Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Passerelle Panossière

A new addition to the hiking world in the val de Bagnes this summer is the hanging bridge between the Cabane Panossière & Cabane Brunet. You can cross it while doing the tour of the Bec de Serry, and go have a coffee or fondue at one of the cabanes while you are at it. 

The glacier has retreated so much, and so fast, that the crossing between the two cabanes was becoming a bit of an issue. The moraine is crumbling while the glacier is leaving behind a steeeeeeep uphill. So the passerelle is there now to link the areas. It helps in making hikes on the left side of the Dranse de Bagnes alot more accessible for everyone.

When you get to the bridge from the Cabane Brunet side, the rock formations that were created by the passing of the glaciers look like petrified waves - definitely worth going to see!

Lys martagon - martagon lilly
A rare & protected plant, it was bursting all over!

Alpine trolls don't need roofs! But they seem to like monk's rhubarb. 
Yep, this plant, Rumex alpinus, is wild rhubarb!

We even got to walk in the snow!! héhéhé!

Just hangin' out!

Vertigo?

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Eatin' wild stuff!

All of you who have been on a walk with me to have : wild flower pesto, eat weeds, tapenade sauvage, munch a bunch of wild flowers, etc... knows I could have a separate post for each foto that could go on longer than any of us have time for! So here are just some pretty photos of a recent walk in La Tzouma where we prepared a wild omelette and made some wild teas!

 The bountiful hunt!
 Wild yarrow, rose, geranium, daisy, veronica & thyme in this cup of happiness!
Wild spinach, sooo yummie!

Yarrow, good to stop bleeding, and good in salads & teas & pestos!

Phyteuma betonicifolium - Betony-leaved rampion

Thymus - wild thyme

Trifolium pratense - red clover

Wild geraniums 
Pretty as decorations, am not sure they really have any taste...?

Alchemilla vulgaris, common lady's mantle

Heracleum sphondylium - common hogweed (what an unfortunate name!!)

Larche tree & norwegian spruce new growths 
(they add a lemony taste to things, like an extra natural ziiiing!)

Dandilions

Wild roses

Silene dioica - Red campion

Veronica - spedwell

Forget me not!

Acinos alpinus / Calamintha alpina - Calamint or spring savory  
(I am not 100% sure of the name in English, or in Latin, but in French it is called Serpolet)
This is definitely one you want to pick and smell and eat in everything you make! I try to dry it, but it tends to be eaten up so quickly that it is pointless!

The final omlette! 
Oh yeah, forgot to mention we caught a wild alpine chicken and she gave us a dozen eggs! ;)