The Seasons Swing

DEEP snow on the Col de Palhiers

 And so back to the Ariege for a couple of weeks. Apparently while we were in Greece and Turkey it was exceptionally cold and unsettled in the Pyrenees - the spring was up to four weeks late according to some sources.
Right on time, the sun came out and the temperatures shot up, 27C in the valley was a bit of a surprise. Climbing, hiking and planning the onward trip - back to the UK but looking to take six to eight weeks over it and visit as many crags as possible on the way - no plans for the summer yet.

Summer is here!

The bumper new Kalymnos guide is due out in a  couple of weeks - as expected the news of its imminent publication caused a bit of a brouhaha. That is a word taught to me by the late Walt Unsworth when my first ever guidebook - the Costa Blanca was published way back in May 1990. In the intervening 28 years and 25 guidebooks later, virtually ever one has upset somebody - we were even accused of destroying the volunteer guidebook effort in the UK.
In the end, the sky didn't fall in, there were no losers and the winners were the guidebook buying public as everybody else raised their game - long may that continue to be the case.

A Tiny Trip to Turkey

Posh Turkish accommodation at Kemer (€23 a night)

 With the Kalymnos guidebook away to the printers and just for a change of scene we thought we would take a trip to Turkey and specifically to visit Geyikbayiri, to check out what is supposed to be the country's premier sport climbing venue.
We caught ferries Kalymnos to Kos and on to Bodrum, all very easy and efficient. After a night in Bodrum we found a hire car company, picked up a slightly tatty Renault, and six hours later rolled into Kemer. The accommodation there was best described as impressive - possibly the classiest place we have ever stopped, for a meagre €23 a night - astounding.

Deserted beach at Olympos

After four days there - and an abortive attempt to climb as Olympos (road closed for resurfacing) we moved to Geyikbayiri. Booking.com is currently banned in Turkey so we used Airbnb and ended up with a big house up the mountains - it looked like the owner would be back any minute as it was filled with all manor of junk!
The climbing was excellent, the area was pretty quiet and the novelty of having to set a fire everyday to keep warm was interesting - it took me back 50+ years to my childhood.