for me to try and follow their rhythm or I wouldn't last very long. I stopped walking each time I felt like it but tried at the same time not to do it too often. We finally made it to the cottage after a 3 hour walk, we had walked for 8 km. It was still raining when we got there, we were soaked from the rain as well as the sweat but it was great. We changed clothed, got warm, ate a very good “rougail saucisse” and went to be straight away because we had to wake up at 2:30 AM.



I couldn't sleep and I have no idea why. I had two blankets to be warm, I even removed one during the night; I usually can sleep anywhere but this time I had plenty of time to count the sheep and sing songs to myself. Waking up at 2:30 AM was not difficult at all but starting walking in the dark and under the rain to get to “le Piton des Neiges” was. We started walking on a very rocky track with our headlamps to help us. Walking on rocks is usually a pain but it is even worse under the rain, sleepless and with headlamps. I was afraid to twist my ankle during the whole walk, the rocks were slippery and being tired really didn't help. Each time I go hiking and it gets tough I tell myself “I hate hiking but here I am so better reach the goal” and I indeed hate hiking but it is the price to pay to see amazing landscapes. An hour later I raised my head and saw that it was not raining anymore but more than that I could see the stars. The possibility of seeing the sun rise at the top without any clouds to block the view got me in a very good mood. We were halfway, I was very tired but I was almost there. 20 minutes later we were back inside the clouds and I was quite disappointed, the top was getting close and it would be a shame if it would be completely inside the clouds. 15 minutes before getting to the top we got rewarded, we were above the clouds and we would get our sunrise.



We got to the top 30 minutes before the sunrise. Waiting for the sun to rise in the wind and the cold is great when you are all sweaty but it sure was worth it. We had a sea of clouds in front of us where we could see “le Piton de la Fournaise”. Le sun rose behind the volcano, we were looking forward for it to bring some light but mostly warm us. It was happiness after torture, we enjoyed the sun's warmth a while before walking back down.
Here is something less for me to do in La Reunion: I was on top of the highest point in La Reunion and watched the sun rise and I can assure you I will not do that again anytime soon.

La suite!

Storm Warning

When you are in La Reunion, you must to have a backup plan for your week-end activities. The weather is changing quickly and your week-end hike may be cancelled on Friday just because the weather became stormy during the night.



The plan was to go for a two-day hike with some friends in Mafate starting from «Le Cirque de Cilaos”. When it is raining a lot on the island, the clouds tend to stick to the mountain tops and stay there a while; it is not a good idea to go for a hike under the rain. We met for lunch on Saturday instead of sweating in the mountains, we ate outside away from the sun because it was too hot. It should have rained non stop on Saturday in the highest part of the island but it was not the case. I wanted to change the hike in Mafate with a hike to the volcano but I quickly forgot the idea. There are three webcams that show the volcano and give people the possibility to know the exact weather without having to drive for hours to find out. When I checked the webcams on Friday you could only see what looked like pea soup but when I checked again on Saturday afternoon the sky was clear. We could have spent 2 days at the volcano if I had thought of checking earlier. We went to the beach to relax, the sun was covered by clouds but the temperature was just what we needed.



We had to do a little exercise after the calm and relaxing day that was Saturday, so we went to see “Le Piton de La Fournaise”. The trip up to the point of view on the volcano is not the most pleasant especially for the car but you get rewarded by a wonderful landscape once you get there. I would go up there each week just to have the pleasure of breathing fresh air and walking in this particular scenery. We stopped at “La Plaine des Sables” on the way back to throw boomerangs. We only had one of the simplest user manual ever to help us learn how to throw them properly. We first had to feel the wind because you need to be in the right position compared to the wind if you want your boomerang to come back. We then had to master to throwing movement to avoid the boomerang from going too high or too low. It was my first time throwing a boomerang and I loved it. The two boomerangs we had suffered when they were landing on the gravel and the stones but they suffered less than my poor fingers each time I would attempt to catch the boomerang coming back. In the end I managed to grab one once without hurting myself and I am pretty happy with it. I will have to find a place in Paris where I can train.



We stopped at the “Belvedere de Bois Court” located in “La Plaine des Cafres” on the way back; not only will you get a great view of the small village of “Grand Bassin” but you will also get to see the hydraulic clock that definitely deserves a look. We concluded our trip with a last stop at “Le Gouffre” in “L’Etang Salé”, it is a small corridor dug by the sea in the cold lava. The sight of the sea coming in is quite impressive.
In La Reunion when you can’t get someplace there is always some other place you can go.

