24/07/06

Said goodbye to Rosie, Viv and Jess. Rosie was off to the airport but the guys were moving on, I'm not sure where.
Andy and I went back to bed. Being the early bird that he is, by 9 he'd already done the pain au chocolat run. We tidied up the camp and packed our kit, readu well in time for the 11:30 bus. Unsurprisingly we were the only ones on it. The journey down to St Christophe was reasonably entertaining as the bus suddenly  found itself blocking lots of cars coming up.

We ambled up from St Christophe, a pretty easy walk-in, still a good 1000m mind. It's a lovely valley lots of butterflies & circkets & grasshoppers. More then I've seen before.

The route we're climbing tomorrow is the West ridge of Le Rateau. We,re not sure where the route approach runs. There is some debate as to left or right of pt. 3176. The guidebook says left which is just wrong according to the map and common sense. Left would mean we have to climb up and and traverse right to the Col de Girose. This is pretty unlikely.

This hut is weird. Apart from being on stilts its also full of military types - not cadets either, guys my age. Its odd. I don't understand what they are doing here. Maybe some odd rendezvous? Anyway I'm not that comfortable with it. Andy has gone to bed to catch up some sleep. I have a couple of hours to kill. Nope, I have no idea how.

Been reading Verticale Roc (2000) November edition. Very interested in a trip to Vercors, Archiane South Parc.

D'accord. Its 20:25 & I'm in bed. Up time has finally  been decided to be 4:30. This is a great improvement on previous times. So far we've been informed that it was 3:30, we lobbied for 4 but the chap was insistent 3:30 because it's so hot. Then at dinner 4:30 was what the girl (who almost chucked everything over Andy) decreed. We don't really care so long as we get a wakeup call. Anyway I've opted for the top bunk tonight as I'm farting like a trooper. We are sharing a dorm with a father and daughter pair. No idea what they are climbing but it doesn't matter When we stopped for lunch on the walkin they came past us and after lunch we stormed past them again. Don't know what the soldier types are climbing, I hope its not our route. It would be good to have it to ourselves. Must say I'm really looking forward to climbing with Andy again, I know he's pretty handy at this game and I've not climbed with anyone with similar experience for years. 
It was dad's birthday today - unfortunately I've not called. I'll try to get in touch from the top of the Rateau. Right, i'm being antisocial with my scratching pen. Time to douse the light and get on with it.