Family Friendly Walks in and Around Chamonix

james 1 Comment

I’ve put this list of family friendly walks around Chamonix together because it’s the guide that I wish I had when we started walking here as a family.  I’ve got a similar blog post about Family Friendly Walks around Briancon too..  I have ended up writing up 16 hikes around in Chamonix in total.   They aren’t in any particular order.

 

No. 1 – La Floria Chalet – Restaurant – Chamonix

La Floria is a short ‘lunchtime’ hike because it’s only 2km (each way) and 300m accent and takes around an 1 hour (up).  You park in the La Flegere carpark in La Praz.  Follow the path by the river and then after reaching the road, follow signs up to the restaurant.  Anyone older than 4 years old can mange this.  There are always lots of people carrying their children in back packs up.  The walk goes up through the trees on a wide path.  It’s impossible to get lost and is safe for children.  There are often wild strawberries by the side of the path.  The restaurant at the top is lovely.  It has shady tables and great views out over the valley.   You will need cash as they don’t take credit card.  We have done this as the first walk since arriving in Chamonix because it’s so easy, delightful and great training for longer walks.

Walk from La Flegere to La Floria

Park at La Flegere car park.

Having lunch in La Floria

Lots of shady tables…

Walking back down from La Floria

Happy kids on the way back down…

No. 2 – Gorges of the Diosaz – Servoz

Servoz is a short drive from Chamonix.  The Gorges of Diosaz is a very child / family friendly walk.  It is a step of steps up the side of a gorge with walk falls, over hanging rock and pretty views.   Most children over 4 could walk up it.  You can’t push a buggy up the steps but you lots of people carry kids up it in back packs.  It doesn’t take long – perhaps an hour and a half.   There is a lovely cafe at the bottom.  Servoz itself is really pretty.

The path is a set of steps the whole way.  You come back the way you go up.

 

No. 3 – Meadows and Glacier – Les Houches

This is a short, essentially flat walk where you get wonderful views to Glacier de Bionnassay and see lots of butterflies/wild flowers.  Children from aged 4+ can manage this.  You also get view of Aiguille de Bionnassay above which is 4052m.  You take the Bellevue cable car from Les Houches.  You then walk for 2km (with minimal accent and decent) to a meadow and then further if you like down to a look out point over the river / glacier.  From the cable car, walk down passed the railway station. down a little and then turn left.  Follow the path which is narrow in places along the mountain side.  It takes roughly an hour each way.  You come back the way you came and there is a nice cafe at the top of the cable car with good food.

The hardest bit.  It’s got a cable to hold on to.

The path goes around to the glacier basin – although this is just morraine now that the glacier has retreated so far.  If you keep going down then you get to an amazing suspension bridge.   It’s worth the effort.

On the way back, you can extend this walk by walking to the top of the Prarion lift which takes another hour.

 

No. 4 РCascade de B̩rard, Vallorcine

If you drive north of Chamonix, up through Argentiere and over the col des montets, you get to Vallorcine.  It’s a really pretty area with amazing wildlife and views.  I think this is the best child friendly walk in Chamonix.   You can adjust the length of the walk to suit your child’s capabilities.  You can park at Buet (don’t forget to pay for parking or get a 15 EUR fine), cross the road and can follow signs up to the waterfalls.  There is cafe just above the walk falls with good ice creams.  It takes perhaps 15 minutes from the carpark to the waterfalls.  Any age of child can get this far.  If you kids are between 4-7 then you could walk futher up to the river. There are lots of places to paddle and have a picnic – so you can just turn around when you have had enough.

There is a cafe at the bottom by the waterfalls.

No. 5 – …or for older kids visit Refuge de la Pierre à Bérard, Vallorcine

If you have kids over 7 and they are fit then you could take them up to the Refuge de la Pierre a Berard.  The route is 5.3km, 580m accent and took us 2.5 hours to walk up.   The food is wonderful (try the tarte aux myrtilles!) and they have cold beer.  If you are planning to eat then take cash.

The path takes you up by the side of the river.

Photo of Refuge to Pierre a Berard from Wikipedia.

Filing up water at the hut.  Once you leave the forest – it can be hot in the sun.

