In search of snow

Although this morning dawned grey, cold and dreary, the clouds thankfully cleared by lunchtime and we have been treated to wonderfully clear but chill weather this afternoon with wall to wall blue skies but no snow at our level. Surely, higher up, it would be different?

It has been a while (November 2007, to be precise!) since we were last up at the old pastoral community of Goutets which lies at 1400m under the protective gaze of the Pic des Trois Seigneurs, just down the road and around the corner from here ... ish. It's a lovely, atmospheric spot and very accessible either via a woodland path from Carol or via the track that runs up from Trabiet - we chose the latter, which was a gentle meander up on a mixture of compacted snow, ice and mud. Things looked promising on the approach (Goutets is just behind the wooded area on the left)However, even up at the community we only found a very thin layer of snow which was coated with a crunchy ice crust. It was still spectacularly beautiful but unfortunately my camera battery died so I had to resort to taking photos on my not so amazing camera phone - still, it gives you an idea of the atmosphere of the place. For those that are interested, my post of November 2007 goes into some detail regarding the history and continued purpose of this high pasture community.