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green-eyeddragonfanfiction · 7 years ago

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War of Attrition: Chapter 14

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier x Reader Summary: Best friends with Steve Rogers, renowned Howling Commando, and married to one James Buchanan Barnes, your life wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as it could possibly be in the middle of World War II. Then you fell from a train in the Alps, and everything changed. You spent nearly 70 years as a tool of Hydra alongside your beloved, though your past with him was more often than not forgotten. Per usual, trouble follows the Avengers around like ugly on ape. However, their timing presents an opportunity to you and Bucky, and the two of you use it to the fullest. Warnings: Swearing (always) Word Count: ~4,380 A/N: I apologize for the slow updates. I’m taking summer classes so it’s quite likely you won’t see updates from Monday to Thursday.

Masterlist // Book One // Book Two

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

“Shit!” said a voice you recognized from countless interviews and reports. Anthony Edward Stark.

“Language!” said a voice you’d know anywhere. Steve Rogers. You nearly laughed at that. It seemed that Steve’s knee-jerk response of rebuking your and Bucky’s foul language had survived the ice.

Bucky paused the audio log and brought up a different one. “At long last is lasting a little long, boys.” Natalia.

“They’re here, (Y/N). Attacking the base.”

“No sign of War Machine or Falcon. I’m sending the drones in,” you told Bucky over your comm. There’s little to no video surveillance equipment in and around the base and you wouldn’t let Bucky go in blind, not with the Avengers and Hydra after you.

“Got it, Doll. I’m getting close,” he said quietly. Your drones flew over the thick canopy of trees and, though you knew he was somewhere below them, you couldn’t spot him with their video cameras until you set them to infrared.

You and Bucky had mobilized quickly after he told you about the Avengers’ attack. There was a perfect opportunity to sneak in and retrieve the data you needed after the Avengers vacated with whatever or whoever they were after but before law enforcement showed up. If they happened to take the data you needed... well, that’s a bridge you’d cross when the time came.

From your bird’s eye view you were able to survey the damage the Avengers were unleashing on the Hydra base and, though you appreciated the sight, you really hoped they’d leave the base in one piece. The Hulk was being particularly effective, smashing through entire guard houses like they were paper-mâché.

“Try to stay out of sight. I don’t think Steve or Natalia will let you escape if they-” you paused, eyes flicking to one of the other screens. You swore you saw something, but-

Your gaze was drawn to another screen. The same silver-white flash that had appeared in the first one was now occasionally flitting through the other ones. You saw it rush past Hawkeye and flip him onto his ass. Turned out it was a person, who stopped long enough to taunt the archer.

A boy, really, in his early 20′s at most. White-blond hair and a cocky grin that almost reminded you of the old Bucky.

“We have enhanced Hydra hostiles on the field, Buck,” you said quickly, trying to keep an eye on the speedster as he made his way around to the other Avengers.

“Understood,” Bucky said gravely, moving with even more caution than before. You watched as the fast kid tried to do the same thing to Steve that he did to Hawkeye, but he only half succeeded. Steve landed in a graceful crouch and immediately warned the others.

Iron Man was blasting away at the Hydra troops on the ground. If there was any doubt in your mind that Hydra had access to a Tesseract-level technology, it was eradicated by watching the Avengers fight the bastards.

A particularly loud blast sounded off near you and you knew from the way the room shook subtly that it wasn’t from the video/audio feeds.

“Town’s taking fire. If it gets any worse I’ll have to start evacuating the people,” you frowned. You didn’t want to leave your spot; this was the only way you could help Bucky at the moment. You both decided it was too dangerous to go in together. If either Hydra or the Avengers got a hold of you it’d be the job of the other to free them.

“Got it. Keep me updated. I’ll keep my distance until they clear off. See if you can’t get a drone inside the building; I’d like to know what Steve’s team is after.”