 

No. 6 – Aiguillette des Posettes, Vallocine

This is a cracking ridge walk with stunning views – worthy of being in my list of family friendly hikes near Chamonix!  It’s a reasonably long walk at 10km in length.  However, you gain height quickly using the cable car in Vallocine and only then climb around 300m to reach the summit.  You are treated with amazing views all along the ridge.   The keep is to get onto the ridge and stay on the ridge all the way.  There is a clear, well marked path with good steps on the decent.  There is only slightly steep section just as you come into the forrest on the way down but this passes quickly.

You take the lift up and then join the ridge path.

Walking up the ridge with wonderful views all around.

The summit with Mont Blanc in the background.

Walking along the valley floor on the way back.

No. 7 –  La Flegere to Planpraz, Chamonix – Along the Grand Balcon Sud

This is a lovely family friendly walk between two cable car stations with wonderful views over Mont Blanc.    It is about 5km, 300m accent and takes around 2 hours.  The Grand Balcon Sud is a winding path along the side of the mountain.  There are few places where it is a little narrow and you might want to hold your child’s hand.   It’s well signed from La Flegere.

One of the narrower sections of the path.

 

No. 8 – Plan de l’Aiguille to Montenvers along the Grand Balcon Nord

This might be the best child friendly walk in Chamonix.  You can combine this walk with a trip up the Aiguille du Midi.  After looking over amazing peaks, you then come back to the lower station.  You walk across to Montenvers and either take the Mer De Glace train down or walk down.   I would highly recommend the training.  If you are going to do this walk then book your place on the Aiguille du midi and get the Chamonix multipass which includes the train down. The route has around 380m accent and 6.2km and took around 3 hours including lunch and plenty of snacks.

You start at Plan de l’Aigullee cable car and follow signs and join the Gran Balcon nord. There are lots of place to have picnics.  When you near the end, follow signs to Signal Forbes.  Don’t be tempted to avoid this uphil section.  It’s worth the effort with amazing views down to the Mer de Glace.

You traverse this path whilst having amazing views in all directions.

Almost down to the train station.

No. 9 РArgenti̬re Glacier РPointe de Vue

If you and your family would like the chance to see a glacier up close then this is a great child friendly walk.   You take the cable car up from the Grand Montet to the highest lift (currently Plan Joran)  You follow the signs and path around to Point de Vue.

You can have a picnic at the top – looking down over the glacier.  Don’t be tempted to walk on the glacier without ropes / crampons etc.

You walk on the same route to the view and back again.  You can extend the walk by wakling to the Refuge and then down into Argentiere but this takes an extra 1.5 hours and the walking is steep.

 

No. 10 – Bisse du Trient (Trient, Switzerland)

Okay, this isn’t Chamonix, but it’s just 30 minutes drive away, down the valley passed Vallorcine.  It’s such a good walk, that I think it’s worth including.  This walk starts from the Col de la Forclaz and follows a gentle old irrigation channel dating from 1895.   This channel was used to bring water from the Glacier du Trient to the Col de la Forclaz and also bring down ice from the Glacier too.  There are numerous signs explaining the history of the area along the route. It’s very gentle walking – you can even take a buggy.  However, the views lovely and the Buvette du Glacier Trient is wonderful.   You can buy food in EUR’s.

The route is quite flexible.  You can walk to the cafe and back on flat, easy paths.  However, we had two cars, so parked one at the Col de La Forclaz and the second by the Refuse de Peuty in Trient (down the valley).   Then we walked from Col de La Forclaz to the cafe, had lunch and then walked up the river to a view point.  Then we walked down to the Rufuse Le Peuty.   It took 1.5 hours to the first cafe and then 2 hours to the viewpoint and back down.

Great views all into the valley from the track and irrigation channel.

Yummy food at the cafe.

Looking at the Trient glacier and cooling down feet in the super cold water.

No. 11 – Lac Emosson – Switzerland

It takes 40 minutes to drive to the Lac Emosson from Chamonix – so you might be asking – is this really a family friendly hike around Chamonix?… Well yes, it’s totally worth the effort to get there.   You drive to the Lac Emosson car park which is a really long and windy road.   The walk takes around 5 hours, has 550m accent and 12km.  You leave the carpark, stop for a coffee, then walk around the edge of the dam.  You should walk up the gorge and not up the road because it’s much easier to walk up difficult terrain than walking down.

