Saturday 20 March 2010

Extreme Low Tide - Les Landes

A great day up at Les Landes, during the lowest tide of the year - less than 1ft. Nice and sunny, and sheltered from the east wind it was T-shirt conditions - which was brilliant for a winter day!


With the tide so low, I don't expect you'd usually see quite so much of the rocks below Le Pinacle...








.. or below the German WWII lookout tower.







There's a vast expanse of rock ...







.. at L'Etacq.







"Stinky Bay"







.. and more.






A dark seam of rock below the tower.







.. and a pink one.







That's just begging to be tipped over! :)







Are these rocks trying to say something?








That's that other island in the distance...





.. right a bit, and closer. St.Peter Port.







The area around Le Pinacle ...






.. and evidence of prehistoric activity.






If you're not likely to ever set foot on top of the stack, here's what it looks like up there.






Two churches and a mill.






The whole snap of a view over St.Ouen's Bay...








.. and a closer bit.

More next time, as we take a look at military WWII relics up there.

2 comments:

Ex-Senator Stuart Syvret said...

I think the leaning pinnacle of rock in your ninth photo makes the right end (as you look at it from Le Pinnacle) of the Jewel Cliffs at Les Landes?

If so, the arete, the right-hand edge of the peak that makes the sky-line down to the spike's base at see-level, is a rock-climb.

I forget the grade, but I did the first ascent of it, many years ago; can't remember when exactly. Maybe someone could check out the Jersey climbing guide book for the year?

I called the route, 'Children of the Sea'.

Great photos. I've been around that entire coast during various very low-level tides. Even then, some gullies never fully dry and you have to swim across them.

It's a beautiful and amazing place.

Word verification: pilersta
Stuart

crapaudmatic said...

Hi Senator, thanks very much for commenting.

I don't know about "Jewel Cliffs" but it was halfway down a headland immediately south of Le Pinacle. I had a careful walk around there to get a good view of Le P but it was too tricky to get far enough down - not without ropes and rock-climbing know-how.

Maybe one day I'll be able to try 'coasteering' my way around there with a camera in a waterproof housing, but at the moment it's not looking likely.

Good to hear from you, all the best.