You watched as Iron Man- Tony Stark- fired an explosive from his suit. It buried itself in the ground and a second later the shielding faded, opening the way for him and the rest of the Avengers.

And, unknowingly, you.

“Shield’s down,” you said, already sending a few drones into the Hydra compound. They had cloaking so it was unlikely even Stark’s advanced sensors would pick them up. You didn’t know if Hydra’s technology would be able to, but you hoped they’d be too preoccupied to notice your snooping.

You watched the screens that had the live feed from the drones inside the base while also keeping a close eye on the status of the town. A few of Tony’s bots had flown in, but the townsfolk weren’t exactly appreciative of the gesture. You watched as someone chucked a bottle of something corrosive at the bot closest to the statue in the center of the city, wincing as it ate through the metal.

However, your attention was drawn back to the main screen when you caught sight of a flash of red and gold.

One of Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits was standing in place, turning slowly with its hand raised. You knew immediately that Tony wasn’t inside it. The man didn’t seem able to sit still for even a second.

Your eyes narrowed as your drone slowly crept further into the room, just a few inches below the ceiling. You kept waiting for the suit to turn and blast your drone out of the sky, but it never happened. The camera panned, revealing the rest of the room to you.

Computer servers, research equipment, and a lot of dirt. You narrowed your eyes at a hole in the wall and it took you a second to realize it was a hidden doorway.

“Betcha anything Tony’s in there...” you mumbled distractedly.

“What’s that, Doll?” Bucky asked, though he sounded slightly preoccupied. You supposed he had a lot to pay attention to on his end.

“Drone Phoenix found the main information hub... and a secret door. Tony’s suit is on standby, and I’d bet Alfred that the man himself is in the secret room.”

“You gonna send the drone in?” Bucky asked quietly.

“Nah, hallway’s too narrow. If I time it wrong there’s no way Tony won’t hear it. Hell, it might even hit him in the head or something. I’m gonna set her down and let her watch. With any luck we can find out what Steve and the others are after.”

“Any sign of explosives? Plans to blow the place up?”

You frowned and flicked through the other screens, but didn’t see any sign of tampering from either Hydra or the Avengers. “None that I can see. They seemed pretty single-minded. Don’t think they plan to blow the place to kingdom come, though.”

Bucky let out a tiny sigh of relief. “Alright, keep me updated. Now that the shield’s down Hydra has better things to do than keep a lookout for me. I’m gonna get a little closer, keep an eye on Steve’s team.”

You bit your lip as you flicked back to Phoenix’s feed. “Alright. Drone Chicago is keeping an eye on you. Be careful, alright?” you asked, worry seeping into your voice.

“Always am, Doll,” he responded instantly.

You rolled your eyes at that, but bit back any snarky response because you watched something flash across the screen.

“The speedster’s in the secret room with Tony,” you said, panic setting in slightly. That was Howard’s kid down there and he didn’t even have his suit and- “Bucky, I-” your words died on your lips as the screen flashed again. You slowed the video down enough to confirm that, yes, the speedster had left the room, but this time he was carrying a young woman in his arms.

“Alfred, run facial recognition,” you said distractedly, eyes glued to the screen.

Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. You pleaded silently. You didn’t have any right to watch over and care about Howard’s kid, but you did anyway. You flinched as one of the gauntlets of the suit flew away from the rest and rocketed down into the room. That was a good sign, right?

“I’m afraid the footage is not of a high enough quality to get an accurate match, but I will do my best,” Alfred said dutifully.

“Thanks, buddy,” you mumbled, dread settling deep into the pit of your stomach. He still hadn’t come back out. If the speedster had gone in there to kill Tony, there was no way in hell you’d make it there in time to save him. He was long dead without his suit there to protect him. If by some miracle-

You watched, shocked, as Tony walked back out of the secret hallway, a glowing scepter in-hand.

“He’s alive. I know what they were after, too,” you breathed, relief and apprehension warring in your head in equal measure.