You walk up the well marked footpath from the side of the lake.

The way up is on a rough and sometimes requires some scrambling – however it’s well marked, isn’t hard walking and kids enjoy it.

When you get to the top – the views are stunning.  You also find some 250 million year old footprints in the rock which have been lifts up from the sea bed.

If you come up the rough gorge track – then you can enjoying a gentle walk down.

 

You can stop at a lovely cafe on the way down.  We have lunch here it was really tasty.

 

No. 12 – Lac Vert – Servoz

This is a really easy walk with a stunning lake.  It’s about 30 minutes drive from Chamonix.  You can drive to this lake but that’s not the point.  There is a restaurant too but it makes such a lovely spot for a picnic that’s what we choose to do.  You can park at La Cote parking.  You can then walk easy paths to the lack.  The whole walk is around 4km and 300m accent.

 

No. 13 – Refuse de Nant Borrant – Les Contamines-Montjoie

This family friendly walk is about 40 minutes drive from Chamonix.   The walk is really easy with good signs.  It takes 45 minutes to get to the hut and you could extend the walk by going to another hut or just making a larger circle.   The Refuse de Nant Borrant is popular and so it might be worth booking a table if you are planning to eat there.  It is 2.2km walking and around 300m accent.  If you are looking for a longer walk in this area then you could keep going up the Refuge to Balme and then onto the Lac Jovet for a longer walk.

Here is map (a photo taken from one of the numerious signs)

The path on the way is steep at the start and then levels off.

A pretty garden with great views.

Totally worth the €16.

 

No. 14 – Lac d’Armancette – Les Contamines-Montjoie

This a nice simple walk up good paths (although not buggy friendly) up to a lake with good views across the valley and up into the high mountains.  You park at the Frasse parking which is just above the centre of Contamines and then follow a series of forest tracks, then a forest footpath up until you pop up out of the forest at a lake.  The lake is just 2.2km / 450m accent from the Frasse carpark.   It took us around 1.5 hours up and then 40 minutes down.  You can extend the walk higher up to and then down a different track – as I have shown on the map or horizonally up the valley.   There were lots of families doing this walk when we went.

This is the start.   You can just see the parking a Frasse and the path (which is really steep at the start).

Having a picnic at the lake – looking up at the snowy mountains above.

You get great views of Mont Joly on the way down.

No. 15 – Refuge Tornieux – Near Sallanches

The start of the walk is 30 minutes drive from Chamonix.  You probably need children at least 7 years old because it’s 7.5km, 560m accent and takes around 1.5 – 2 hours to reach Refuse Tornieux.  The way up is through some woods on a steep path which pops out onto grassy meadows with lots of cows with jingling bells around their necks.  It’s worth the effort though as the food and views are amazing.  You have a set menu with salad, cold meats, fried potato things, cheese and pudding.  You might need to book a table.  It is also possible to drive to the restaurant.

You park at Parking de Lintre and then follow the signs.

Heading off…

Lovely woods on the way up and down.

Beautiful meadows at the top.

 

No. 16 – Lac Blanc – Chamonix

This route must be the most popular family friendly walk in Chamonix.  I’ve put this in here for completeness but I think it’s over rated.  There are severals ways to get to Lac Blanc and it really depends on how fit you are and how much effort you want to make.  You can decend down to Lac Blanc from L’Index or climb up to it from the La Flegere lift.  We choose decending from L’Index lift to Lac Blanc and then decending to the La Flegiere lift from Lac Blanc.  Other variations include doing the reverse and on our walk and we saw plenty of families walking up from La Flegere to Lac Blanc.  The path is really good and well marked.    It took us around 1.5 hours from L’Index to Lac Blanc and then 1 hour to decend at La Flegere – both at a leasurely pace.

It’s worth keeping your eye out for climbers in the cliffs above the path.  You have amazing views over to Mont Blanc, the valley Blanc, Argentiere glacier and La Tour.  We had lunch at the Refuge du Lac Blanc.  Main courses around 15 EUR and drinks around 4 EUR.  There is a toilet which costs 2 EUR.

We took the lift up to L’Index and then walked down to Lac Blanc.

Amazing panoramic views on the walk up / down.

