The Landscape Photographers Diary - The Electric Storm

This is ‘A Landscape Photographers Diary’, an immersive sleep story series of wild adventures in nature. Tonight’s story is called ‘The Electric Alps’, a camping adventure through the French Alps during a thunder storm.

Gently unknot your body and your thoughts. Allow the stress stored within your muscles to dissipate. Start from the crown of your head and shift your attention down to your toes. Visualise robust roots sprouting from your feet and grounding themselves into the earth, instilling a sense of stability within you. Now, let's embark on our journey.

The journey began in a small French town nestled in the French Alps called Landry. A modest commune of under 821 people which strums a soothing, serene sonata, softly narrating tales of life's simplicity. Its summer, the mountains are devoid of snow and the ski season is a forgotten memory. You arrive on the train, a relaxing journey through beautiful mountainous countryside from Geneva to Landry. As your eyes drink in the scenery from the window, the sprawling vineyards and quaint farms merge into a mesmerising tableau of rustic charm, while the train rhythmically sways to the song of the steel tracks as they echo in the background. The white noise of the sound calms your breathing. You're not merely a passerby, you're an explorer, unearthing the globe one remote hamlet at a stretch. Alighting from a train in the heart of Landry, you are hit with a picturesque hamlet cocooned within the tranquil bosom of the French Alps. It's just you, your twin luggage, and the alpine tranquility. The sun is setting as you walk up to a block of wooden houses. The mountains around you tower up over head, wrapping around the valley. The sky is a blush pink hue and the mountain rock is a grey blue against the colourful sky. You walk with your bags up the hill towards the heart of the town. Your breath is heavy from the weight of your luggage, you are ready for rest. The accommodation is with warm people, friends who have become family who share their connections with you. Other travellers who offer refuge, friendship and adventure. Such connections offer an excuse to explore, a gateway to another world. Another way of life. 

The house is a large wooden structure under construction. A small section has been converted for occupation. A cosy occupied by two young playful cats who entertain you for hours. As dawn breaks, the air is crisp and fresh, your trusty hiking bag is loaded with all the essentials needed to conquer a wilderness camp in the lofty mountains. You have planned a hiking route with a friend which stretches across the landscape into the heart of the mountains. You begin from the Peisey-Nancroix (perssee nan qua) in France, hiking poles in hand, your adventure cup empty. You plan to walk up to a small refuge called Refuge Entre-le Lac ( refuge on tray Leigh lack), a quaint little hut hidden far into the mountains. 24km round trip, estimated time 7 hours. You plan to camp over, splitting up the journey with an overnight wild stay in the valley of the mountains. 

The journey begins through the town, the distant mountains enticing you like sirens luring a sailor. Their magnetic pull guides you into their embrace, drawing you upwards. Enraptured, you venture further and ascend towards the heavens. You sense the weight of the stone, the isolation of the mountains envelop you. It strikes you at your core. The potency of the mountains is immense. It feels stable, balanced, and brimming with energy. Along your path, numerous waterfalls cascade off the mountainside and plunge into the valley beneath. The waterfall's edge is akin to a precipice, a mere stone's throw away from the edge of the world.

As you ascend further and further, every step is a conversation with yourself. Time seems to be on a fast track, with hours fleeting like minutes. Dusk is closing in and the journey has taken a toll on your time. You are nestled deep in the embrace of the Alps now. No other sojourners are in sight. At your highest point yet you glance across to your friend and notice something peculiar, her hair. It’s static. Every hair is on its end reaching tall up to the sky. You realise the gravity of this feeling. You are surrounded by an electric current. It’s wrapping itself around you and rising up to the sky. It dawns on you. You are in the mist of a storm. You look above you, the wind rushing past and the sky now a noticeable grey. A storm. Its arrival crept up on you and wove a root feeling of fear and excitement in your core. Rain had sparsely been falling along your journey but this was different. The drizzle intensifies as the daylight wanes. You walk on, a feeling of apprehension washes over you but you push on. The rain grows heavier and your now in an intermittent down pour. 

The mountain stream is surging with sheer force and velocity. You find yourself standing before a crossing that straddles a cascading waterfall. The water levels have swollen dramatically in an alarmingly brief period. It's hammering through the crossing, drowning the steps beneath. A handrail flanks the crossing, outlining the pathway. Your friend looks at you with unease. You make a plan. You yank off your trekking boots to spare them from the cold, unforgiving soak, anchoring them to your rucksack. Your companion grips the tail of your pack as you brave the crossing, united. The frosty surge beneath your soles is blistering cold, snatching your breath away. You trudge on, brushing against the water that is ruthlessly thrashing against the metallic crossing. The knife-edge of the waterfall is just a few meters from you. It's a vertigo-inducing drop off the mountainside. You steel yourself, inhale a lungful of air, and channel your energy into forging through the raging waterway. You reach the opposite shore and release a gasp of well-earned relief. Fastening up your boots, you press on with your journey. The faded light turns to darkness and the rain grows heavier. A grumbling of thunder echos in the far distance. The shelter is elusive, with more miles to tread and relentless rain to endure, you opt for scouting a suitable campsite as the glooming sky hinders visibility. You locate a stretch of turf sufficient for a pair of petite tents. The earth is somewhat springy but not drenched, hinting at efficient water drainage. You make haste erecting your tents, sequentially. Once pitched, you gingerly settle into your temporary abode. Delayering your wet clothes and moping up the water dripping into the tent. You wrap yourself up in dry clothes from your dry bag and nestle into your sleeping bag like a big duvet. Your hair is wet but the down jacket you packed helps keep the warmth inside. Your friend does the same, cocooned in her tent next to yours.

The storm is now above you, it’s thundering voice cracking through the sky like a firework. The lighting reaches for the mountain tops. Stretching its arms down to the ground from the sky. The flash of the lightening illuminates your tent for a spit second. Then shortly after, the crumbling thunder booms above in the sky. It is on you, lightening strikes hitting the land and missing your small tent with each strike. You take a long slow deep breath in and out, wishing the storm away. There is a part of you that feels alive, that feels electric yourself. You are apart of nature, you are in the belly of the elements. The heart of nature at her most powerful and your most vulnerable. Thoughts enter your mind, would you rather be anywhere else? Have you done everything you wanted to do with your life? You squash them away like a bug. But they linger, you face them. No you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. In the face of nature you are content and would change nothing. The tempest whispers, moving overhead and fading into the quiet yonder. It fulfilled its destiny. The rain persists in its dance as you gaze into the valley beneath, a rhythmic tiptoe. The valley is shrouded in darkness, the waterfalls tumble from afar, barely visible. You secure your tent and surrender your senses to slumber, lulled by the tiptoeing raindrops accenting the roof of your sanctuary.