Bucky made a grunt of acknowledgement about Tony’s status. “What did they get? Data? Weapon? Artifact?” he murmured.

You leaned back in your chair, staring at the frozen image of Loki’s scepter in Tony’s armored hand. You ran a hand over your face and blew out a long sigh.

“All of the above.”

“So what is it?” Bucky asked, looking up from the tablet at you.

You didn’t even look up from the screen as you fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to find even a single scrap of data. Someone, presumably List, had thoroughly deleted nearly every piece of information on the servers and you were scrambling, trying to salvage anything you could. It didn’t help that a SHIELD or Avengers cleanup team was likely on its way, meaning you and Bucky had to be far, far away by the time they showed up.

“If you’re asking me exactly what it is and what it does, I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you. Not without more information, at least. What I do know is that it first appeared in the Battle of New York on May 4th, 2012, in the hands of Loki, brother of Thor. While in his possession it exhibited mind-altering powers along with the ability to fire energy blasts. From my own experience, I can say it definitely resembles the Tesseract in its power and abilities. It disappeared after Loki was defeated by Steve and the rest of the Avengers. I shouldn’t be too surprised SHIELD got its hands on it. Chances are it went to the Hydra operatives hiding in SHIELD and stayed there after... well, everything happened,” you said, wincing. You’d been part of “everything.”

Bucky frowned as he stared down at the tablet, which you knew had various images of the scepter on it, along with the video recording from Drone Phoenix. “If I had to guess I’d say they’re using information they obtained from the scepter to do experiments on people. It would explain why they took ‘volunteers’,“ Bucky said with a hard, angry edge to his voice. “It would also explain the speedster and the girl with the weird red energy hands.”

You sighed and slammed your hands down on the table in frustration, making Bucky jump and reach for his gun. He looked over at you and relaxed slightly, concern lining his features. “What’s wrong, Doll?” he asked quietly.

You growled and fought the urge to kick the table across the room. “Hydra was damn thorough and I don’t have the time to work my voodoo computer magic with the authorities on their way,” you spat, renewing your efforts despite your words.

You froze when you felt Bucky’s arms go around your waist, not having heard him walk over to you. “It’s gonna be okay, Doll. If we can’t get the intel before the authorities arrive we’ll just break in and steal whatever they get later,” he said soothingly.

You snorted and leaned back in his arms, though you resumed digging through the deepest recesses of the computer you were on. “I love you, you know that?” you asked, smiling softly.

You felt his smile against your skin as he placed a gentle kiss to the back of your neck. “I did, actually,” he said. His breath ghosted against your skin and you fought back a shiver. “But I still like hearin’ it.”

You huffed out a laugh. “Go look for any hard copy files? IS-003 was developed in the late 40′s so it’s possible the information about it was never transferred into the digital era.”

He placed one last kiss to your cheek before he let you go. “Now that I can do,” he said determinedly.

“Start with the secret room?” you said distractedly as lines of code flew across the computer screen. “And don’t touch the giant space whale monster!” you warned him as he disappeared around the corner.

“Yeah, yeah. I heard ya. Touch the giant space whale monster!” he called back.

You were so engrossed in your work it took a second for his words to sink in. Your head whipped up so quickly you almost gave yourself whiplash. “James!” you said, exasperated. You could hear his low rumble of a chuckle echoing up through the hallway. You rolled your eyes and returned to your work, hoping his curiosity wouldn’t get the better of him.

Alien contaminants weren’t your specialty, after all. If he wasn’t careful, he’d embody the phrase “curiosity killed the cat.”

You closed the door as Drones New York and Houston came in, toting the last of the boxes filled with files between them.

“In the spare room, Alfy,” you said distractedly. As you meandered after them you flicked through the meager files you managed to salvage from the Hydra base’s servers, looking for any mention of IS-003. So far, the only things you found were records of the human experimentation they’d been performing since they obtained the scepter. The information was grisly, which didn’t surprise you. Hydra cared little for most of its patients, and this experiment was no different. Only two out of the nearly one hundred test subjects had survived; Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, twins from Novi Grad. “Got the names of the speedster and the red one,” you called out into the apartment.