 

 

Family Friendly Walk Around Champex-Lac

james Leave a comment

Champex-Lac is a beautiful place for visit.   Here is a short child / family friendly walk around Champex-Lac – although alot more exciting than just walking around the lake.   We have two 7 and 9 year old girls and it took around 2hrs with a picnic lunch.   It’s around 4.5km with 250m accent.  The northside is quite steep – so you get really good views out over the lake.

Walk Around Champex Lac

You can park in the carpark which is just off the main road.    Then follow the lake around until you get to the chapel.  Follow the parth which goes up passed a pretty stream.  You have get back to the main road, then walk through some housing up onto path which skirts around and above the town.  You can then have a drink at the Hotel Belvedere where the owners are really charming and friendly.

We were walking in early April and so the lake was still frozen.

Having a lovely picnic next to the chapel.

Amazing views.

Having a drink and ice cream.

Google Drive / Filestream Using Lots of Battery

james Leave a comment

I have just just been setting up a new Macbook.   I was expecting the batterylife to be 12 hours.  However, Google Filestream was just continously sycning and using battery.  Google Filestream shouldn’t sync anything…. however the probelm was that Bitdefender was scanning everyfile in the filestream.   Hence the computer was continuously syncing file after file.

The solution was to add an exception into the Bitdefender settings:

You click on the bottom right for exception and then add in the Google Drive share:

I hope this helps someone else.

 

Disabling ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY In Ubuntu

james Leave a comment

I’m run into some error message like:  “Expression #2 of SELECT list is not in GROUP BY clause and contains nonaggregated column”.  It’s turns out that this is caused by MySQL updating the way it behave in relation to aggregate functions since MySQL 5.7.  Here is how I solved it on Ubuntu .

You can find out what mode your MySQL server is running:

SELECT @@GLOBAL.sql_mode;

My Ubuntu 19.10 got this:

ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION

Then take this and delete “ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY”.  You can then add this to MySQL configuration file.    On my Ubuntu there is a file located at /etc/mysql/my.cnf and inside here is specifies two folders where you could put the configuration:

!includedir /etc/mysql/conf.d/
!includedir /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/

I have edited /etc/mysql/conf.d/mysql.cnf and put in

[mysqld]
sql_mode=STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION

 

Family Friendly Walks around Briancon, Alps

james 1 Comment

If you are thinking of going walking with your kids in Briancon then hopefully this short guide will help you.  I tried to find some child / family friendly walks on other website but it was quite hard.  If you find others yourself then please let me know and I’ll pop them up on here too.  To plan routes, I use two apps based on OpenStreetMaps – one called PocketEarth which has an optional upgrade which gives you contour line.  The second called Map3D which has a great route planner and also shows the route in 3D which is helpful for the kids of understand the route.  I’ve also made a post for family friendly walks in Chamonix.

 

Walk To Refuge de Buffere

This is a beautiful family friendly walk up to a fantastic mountain hut which is lovely place to eat.  It’s easy to achieve with children because the paths are straight forward and mostly tree covered.  The tree lined section is the steepest section but our 4 and 6 year old managed without any problems.  At the start of the walk, you need to park in the Navache car park and take the shuttle bus up the valley (6 euros for adults and free for kids).  It’s worth asking the driver to stop at the right place because most people on the bus will be travelling further up the valley.   On the way back, you can either retrace your steps to the same bus stop or walk down the valkley to Nevache which add 2.5km onto the day.   It’s a lovely walk down along the river with beautiful waterfalls.

 

The stats are 380m assent, 548m decent and 6.4km distance.

 

The shuttle buses go from right next to the carpark.

 

Here is where you end up.  The food is great and you can get beer too.  Main courses are 9-12 euros.  Ice creams 2 euros.  The kids enjoyed omlettes and I enjoyed the pasta carbonara.  But the prize went to my wife, who ordered the assiette vegetariane.

 

This is the steepest section to the walk.  It’s not actually hard and there are plenty of places to stop for a snack.

 

You arrive back into Navache where there is a lovely bakery and ice creams.