La suite!

I Did It!

It took us three trips to La Reunion to go to "le Piton de la Fournaise". It is no wonder that the volcano is the first touristic place on the island, the area is truly amazing.



You have to know that one has to deserve the volcano, we woke up at 4:30 AM to meet some friends and get there as soon as possible. If you don’t like waking up early it is ok too, it is not mandatory to be up at the same time as chickens do to go see the volcano but the weather changes quickly out there and the clouds often come down quite quickly. Moreover the later you get there the more people there will be on the way to the top, you may think it is not that important but it truly isn’t the same thing when all is quiet next to the crater.



Before getting to "le Pas de Bellecombe" to start hiking you will drive through "la Plaine des Sables". I have to say that this area is quite amazing, I could say that it looks like you are on the moon but I have never been there. I can at least say that it is the most astonishing landscape I have ever seen, on first look you would think that the ground is dark but when looking closely you will see here and there some red and orange. This place deserves a short hike to fully enjoy its beauties.



I like the fact that you have to drive for 2 hours to know whether you can go hiking our not. Once we arrived at "le Pas de Bellecombe" we could see that "l’enclos" (the plain that leads to the volcano) was covered by the clouds but the volcano was not. It is funny to be walking in the clouds and see them disappear as we walk. Don’t expect to find a nice little track, don’t forget that once you have come down in "l’enclos" you will be walking on cooled volcanic rock; you will have to follow little white dots painted on the rock to reach your destination.



Things start to get serious when you start climbing the volcano, powdery rock replaces the hard volcanic rock and you feel like you are walking on sand; you will then walk on sharp rock and will have to be very careful not to trip. The walk is not too difficult but you always have to watch where you step. You will see truly unique landscapes on the way: some green here and there, cloud movement, secondary craters...
Getting to the crater is the reward, the picture speaks for itself. You are at 2450 meters above sea level, it is cold but you don’t care because you are so happy to be there. The picnic we ate up there was the best picnic I ever ate.



No need to tell you that the walk back is easier but this doesn’t prevent your knees from working hard. At the end of the hike, you will have to climb all the stairs you came down to get to "l’enclos", you will really love this.
These days the pressure is building up in the volcano and a volcanic eruption is to be expected, it would have been great to be able to witness that while we were on our hike.



La suite!

The Volcano

We went this week-end to "le piton de la fournaise" for a hike to the volcano. We drove after my work to the southern part of the island, up the road that leads to "la plaine des cafres" to go sleep in "le gite du volcan". We wanted to start early on Saturday morning.



We left Saint-Gilles at 5:50 PM and reached the cottage at 8:50 PM with a 30 minutes diner break. The people who have already been there know that the road is quite sinuous when you are in the forest and that it is in very bad shape when get close to the volcano. The drive was quite difficult for my wife as she is still in the learning process, it was night time when we got to our destination and there was no lighting on the road. The serpentine path was so narrow in some case that you couldn’t feel safe especially when the headlights would show that there is absolutely nothing beyond the road.



We went straight to the dormitory as soon as we reached the cottage. The car thermometer showed that it was 3°C outside, I don’t know why I thought that cottages have eating but my wife and the 3 blankets laid on my bed showed me I was wrong. There is nothing to do except preparing the bed quickly and going to sleep otherwise you will start asking yourself if the volcano is worth all this pain. The night was interesting, I woke up many time during the night because of the cold even with my 3 blankets. My wife slept with her clothes on but she wasn’t warmer than I was. The best part of the night was when I had to get dressed to go to the restroom; it was so sweet to have to put back all my cold clothes on for less than a minute.



We woke up a 5:45 AM to be able to see the sun rise from "le Pas de Bellecombe" before starting our hike. No need to tell you that waking up was tough but you are completely awake once your feet touch the cold floor! We went to get breakfast once we were dressed, exited the dormitory and… it was raining and the fog was totally covering the sky. We asked during breakfast if the weather may change, the answer was that the weather changes too quickly around the volcano and it was dangerous to start hiking under theses conditions. We decided to go to "le Pas de Bellecombe" to take a picture (the first one of this post), the volcano is somewhere behind this. The way back home took us only 2 hours and we were greeted in Saint-Gilles by a beautiful blue sky. C’est la vie!

La suite!