Bucky’s head popped around the corner from his spot in the kitchen. Now that you’d stopped long enough to take in some of your surroundings you noticed a sinfully delicious smell wafting from the kitchen. “Are they names we should know?” he asked distractedly.

You shook your head and flipped the tablet around so he could see the photos you’d found of them both in the data and online. “Nah, their names are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Twins. Locals. Orphaned at ten when a bomb collapsed their apartment,” you said, frowning.

Bucky’s expression went stormy. “They’re just kids...” he muttered bitterly.

You sighed. “Young adults, technically, but yeah... not that much younger than we were when we signed up to fight in the war...”

“They volunteered,” Bucky said, half-question, half-statement.

You nodded and let out a long sigh. “Yeah... doesn’t say why, or if they knew who they were signing their lives over to. Judging by their psych evals, though, they didn’t really care. Hydra offered them a chance for power and they took it. They stayed, even when everyone else around them started dying.”

Bucky frowned and leaned against the doorway, absently turning the spatula over slowly in his hand. ”Sounds like there’s a story there,” he said, lost in thought.

You bit your lip and nodded. “And I have a feeling we should look a little more closely at them... but for now, we have work to do. IS-003 first, freaky twins later.”

Bucky’s gaze focused on you and he tsked. “No, food first. When was the last time you ate?” he asked knowingly.

Your brow furrowed as you thought about it. You couldn’t remember.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “That’s what I thought. Food’ll be ready in ten. Wash up,” he said waving you away with the spatula. You nodded and turned on your heel, nose already buried back in the tablet. “And no phones, experiments, or tablets at the table!” he called testily after you. You waved his protest away as you turned into the room.

An hour later you sat back-to-back on the floor in the spare room, buried in files and blueprints and tech. Holograms flashed as Alfred cycled through information, bathing you and Bucky in shifting blue, orange, and green lights. You worked silently with 40′s swing jazz playing softly from the speakers in the living room. You didn’t have to speak to communicate with Bucky. Working together for the better part of 70 years meant that you could practically read each other’s mind. Occasionally your thoughts floated over to the bottom shelf of your refrigerator, which was now full of biological samples. Bucky had been less than thrilled with putting scientific samples right above the food, but you didn’t have anywhere else to store them on such short notice and they’d have to stay there until you ordered or made the machinery you’d need to analyze all of them.

It was possible IS-003 was one of them; the labels on some were faded or lacking them altogether (while that specific practice was appalling to you as a scientist you weren’t all that surprised by it. Hydra was paranoid at best). Until then, your best bet was searching through every piece of information you’d stolen from the base. The authorities had arrived not long after you’d left and they’d quickly cleared it of nearly everything you and Bucky hadn’t taken yourself. Only the heavy machinery that couldn’t be removed easily had been left but you wouldn’t be surprised if that was gone by the end of the week, too.

So it was a surprise when, in the middle of the night, the lights of the base turned back on. You and Bucky both looked over the largest screen on which Alfred had already plastered the video feed.

“What the hell?” you asked quietly. “How did someone get inside without the other sensors going off? I calibrated those myself,” you said, glaring at the screen.

“The sensors you placed at the perimeter have not been activated since the authorities left over eight hours ago, Mistress Barnes. I have been monitoring them closely as you requested and can confirm there was no mistake. No one has entered or exited the building,” Alfred informed you, which only caused you to frown harder.

“So the base just turned itself on?” Bucky asked quietly, looking up at the screen in disbelief.

“It would appear so,” Alfred said dubiously.

You frowned and turned your head so you could look over your shoulder at Bucky, who was peering at you with a single grey-blue eye. “Secret entrance?” you asked.