 

Walk around Lac de L’Orceyrette

This gourgous family frienly walk takes you into a quiet nature reserve about 35 minutes outside Briancon.  You have to drive towards Ayes on roads which aren’t always tarmaced and you feel like you’re driving into the back of beyond.  However, as you arrive, you are greeted by a massive car park and it suddenly become okay.  It’s a fantastic circular walk which kids will love.  You should go around clockwise because this gives you best views of the lake as you come down and a nice rest by the side of the lake at the end. The first part of the walk is the hardest work as you climb up through the woods and then you can stop of a picnic in a meadow full of butterflies. You then traverse through woods, finally popping out onto a gravel road which takes you down to the lake.  I left my kids (with wife) at the lake to rest and then walked the final part and brought the car up to the lake to pick them up.

 

The stats – the whole thing circular route is around 9km.  It’s around 7km just to the lake.  There is 360m of ascent.  It took around 4 hours for us at a leasurely pace.  You go around clock wise.

 

You park in a large carpark next to the river.   We walked the route on a Saturday and it was filled with families playing in the river and camping.

 

Here is a photo of then entrance of the walk.  It’s a little unassuming and so you can easily walk passed it. This photo is taken looking back on it.  I.e you will have walked up from the carpark below.

 

Heading up between the trees.   It’s interesting walking and perfect for keeping the kids going,

 

The traverse is stunning with great views of a typical Ecrin skyline around you.

 

You get some lovely views of the lake.

 

Walking along the lake at the end.

 

Vallouise River Walk

Vallouise is pretty little villiage about 35 minutes drive from Briancon.  This family friendly walk is excellent for children.  It starts from the centre of the Vallouise.  You walk up one side of the river to a bridge and then down the otherside.   The first part of the walk is a flat gravel track and would be suitable for a buggy.  The second half of the walk has some reasonable exposed walking along a narrow path – so it’s sometimes worth holding kids hands.

The stats:  It’s only 3km long, with just 70m assent and took us roughly 2 hours.   Go around counter clockwise.

 

The walk starts at the bridge in the centre:

 

The best views are on the way back.

 

The path is quite thin but totally manageable for kids.

 

A High Walk In Montgenèvre

Montgenèvre is small ski resort about 30 minutes east of Briancon.   This is a great child friendly walk to do with your family because you can use the lifts to get up high – saving lots of time and energy    You need to get the lift pass which allows you to take both lifts right to the top.  It costs €12 adult, €8 child and children under 4 are free.  The only annoying thing about this walk is the mountain bikers who also use the lifts in the summer to race down.  It only affects the first section when you walk from the top of the first cable car to the second.

The walk is mostly in meadows.  You walk down the ridge towards a col.  You then talk through an undulating meadow to reach a beautiful lake which is perfect for a picnic lunch.  You than walk back up the col and then almost in a straight line through meadows back to the top of the first lift.  The meadows will be brimming with crickets, marmots and butterflys.  It’s a real treat.

The stats: 6km (not including the lifts), 490m decend and 130m ascent.  It took us 3hr.

The view from the top of the lift looking back at Montgenèvre.

Panoramic views from the top lift.

Looking down at the lake.

Having a picnic 🙂

 

Walk To Refuge des Drayères

This is very easy child friendly walk in the Claree valley.   The walk starts in the same way as the walk to Refuge Buffere.  You park in the Navache carpark and catch the shuttle bus to Laval which is the final stop of the bus.  The walk follows a river and there you can either follow the track to the right of the river or a much smaller and more interesting foot path to the left.   You should be aware that sometimes the footpath can flood in the spring.   The Refuge des Drayeres is a very friendly and welcoming refuge.  The food is reasonably priced. For example: omlettes – €9, beef bourguignon – €12.50 and coffee – €1.80.  If the weather is poor there is plenty of space to eat inside.  It’s also worth noting that the Refuse de Laval is at the start of the walk (about 2 minutes from the bus stop) and so you can get a pre-start coffee.

I recommend going around clockwise.  The stats are: 5.5km and 190m ascent.

 

Here is where you will end up. There are tables outside and inside.  The staff are very friendly.

 

Here is the walk up on the footpath.  The views are spectacular.  This is the steepest section.   Small sections of the path have drops off the side and so worth holding hands for.

 

There was a delightfull little girl in the hut.  She had some colouring which she kindly shared with our kids.  They loved it.  We are planning to come back to this hut and spend the night with the girls!

