Game: Where-is-it? (international)

[NathanaelB]

Thanks MickyB don't mind if I grab this one This one from New Zealand where we lived 2011-2013 so it means a lot to me and we were sad to leave; I didn't get to see anywhere near as much of the stunning mountains and alpine herbfields as I'd have liked.

[MickyB]

Might be time for a clue Nat.

[wayno]

half the south island looks like that...

[NathanaelB]

If you look closely you'll see the columnar basalt, which as you know is igneous which means ... and there's not many of those on the South Island ... in fact just four.

[wayno]

looking at that photo the rock looks just like most of the rock in the south island... aka south island rock.
my bad, i didnt realise i was on the geologist forum, i'll shut up now...

[NathanaelB]

Alright alright, clearly it's too subtle ... it's Mt Somers, just one of four volcanoes on the South Island ... and very old ones at that. Unlike the North Island where the plates slip the other way.

The other three volcanoes include the two adjacent to Christchurch .. the Lyttelton and Akaroa volcano and Mt Terrible just to the south-west near Timaru.

Anyone can go now.

[MickyB]

I worked out is was a volcano but was trying to work out which one it was. I looked on this site and it named four volcanoes on the south island - Lyttelton, Akaroa, Mt Terrible and Otago but not Mt Somers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_v ... ew_Zealand

Is Mt Somers and Otago the same?

[wayno]

mt sommers is in canterbury

[NathanaelB]

Is Mt Somers and Otago the same?

Huh, no, I didn't know (though should have suspected) that the Otago Peninsula is part of an old volcano. Mt Horrible is inland.

Perhaps Mt Somers isn't technically a "volcano"?

[MickyB]

Thanks Wayno and Nathanael. Perhaps the four volcanoes are active or dormant and Mt Somers is an extinct volcano?

[wayno]

all south island volcanoes are extinct..

[MickyB]

That stuffs up that theory. Thanks Wayno.

[eggs]

Perhaps we could revive some interest in this again.
From Europe

At Lechere on a connecting pad for the "Tour Mt Blanc" between Courmeyour and Refugio Alpino Walter Bonatti - Grand Col Ferret in view

[eggs]

Ok - it's in Italy, but a border pass on a well known track is in view.

[icefest]

Lets guess,

Are you in the Aosta Valley?

[eggs]

Not the Aosta Valley. We were heading for a Refugio before tackling the Col the next day.

[icefest]

South Tyrol then?

[eggs]

Not South Tyrol. The Grand Col in view also has an alternative Petit Col to its left.
We are actually on a rough connecting pad between a main track and an alternative track in this view.

[eggs]

Next clue - the LHS skyline is the border with a 3rd country.

[eggs]

So we now know I am slightly off the official Tour Mt Blanc track - so which grand Col might be in view?

[johnw]

I see you're back Brian, looks like you had a nice trip . Every time I research this I get more confused, are you heading for the Refugio Alpino Walter Bonatti?

[eggs]

Yes - but the Col in question is past that Refugio - on the next days walk.

[eggs]

Anyway, enough guessing, you have got my general postion - the Col [mid RHS skyline] is Grand Col Ferret on the border of Switzerland and Italy.
The small line of snow in the col to its left is the Petite Col Ferret with the peak of Tete de Ferret in between.
The LHS skyline is part of the Mt Blanc massif - meaning that it borders with France.

As John deduced - I am on the track between Courmeyour and Refugio Alpino Walter Bonatti.
The company we went through gave me a GPS track which descended off the alternative track over Mont de la Saxe down to the main benching track.
From satellite views it looked like a good option - but it was more of a pad than the main tracks.
It offered some wonderful views from an open ridgeline but did not commit to the higher peaks and passes, which suited our plans for that day.
Not hard to follow, and it led to this old farmhouse called Lechere - where my wife captured the field of strange cotton-like-flowers in a swampy hollow.

[johnw]

Anyway, enough guessing, you have got my general postion - the Col [mid RHS skyline] is Grand Col Ferret on the border of Switzerland and Italy.
The small line of snow in the col to its left is the Petite Col Ferret with the peak of Tete de Ferret in between.
The LHS skyline is part of the Mt Blanc massif - meaning that it borders with France.

As John deduced - I am on the track between Courmeyour and Refugio Alpino Walter Bonatti.
The company we went through gave me a GPS track which descended off the alternative track over Mont de la Saxe down to the main benching track.
From satellite views it looked like a good option - but it was more of a pad than the main tracks.
It offered some wonderful views from an open ridgeline but did not commit to the higher peaks and passes, which suited our plans for that day.
Not hard to follow, and it led to this old farmhouse called Lechere - where my wife captured the field of strange cotton-like-flowers in a swampy hollow.

Sorry eggs, I'm a bit time poor at present and now kicking myself as I'd correctly guessed both cols, but talked myself out of it as it didn't seem to line up on the map in relation to the refugio . It's a stunning image and draws the eye to those striking "cotton ball flowers". At first sight I thought it might be in Switzerland from my long ago memory of a visit there. Anyway I'm guessing you have more to show us, if no one else wants to go why not put up another when you have a moment?

[eggs]

OK John.
At the risk of boring people with the Tour Mt Blanc - using my wife's excellent iPhone photos
Name the glacier in this shot..

Glace de Bionassay

[icefest]

rhone?

[eggs]

The Rhone is not along the Tour Mt Blanc - this shot is in France.

[eggs]

This is my photo of the same scene [Pentax K3] - but I have also highlighted a hut on the skyline.
{Click on the photo to get more detail}

[NathanaelB]

No idea but looks stunning.

[eggs]

Yes it was a stunning place.
This particular hut is used by a lot of climbers summiting Mt Blanc.
[Those that haven't died in the adjacent "gully of death"]
It sits above a lower hut which, in turn, sits above a restaurant overlooking the glacier. The restaurant is reached via a railway line.