Bucky shook his head. “Alfred and I both checked. I don’t think there’s a way in hell both of us missed a hidden entrance.”

“Remote activation?” you guessed, turning back to stare up at the screen. Even more lights had come on in the last minute or two and the power usage was spiking. Someone was doing something down there and they were using a lot of energy for whatever it was.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at the screen. “Who else do you think has that kinda access to that base? From what information we have, all of the Heads of Hydra should be dead or locked up now.”

You harrumphed and leaned heavily into Bucky’s back. “We’re gonna have to check it out, aren’t we?” you asked, resigned.

Bucky turned and pulled you into his lap, and you grumbled as papers fell a few inches to the ground or were messed up as you moved. “Well, we don’t hafta do anything we don’t wanna do... but I think that’d be best, yeah. If it’s Hydra we shut ‘em down, and if it’s not...”

You buried your face in his neck and wrapped your arms around his waist, taking comfort in his familiar smell and warm embrace. “We see what they’re after... and go from there.”

“I don’t like you goin’ alone,” Bucky’s voice said in your ear, slightly digitized over the comm.

“I heard you the first fifteen times you said that, Buck. But someone has to stay with the research and keep an eye on the other sensors and video feeds. You bein’ here won’t do us much good if we both walk into a trap we coulda otherwise seen comin’,” you murmured as you passed over the edge of the property.

“Well your sensors are workin’. They just lit up like a Christmas tree... Gotta say, that’s a nice angle,” Bucky said somewhat filthily.

You rolled your eyes. “Focus, Buck.”

“I am focused,” he said, all suggestive and flirty.

“James,” you hissed as you crept closer to the base.

“Relax, Doll. I’m keepin’ my eyes peeled. Just get in and out fast, alright?” he appeased.

“I’m getting close. Keep communication limited to vital updates only. Talk to you on the other side,” you told him, voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Alright, Doll. Good luck,” Bucky said quietly, his dislike of this entire situation evident in his tone.

You couldn’t help yourself from saying one last thing. “Don’t need luck, Buck. I have you.”

You could hear him huff out a laugh and could picture his exasperated smile in your head, but you had to focus.

You pushed open the door, thankful for the sound of heavy machinery that covered the high-pitched squeak of the rusty hinges. The machines on the first floor had been moved around. In fact, every single one of them was missing. The sounds were coming from the next floor up, along with a high-tinny voice that took you a second to place.

“There are no strings on me!” it sang over the loudspeakers, barely audible above the din of metal on metal.

Pinocchio? you mouthed, confused. Why was a movie that came out circa 1940 being blasted out in the speakers? And why only that one line, over and over?

Something odd was happening.

You followed the loudest sounds, moving slowly and carefully through the hallways. When you finally turned the corner and found the source of all the noise, you froze, dumbstruck.

The machines had been automated by someone, churning out humanoid robots at an unholy speed. You looked a little more closely, frowning as you saw bits and pieces you recognized.

It reminded you of Tony Stark’s bots- the Iron Legion- but something was different. These were sleeker, darker, all hard lines and angles. They lacked Tony’s bright colors that were so signature for all of his suits and robots up until this point.

You stayed in the shadows, not wanting to risk getting closer. If they had even a sliver of the sensory tech that Tony’s bots did, they’d notice you the second you got too close. In fact, you shouldn’t stay here any longer than you had to.

What struck you as odd, though, was that you hadn’t seen a single human. you thought you’d spotted one earlier, but it was simply a taller, more advanced bot than the rest.

It had sent a shiver down your spine, just the wrong side of the uncanny valley. It was dangerous.

Satisfied by your recon, you quickly retreated the way you came, fighting the urge to break into a run, to put as much distance between you and the robots as possible.

The moment you were outside and far enough away, you were talking. “Something big’s goin’ on, Buck. The base is churnin’ out robots kinda like Tony Stark’s, but meaner lookin’, packed with more weapons. Didn’t see a single human being.”

