Hello again. Back with part 2 of my travels to France with my buddy Mark. If you want to read about how we got to where we were and the biking we did when we got there you need to go check out part 1, click here. If you just want to look at the photos, scroll to the bottom.
Okay so where were we, oh yeah French Alps, specifically Alpe d’Huez. As I mentioned in part 1 I would start every morning before the sun came up, hiking around and taking photos. My evenings would be filled with much in the same. Needless to say, I burned the candles from both ends until it was just a wee nub.
Day 1 I started full slacker mode and took some shots from the balcony on the chalet we stayed in. But you know what, the views didn’t suck so why not sip on some coffee and take a few photos.
Post coffee I laced up my boots, packed my pack and headed out. It was chilly, especially compared to the sweltering hell that is Alabama in the summer time. Perfect climate for hiking and taking photos. The first day I was totally aimless. I knew I didn’t want to go on some crazy long hike because Mark and I were planning on climbing Alpe d’Huez that morning. So I headed out the front door and started walking up the mountain. What did I hear? The beautiful sound of a mountain stream making its way to the river below. Oh and did I mention that area had record snow fall, which means record water coming from up top? I didn’t well yeah, LOTS of snow.
The stream did not disappoint. Plenty of water moving quickly downhill. I even managed to find a pretty large waterfall, good estimate of 30ft tall. The wind made it a little difficult to get a shot from down below because of the spray and lack of good places to shoot from. I am happy with the shots I got though.
After seeing that waterfall I was pumped to already have a few good shots in the bag. I thought why not go further up and see what else I could find on that stream. Sometimes at my own fault I end up get obsessed with one thing taking photo after photo without looking around to see what else there is. Today, fortunately, was not one of those days. Near the top, or at least as far as I want to go, I took a second to stop and do a full 360. Oh man the views! That’s when I noticed this valley with a village and a slight cloud inversion. Boom!
Once I grabbed the shot I wanted the sun was rising and it was breakfast time. Pack it up and head in for grub and bike time.
That evening I headed to the lakes to try and get some good sunset shots. Alas nothing really turned out the way I had hoped. But I did get some great still water reflection shots which I was fairly stoked about.
Day 2 was full of riding, views and hiking. I didn’t get out in the morning because quite honestly I was pretty bushed from the day before. That afternoon I did get out and find a waterfall with was quite amazing! I had noticed the waterfall from my driving with Mark the previous night, trying to survey the area around us. You could see the waterfall from quite a distance, but I was unaware how large it was until I got close. 2 waterfalls flowing together and a really cool stone bridge. Consider my day made! My hiking around did find a few salamanders which were not photographically exciting but cool none the less.
Day 3 was all about the sunrise. I returned to the lakes, where I was the other day but the reflections didn’t work as well as I had hoped. I noticed on my hike that there was a slight breeze which meant reflections would be toast. What I didn’t know is that I would find an incredible vantage point to witness the cloud inversion and sunrise. These ended up being some of my favorite images of the entire trip. I could get use to waking up this early for incredible views and images like these.
Once the sun was up I continued my hike through some spotty snow covered areas. The experience was incredible but photographs were not so much. I am still blown away by how much snow and ice is still on the ground in June. It was like time travel, traveling back to a few moths prior.
This was the last of my landscape photo adventures while in the alps. One thing is for sure, I could spend months wandering around the mountains taking photos. Up next is Pt 3 of my trip to France, a whirlwind tour of Paris. Till next time, enjoy the photos!