 

Walk To Lac de L’Oule

This walk is perhaps the highest of all the walks.  It’s about 45 minutes drive from Briancon up a narrow winding road.  You arrive at the Col de Granon which has a cafe, lots of old millitary baracks and a large car park.  It is perhaps the most popular walk of all the walks that we did.  It is full of families walking up the large paths.  It’s an easy walk because you can’t get lost and it has minimal height gain.  You can vary the lenght of the walk by either going down to the lake or turning around at the col.   The only down side in my opinion is that it is too popular.  In the other walks, we found peace and lots of nature.  This walk is all about the views though.

The stats:  6.5km and 290m ascent (assuming that you go all the way down to the lake).

There are two lakes.

The walking is really easy and path really clear.

 

I hope this post was useful to someone.  Please leave me a comment if you like it.

Great Alternative to Adobe Illustrator

james Leave a comment

I’ve been using Adobe Illustrator for perhaps 16 years.  It’s been a trusty workhorse for me.   My old version of Illustrator stopped running well on new versions of MacOS – so I had to upgrade and move to their subscription model.  Since then, I’ve been trying to find another program to use.  I hated seeing the £16 leaving by bank account each month – especially when I’ve haven’t used it for a few weeks while I’ve been on holiday.

Finally – A good alternative to Adobe Illustrator... I needed a program which works on Mac and Windows.  I’ve tried the free programs like Inkscape (I love open source stuff) but it just isn’t as good enough.  Finally, I found Affinity Designer .  It’s a modern updated / rebranded version of a program called DrawPlus that’s actually need around for donkey’s years.   It costs around £50 and so it quickly pays for itself.   The really cool thing that they’ve done is make a trilogy of three graph programs which intergrate really well with each another to make a really cool workflow.  However, this post isn’t really about that.  It’s about their alternative to Illustrator.

Here is screenshot:

I mostly use Affinity Designer to create marketing material, patent drawings or design documents.  I’ve been using it for a while now and here are difference between Affinity Designer and Adobe Illustrator that I’ve noticed….

Improvements Over Adobe Illustrator

It Feels The Same – Firstly, it’s worth pointing out that 99% of the application feels the same.   The quick keys (such as “v”,”a”,”space-bar”) are all the same.  It feels natural (unlike swapping from Photoshop to GIMP which everyone tries at some point and then gives up).  The UI is basically the same.

Copy and Paste – This might seem slightly picky and random but something that I have always hated about Adobe Illustrator was the copy and paste function.   Illustrator would put the pasted object somewhere seemly random on the document.  With Affinitiy Designer it puts the pasted object on the top of the object you are copying.  The first time it happened, I searched around for the object and couldn’t spot it!  Copying the new object on top of the old one is excellent because you don’t have to search and often I find that I want the new object next to the first thing anyhow.

Selection – In Illustrator anything is in a dragged out selection box is selected.  I used to find this really annoying because you might just catch a tiny bit of an object in the selection box and then you have do a shift-click to deselect it.  In Designer only things which are entirely in the selection are sellected.  This is much much better usability.  I love it.

Disavantages Over Adobe Illustrator

Speed – Affinity Designer claims to be really quick.  I use it on both a Mac and Windows.  On my Mac it seem fine but personally, I don’t find it quite as quick as Illustrator on my Windows machine.  I’m sure that there is way to speed it up but out the box it seems to be the case.

Patterns – There isn’t a fill pattern library.  (Yes, this is hard to find in Illustrator but at least it exists).

Not everythings in the menu – Affinity Designer has loads of features and a context based menu.  This is great but you have to know what the icons on the menu do.  For example, it’s hard to find out how to evenly distribute objects until you find the button.  Which is here:

I will keep updating this post as I find more differences.  I hope this helps someone.

 

 

 

 

 

Another Short Canoe Camping Trip Along Thames

james Leave a comment

I thought it might be worth putting up my notes of a two-day canoe and camping trip that I did with some friends just south of Oxford.  Our kids are between 6 and 8.  They totally loved it.

The overall plan is to go from Clifton Hampden to Shillingford.

Camping Day's Lock Oxford

Day 1 – Clifton Hampden to Days Lock – 4km (approx)

You can get into the water very quickly at Clifton Hampden.  You can park next to the Church and carry the boats down to the water’s edge.  I then moved the car to another car parking space (so that the Church has the parking spaces available on a Sunday).

