Alpine Training on Drum (770m)

The views weren't exactly alpine, but the temperatures gave the kind of contrasts that my group and I might experience while hiking in the Alps next month. Today was the last in a series of training days for a team of students who are going to be hiking part of the Tour du Mt Blanc with me next month.

The whole day was very hazy; the views limited to just the nearest peaks and the morning air was very hot and humid. Having donned sun hats and covered ourselves in sun cream, we sweated our way up the first peak in the ridge chain. We took in five small peaks as we hiked along. The higher we climbed, the colder the air became. The exposed nature of the ridge also meant that we were catching the cool easterly wind and by the time we reached the summit of Drum, at 770m, we were almost up in the clouds and all needed some layers on to keep warm - a stark contrast from the shorts and t-shirts of earlier!

From the summit, we dropped down to the reservoir, where we were sheltered again from the wind, but by now heavy rain drops had started to fall. Thankfully, despite the feel, there was no alpine thunder and lightening 'training' as we walked back towards Aber.