Bucky’s voice immediately set you slightly at ease, even as you broke into a run and began sprinting through the woods towards town. “’Like’ Tony Stark’s? You don’t think they’re his?” Bucky asked.

“I’ve studied Tony’s tech pretty closely. I know his style, and this isn’t it. Some’a the parts are his, though. I recognize the method of construction as well, so it’s definitely based on his tech.”

“But you still don’t think they’re his?” Bucky asked as you reached the edge of town.

You frowned. “I dunno for sure, Buck. It always could be, but I’ve kept an eye on Stark Technologies. He’s going legit. Clean energy, alternative fuel, tech to save the world. As soon as his weapon contracts ended he didn’t renew them. I don’t think he’s suddenly gone rogue. This feels like somethin’ else.”

Bucky grunted as he chewed on the new information. “Balcony door’s open,” Bucky said, probably watching your progress on his screen.

You rounded the corner and glanced up at your apartment’s balcony; three floors up and the third one from the left. Sure enough, the door was left ever so slightly ajar. “Shouldn’t leave the door open, Buck,” you chastised.

“I have your drones poised to shoot anyone who ain’t you or me,” he retorted.

You sighed and gathered energy in your legs, leaping at the last second. You made it as far as the second floor before you had to jump again, hands digging into the wrought iron as you gathered strength again. You jumped up and over the railing of your balcony with ease, metal feet clanking ever so softly against the ground.

Sure enough, three of your drones were facing the doorway, energy guns pointed directly at you.

“Welcome back, Mistress Barnes,” Alfred’s voice chirped out from the closest one, Drone San Diego.

“Thanks, Alfred,” you said, giving it an affectionate pat as you closed the balcony door then closed the shutters that’d stop anything but the largest missiles. Bucky was standing in the doorway of the spare room which was filled to the brim with tech and Hydra intel. He stared expectantly at you, arms crossed over his broad chest.

“So, we stayin’ or runnin’, Doll?” he asked, though he sounded like he already knew the answer.

You thought about the residents of Novi Grad, how Hydra had destroyed their lives. How yet another threat loomed on their doorstep and not a single one of them knew.

And how you could help them.

Your jaw clenched as you looked Bucky dead in the eyes. “We’re stayin’. And fightin’.”

Bucky’s eyes were alight with amusement, even as he let out a long-suffering sigh. “Somehow I knew you’d say that.”

Next Chapter

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egelwan · 2 years ago

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Breathtaking 5K Footage Over Matterhorn's Summit

‘Photographer Joshua Turner captured absolutely breathtaking 5K cinematic drone footage over the northeastern summit of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps….’ — via Laughing Squid

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biglisbonnews · 2 years ago

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Magnificent footage of the Matterhorn (video) Outdoor adventurer/filmmaker Joshua Turner brings us to the top of the Matterhorn via drone. One of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe, the peak is 14,692 foot high. Altitude not attitude! image: biletskiyevgeniy.com/Shutterstock https://boingboing.net/2023/02/14/magnificent-footage-of-the-matterhorn-video.html