It’s a lovely paddle down passed lots of beautiful houses and fields.  It’s about 1.5 – 2hrs slow paddling.  As you near Day’s Lock, you can see the Wittenham Clumps in the distance.  The lock itself is motorised, and you don’t need a lock key.  The campsite is below the lock.  It is on an island and you can only enter from a small platform.

 

This is the entrance to the campsite.

The campsite is well equipped.  It has toilets, bins and water.  It also has a shower (but no hot water because the power was off).  The ground was quite flat.  You can’t officially have a campfire (apparently there are by-laws which prohibit them).  The campsite also feels a little hemmed in.  You have to get a key from the lock keeper to walk off the island because there is an imposing gate to keep people out.  Frankly, it didn’t feel as welcoming as it could have done to me.

There is a beautiful place to swim in shallow water in the NNW part of the island.  You can step out the boats (while in the river), tie them up and go for a swim.

Day 2 – Days Lock to Shillingford – approx 4km.

We headed up the Wittenham Clumps in the morning for breakfast.  The kids loved playing in the field, rolling down the hill and looking at the view.

We then pottered down the river to Shillingford.  Again, it took about 1.5 to 2 hours.

It’s pretty straightforward to get out at the Shillingford bridge hotel.  They have parking and you can grab a cheeky pint too.   Hope this inspires someone to do this route!

Hyperdock Stopped Work – An Alternative

james Leave a comment

Hyperdock (a windows manager for MacOS) has stopped working.  Hyperdock has been broken since late 2018.  Everyone tries removing, adding it again, deleting the preference, disabling and reenabling it.  So, it seems the developers have given up.

The best alternative to Hyperdock that I’ve found is Magnet which cost about £0.99 – so hardly anything for the usability improvement that you get.

 

It basically just works.  Hope that helps someone.

Wild Camping in the Brecon Beacons – Black Mountain

james 6 Comments

I’ve been trying to find places to wild camp in the Brecon Beacons. I found this lovely wild camping blog post which was really inspiring. There are a number of good places to wild camp on the Black Mountain which is on the west side of the Brecon Beacons. The Black Mountains are quite wild and don’t have very many visitors – so it feels like a nice place to camp.


I got some beautiful light in the morning.

The Route

I parked here – outside the Church just down from the Tefarn-Y-Garreg pub. It is just a short walk up the road to join the path. The weather forecast showed that it was going to be clear and dry on the first day but was going to be cloudy and raining the second day. I choose a route which involved doing most of the walk on the first day.

On the first day (shown in red), I walked the ridge, down to the second lake and then back under the escapement back to the first lake. The walk is really stunning. Here is a photo looking back along the ridge while over the second lake.

It took me about 5 hours. The following day, I climbed back onto the ridge from the first lake and then walked down the other side of the ridge.

Camping Location

I found a pretty flat spot perhaps just 10 metres from the lake (51.88460/-3.70052). It was out of the wind because was just below a hillock.

What I took with me

I tried to pack as light as possible. I have brought a Wild Country Zephyros 1. It worked really well. It’s fast to put up. The only thing that I didn’t like is the door which can’t be clipped back. The sleeping bag was only rated 10’c comfort and 5’c limit. I have found that sleeping on an inflatable mattress and wearing a t-shirt while sleeping allows me to stretch this. It was around 3’c and I felt pretty warm.

  • Tent – Wild Country Zephyros 1
  • Sleeping Bag – Decathlon Down Sleeping Bag
  • Inflatable Sleeping Mat
  • Silk SLeeping Bag Liner
  • Trangia Stove + Swedish Steels
  • 3 litres of water
  • Hat + Gloves
  • Socks x 2
  • Walking top x 2
  • Walking Trousers
  • Waterproof trousers and jacket
  • Light fleece
  • Puffer
  • Cuttlery
  • Map + Compass
  • First aid kit
  • Toothbrush + Toothpaste
  • Wet wipes


The view from the tent.

I hope post inspires someone else to wild camp here. Let me know if you do :).

p.s. I left my rucksack in the tent porch. I had taken my dog Pip with me and accidentally left some dog food on the porch. I was woken in the night by a fox which wanted the dog food and was rifling around. It had a beautiful bushy tail with a white end bit. I watched it for a while from the tent and then it finally rang off into the night.