20.06. Calanques National Park (full post by clicking on the image)

Today we were in a very beautiful national park.

Moritz had previously selected a route via Komoot, where I already thought that 'mountain experience required' doesn't necessarily correspond to our capabilities...

...but we still wanted to check out the route, especially since we were intrigued by the opportunity to reach a bay that is not publicly accessible to everyone.

So, we set off. At the beginning, the path was on well-constructed roads. Eventually, we had to leave the paved path to move towards the cliffs, where the scrambling began (yes, my dad has scolded me for that too).

At the beginning, I have to admit, I was a bit scared because it was already very steep, and there was no protection except for our instincts and maybe a little bit of experience from the climbing gym (7 years ago :D).

But Moritz and I managed very well together, and he always made sure in advance which rocks were loose and where we could hold on or step on securely.

After a few minutes, I already felt much more confident, and we were able to successfully descend to the bottom.

However, we still had to cross some large rocks to reach the bay, where we had to wait for the waves a bit (or like me, catch the wave because I was too slow and then got my feet wet).

Now, the bay was not far away. We stood on a larger platform and wondered how we were going to overcome the 3 meters down and the 10 meters to the bay since there was no way to descend from there. However, we saw a man sitting at the bay, so there had to be some way. After about 10 minutes of thinking back and forth, whether we could climb down safely somewhere, another hiker arrived at the platform. He also wanted to go to the bay but mentioned that he hadn't seen such rough waves here in 10 years, and normally the water doesn't reach so far up the shore, so you could actually walk below the platform. However, he considered it too unsafe due to the waves crashing against the cliffs, and he advised us against it because you can't predict the incoming waves.

So, we decided to stay on the platform and not take any risks. We took a short break there. The man who was sitting at the bay eventually came up to the platform. I had to chuckle; he was completely naked except for his backpack and sneakers, climbed along the rocks under the platform, and when a big wave came crashing against the rocks, he simply hung onto a ledge, brought his legs up, and waited for the wave. Then he came up to us as if it were the most normal thing in the world, greeted us kindly in his birthday suit, walked 20 meters further, and lay down on a shady rock ledge.

A few minutes later, we started the return journey. Since we couldn't take our planned route back due to the high waves (we were supposed to go up on the other side of the bay), we found a new route to climb up so that we wouldn't have to go the same way back. :D

That may have been a bit reckless, but we discovered wonderful places because of it, and in the end, we made it back safely. (Well, almost, a little scratch on the knee couldn't be avoided...)

I have to say, when we reached the top, I was really exhausted because, of course, I pulled myself up too often with my arms and eventually ran out of strength. Our drinks were also empty, so it was time to quickly enjoy cool, clear water from the cooler bag in the car and look forward to dinner. :)