#Video #DRONES #mountains #David Pescovitz #Boing Boing

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jeffpelletier · 4 years ago

Video

youtube

New for 2021, the 100 mile course has over 6,500 metres of elevation gain, taking runners from the banks of the St. Lawrence River to the top of Mont-Saint-Anne through beautiful boreal forests and technical single track trails. While Quebec might be known for its extremely cold temperatures in the winter, in the summer runners could expect heat and humidity. My girlfriend Audrée and I couldn't pass up the chance to run what would prove to be one of the most challenging races in Canada. Event drone footage courtesy of Loup-William Théberge. MY CAMERA EQUIPMENT: https://bit.ly/3oanbYd MORE VIDEOS LIKE THIS: ▶ Racing for 5 Days in the Alps - SWISS PEAKS 360k: https://youtu.be/qm8i5hBjpmU ▶ My First Race in the Italian Alps - TOR Des Geants: https://youtu.be/1Qo10sZKAVQ ▶ Running the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coast: https://youtu.be/YEq2Wl-uOZ8 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE: https://www.youtube.com/jeffpelletierruns/?sub_confirmation=1 Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/jeffpelletierruns/join --- FOLLOW ME HERE: Instagram: https://ift.tt/35Nl56Y Facebook: https://ift.tt/2R6w0Vg Strava: https://ift.tt/2MOcYDq My Website: https://ift.tt/2OD1DUP I’m an ultra-distance trail runner based in Vancouver, BC. From the mountain ranges of Canada and the USA, to the Alps, the Andes, and the Himalayas, I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue adventures around the world. Disclosure: Some links in the description are affiliate links from which I'll receive a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. #trailrunning #trailrunningdocumentary #quebecmegatrail by Jeff Pelletier

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mysocialmate-blog · 6 years ago

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Here’s the final adventure of my week in Switzerland, and what an adventure it was! I had heard of Glacier3000 viewpoint close to Les Diablerets, which offers stunning views over some of the highest mountains of the Alps, including the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Jungfrau, Eiger, Monte Rosa and many more. But that’s not all. They also have the Peak Walk, the world’s first suspension bridge linking two mountain peaks, at 3,000m above sea level. Being afraid of heights, I wasn’t too sure about crossing it, but when the bridge is standing before you and you’re there for the magical golden… Here’s the final adventure of my week in Switzerland, and what an adventure it was! I had heard of Glacier3000 viewpoint close to Les Diablerets, which offers stunning views over some of the highest mountains of the Alps, including the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Jungfrau, Eiger, Monte Rosa and many more. But that’s not all. They also have the Peak Walk, the world’s first suspension bridge linking two mountain peaks, at 3,000m above sea level. Being afraid of heights, I wasn’t too sure about crossing it, but when the bridge is standing before you and you’re there for the magical golden hour, with the surrounding mountains turning pink, you just try to forget your fears and you start taking as many photos as you can to freeze that once in a lifetime moment. I had shaky legs though and wasn’t able to fly my drone, so big up to @rontimehin and @wonguy974 for flying theirs and sharing their footage with me. Yes, this is me crossing the bridge on the video (swipe left too see). And a huge THANK YOU to @raphaeldupertuis for making this sunset mission at @glacier3000.ch possible! Legend! Head over the link in my bio to read the full itinerary of my week in Switzerland, experiencing winter like a Swiss. Shot on assignment for @myswitzerland. @villarstourisme @myvaud #inLOVEwithSWITZERLAND #AMOUREUXdelaSUISSE #myvaud Here’s the final adventure of my week in Switzerland, and what an adventure it was! I had heard of Glacier3000 viewpoint close to Les Diablerets, which offers stunning views over some of the highest mountains of the Alps, including the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Jungfrau, Eiger, Monte Rosa and many more. But that’s not all. They also have the Peak Walk, the world’s first suspension bridge linking two mountain peaks, at 3,000m above sea level. Being afraid of heights, I wasn’t too sure about crossing it, but when the bridge is standing before you and you’re there for the magical golden…

#inLOVEwithSWITZERLAND #AMOUREUXdelaSUISSE

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remembermemorablememories · 6 years ago

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Sunday, February 3, 2019

post #391

main points:

- woke up early to go on chicago tour with jwoos and zac

- stop by wegmans to get water

- go on 90 minute tour

- get brunch at wildberry pancakes

- visit millenium park and the bean

- visit the sky deck but didn’t end up going upstairs cause of zero visibility

- walk towards chicago theatre area to go to macy’s, walking along michigan ave and the river walk

- stop by macy’s / starbucks

- walk to navy pier / visit surrounding area / fly drone

- take a break at pier and recharge drone battery

- dinner at giordano’s / watch super bowl

- visit chinatown and get some boba

- uber home and chill

today i:

