Les Calanques - A dangerous Endeavor
- Tobias Heller
- 10. Feb. 2017
- 4 Min. Lesezeit
Not far from Marseille the national park of les calanques can be found, which is a formation of various vertical-walled cliffs flanking the seaside with amazing azure little bays and walking paths leading throughout the national park's widely expanding area.
Hiking
A harmless Start - The Cliffs
By bus, the ride doesn't take overly too long to go Luminy, where a university is to be found. From there I start walking first along rather boring trails through the forest, several people on the go, but then I can spot the sea in the front, and I find myself on top of a high peaking cliff, protruding out into the sea like a natural build throne. Down below, little light blue bays are to be found with crashing waves and greenery accumulated in the more moist areas.
From this point, a terrific view over offers itself to all the cliffy long claws protruding like fingers into the open sea, thereby splitting the incoming waves to the right and left. The pathways split, and I take the one that looks less fixated and leads downwards to the east side of les calanques, with the intention of going down to one of the several bays that lurk downstairs. After a while I find that the way is going along the cliff instead of downwards, but I continue to follow, eager to explore more. On my way I find other hikers, asking them if the way I am going is easily walkable, as it appears to be steep and somehow dangerous. They confirm that this is a hiking path, but much more demanding than others and they advise me to take care. Maybe at that time I should have been aware of the equipment they carried, despite their words - ropes and carabiner hooks attached to their daypack's sides.
Hiking
A harmless Start - The Cliffs
I follow the pathway, which indeed directly leads along the cliff and is not anymore on top of the cliff with an easy harmless walking path. More dangerous parts are about to follow, often there is no additional support attached on narrow rocky passages, with a steep downfall of the cliff right down into the sea. Rocks are protruding dangerously and threatening out of the water, splashed by strongly incoming waves. At another point the way descends leading down to little bay, anyways my initial hope for a nice pathway along the coasts bottom outstretch will be disappointed as I spot chains and climbing irons leading steep up. Uncertain I remind myself that it is demanding but not impossible, so I climb up all the way and from there proceed once more along the cliff.
After two hours further walking, crawling and climbing around, with some quite difficult and dangerous parts included in it, I am already bruised and covered in scratches, my right hand bleeding from slumping down several meter when lose rocks suddenly moved downwards, sending them flying down between rocks and waves. I begin to wonder when I will finally reach the end of it all, but I frequently check the GPS on my phone, which indicates the end is not too far away, whereas this motivates me to go on with the perilous adventure. I arrive at another bay, here the waves are coming in ever so strong, crashing against the glitchy glistening rocks. I make my way down there, with the sun already quite low and sending out golden beams of light, giving the scene a miraculous golden glow. From here I see one more way up, but following the path with my eyes I can't see any chance to get around the corner, as the cliff here is simply an straight down falling wall and nothing more.
I give it a try, the final end with the bay I wanted to reach is just around this corner, and there are still ropes now leading upwards again, so I assume this can't be completely wrong - how wrong a human being can be. Once high above, struggling hard to overcome upcoming fear as the hiking path has alternated into a complete free climbing path with a steep descend down, I am close to go around the last curve to arrive at the end, but - it seems impossible. I take all my courage to climb up with nothing else but a rope, my fists so tightly closed it begins to hurt, but the fear of letting it slip out of my fingers, leading to my direct death, is by far bigger. Adrenaline shoots through me, mixed with pure horror - I am here, briefly before looking around the corner, but finally and inevitably: the end. I am clamped to the cliff, below me nothing but a wall that goes down in a right angle to the sea. And I am stuck! Sweat is already seeping out of every pore, and noticing that getting up here was hard, but getting down doesn't seem any easier, but somehow I manage to get back, admitting defeat. My muscles got so sore from cramping them with all of the effort I could come up with, I walk shakily, deprived of energy. I got no food left, no water, and I will now have to go all the way back, as the cliff is to high and steep to get on top of it from here. Maybe along the way I can spot another possibility, one that I missed while walking eastwards.
Doing so, indeed find an opportunity that looks like it is possible to proceed upwards in order to go to the top. A huge pile of small stones are piled up until it reaches the top, and I see my chance here. In an enormous struggle with the down sliding rocks and my sore legs, I crawl upwards and finally - yes finally - I reach the upper top. I am feeling way safer now as I see the outstretches of the slightly hilly but nonetheless harmless park. The next hour I have to keep walking a long distance, and once I am outside of the nature parks zone, I stop a car who luckily brings me back to Luminy, from where I can take the bus back to Marseille. What a day.
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