PHOTO OF THE MONTH

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Dolomite Walking Holiday

Dolomite Walking Holiday

When it’s wet and dreary outside our thoughts turn to last summer spent walking in the French Alps and the Dolomites. This year the weather was really kind to us in both places. Early June in Chamonix started off with snow on our first week very soon progressing to over 25 degrees for the rest of the month , even hotter into July.
On our walking holidays in Italy it was pretty warm and sunny well into the middle of September , that was so good for us as we had Mikes sisters group coming out for their first ever visit to the Dolomites so we wanted them to see just how stunning everywhere was.
My photo of the month shows them having a fantastic alpine day in the Puez group, they were also totally blown away by the Hotel Digon and all this awesome part of Italy has to offer, they are not serious walkers but the Dolomites has such a fantastic variety of walks to suit all levels.
I think you will agree they look to be having a great day.

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RECIPE OF THE MONTH

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One of the most famous dishes of the Dolomites is Barley Soup and it’s always served at the alpine huts which we sometimes stop at on our walking holidays in Italy.
I’ve chosen this as my recipe of the month because as I type my husband is preparing a pan of it to take with us this weekend. We are off to the Lake District to try out a few new walks for our four day holidays,

Winter in the Dolomites

Winter in the Dolomites

We run these short walking breaks from the delightful Three Shires Inn Little Langdale.This time of year soup is always so warming, and it’s great to have whilst out on a walk. The good thing about this dish is it is cheap to make but so wholesome. Hope you enjoy it as much as we will.
Ingredients for 4 people:
•    1 chopped onion
•    30 gr carrots, celery, and chopped potatoes
•    100 gr smoked bacon
•    100 gr barley
•    2 litres vegetable stock
•    some butter
•    some thyme
Chop the onion and roast it in the butter. Then add the vegetables and the barley and let it roast. Then add the soup and the thyme. Cook for 1 hour. At this point chop the bacon and the potatoes, add to the pot and cook for another 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to your taste.
Remember to take a flask of this delicious soup with you if you’re going out walking

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WALK OF THE MONTH

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Views to Lac Blanc

Views en route to Lac Blanc

Every year on our French Alps walking holiday we repeat the beautiful hike to Lac Blanc, it’s a huge favourite with everyone, because it boasts such amazing views.

We would say it’s a photographers dream, not only for breath-taking mountain views but also the chance to spot wildlife at its best. It’s by far one of the best walks in Chamonix, a Pinnacle Walking Holidays favourite.
•    Lac Blanc: a 3-4hr  beautiful walk with classic views across to the vast Mer de Glace glacier and the awesome Aiguille Vert part of the Mont Blanc massif. This is the Aiguilles best known walk, and usually crowded in high season.

The walk begins at the top of the La Flegere cable car, and heads steadily upwards. Walk back along a superb ridge between lovely tarns, south-eastward to the Grand Balcon walk, and return to Flegere. (Better still, walk this circuit in reverse.).
The energetic and strong walkers can hike a further 400 steep metres to the Col de Belvedere, high behind the lakes, for a stunning view down over the wildly broken scenery of the central Aiguilles. Magnificent, but take care of the ice fields you may need to climb.
The views of Mont Blanc are usually best early or late in the day, but breathtaking whenever seen
Watch out for the tame ibex around the refuge.
The direct trail from the Flegere cable car takes around 1- 2  hours. A preferable approach is along the contours on the TMB and then cutting back along a spectacular ridge with views over lovely little tarns.

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PHOTO OF THE MONTH

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Guests on Sassolungo in the Dolomites

Guests on Sassolungo in the Dolomites

Since we started Pinnacle Walking Holidays so many lovely people who have been on our breaks have become friends. My photo of the month includes four people who have now been on several of our holidays and we feel like we have known them for a long time.
I love this picture not only for the people in it but also the stunning background views the Dolomites has to offer. Our walking holidays in Italy are always so popular due to the hotel and the variety of walks in this beautiful area of the Sud Tyrol. French Alps holidays are going well too and we are almost booked up for one of the weeks “Yipee”.  Yesterday was such a stunning day here in Cheshire and we did an eight mile walk in the Peak District, the autumn colours were so vibrant and guess what we forgot our camera.
It seems everyone is busy thinking about Christmas, but for us we don’t start until December, a trip to the Manchester German Markets gets us in the mood, a nice warm Gluwhein makes the shopping seem easier somehow.
Hopefully fingers crossed we will have a new Iphone by midweek , we have missed it so much, you don’t realise how good they are  and just how much stuff you can do on them. Apple have a really good policy and they replace your phone if it’s been damaged for a great price, ours was an Iphone 4s and they will replace it for £140.00 which is a really good price, but it’s never going in my back pocket again.
We keeping reading about snow arriving in the mountains of Scotland and the Lake District it sees so early, thankfully are short breaks in the Peaks and Lakes don’t start until April so hopefully spring will be upon us then.

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A WEEK OF UPS AND DOWNS

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Ups and Downs

Ups and Downs

The start of last week was not a good one for me, I dropped my very precious IPhone down the loo,seemingly a common expensive problem so the Apple shop tells me and now it’s very dead and expensive to replace,to make matters worse I developed a problem with my eye which has left me with a very annoying floater . On top of that it seemed to rain everyday so we did very little walking and far too much office work.
Things can only get better says my husband so I am starting this week with a new positive attitude. Mikes gone to the climbing wall and I am doing website optimisation in our very toasty warm office before he returns telling me it’s far too warm, it’s not my favourite job but Google demands I show lots of TLC to my website and in turn it will keep my rankings up. So as I type away thinking of French Alps and Italian walking holidays my mind drifts to long hot summer days in the mountains and things don’t seem too bad after all.
Bookings are slowly coming in so its fingers and toes crossed for 2014, we will be kicking off the New Year with fully catered short walking breaks at the Three Shires Inn Little Langdale and our newly chosen Dale End Barn in the Peak District, so lots to look forward to. It’s a beautiful day here and the autumn colours look stunning. Happy Monday everyone.

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