- woke up at 8:15am to my alarm and snoozed in bed until like 8:50am LOL. jwoos and i got ready by getting all our gear set and then walked down the block to stop by wegmans. we got some water and toothpaste cause we didn’t have either of those at the airbnb

- ubered over to magnolia bakery in the loop area, where the tour guide was supposed to start the tour. we were a bit early, around 9:50am for the 10am tour. we first checked in, then met up with zac, then went downstairs to grab some starbucks. i got a double bacon and cheese sandwich for breakfast then we went upstairs to start the tour. there were about 12 of us, and we went in a circle and introduced ourselves. one person was from switzerland, one from australia, two from boston, three from indiana, and i don’t remember where the other people said they were from :p

- we started the tour and walked around the surrounding area, mostly stopping by places indoors so our tour guide could give us information. it was pretty cool, he told us about a lot of chicago’s history. how people first came to settle down, why people chose to settle in chicago, how the population exploded, the great fire, why chicago is actually 11th most windy despite being called the windy city, architectural shift/movement into the city after the great fire, and a bunch of other cool interesting stuff. we also took a group pic in front of the chicago theatre which was pretty nice. we finished the tour 90 minutes later at the chicago culture center. the tour guide concluded the tour and most of us gave him some money (since he does this completely for free). we gave him a $20 bill and then went upstairs to look at the cultural center upstairs. there was a cool ceiling thing at the top and we took some pics

- we had put ourselves on the waitlist for wildberry since it was nearby halfway through the tour so that we’d be ready by the time it was finished. it was perfect timing cause after we looked around the cultural center, around 12pm, we were called so we walked over a few blocks to wildberry

- wildberry was sooooo good. zac and i got skillet + pancakes and jwoos got omelette + pancakes. jwoos finished his whole meal, i had some skillet left and finished the pancakes, zac had some pancakes and some skillet left. it was soo filling. we had some cool conversations about what zac listened to in a podcast, like how airbnb tried to find a way to make a memorable experience, masters of scale with reid hoffman podcast, zac and jwoos experience with museum/modern art exhibits, and other stuff. it was a good time

- we walked around millenium park and took pics / videos in front of the bean. then walked around the theatre, then to the other side where there was a play garden playground. we looked at the city from that area, stopped by the playground, then ubered over to willis tower

- once we got there, the person at the entrance said the visibility is... zero. LMAOO. zac and jwoos needed to use the bathroom though so we checked in through security and i waited for them. there was like no line there at all, completely empty probably cause it was superbowl sunday

- we decided to skip on sky deck today and try our luck tomorrow, cause no point in paying and seeing just straight up fog

- walked eastward back to where we started the tour. there were some frango chocolates that our tour guide showed us in a macy’s. but we forgot to go back and buy them. so we walked along michigan ave and the river front, basically all the way up north, then turned east towards that macy’s. it was a nice walk, some parts allowed us to walk down right next to the river. and we got to see the cool petal like building too

- stopped by the macy’s to pick up the chocolate and then hang out at a starbucks downstairs. my throat started feeling kind of sore from the skillet food, probably cause it was oily/fried. so i got some hot water to hopefully cancel it out/not get sick further. we hung out there for maybe an hour from 3-4pm

- we continued walking along michigan ave towards navy pier, seeing the chicago tribune, apple store, then navy pier. once we got to the navy pier, i took some videos of the city with my drone and it was super cool cause the lake was completely frozen and blue, and it was a dank view. my drone said it was out of battery after like 10 minutes of flying... i thought i charged it before leaving but i guess maybe the cold/wind made it deteriorate faster

we walked to the edge of the pier, and it legit looked like the arctic cause most of the ocean side was frozen

- then we walked inside the navy pier area to recharge the drone battery and also recollect ourselves. it had turned dark by the time we walked the pier (in like 10 minutes) and it suddenly got really cold

- went to giordano’s to eat some deep dish pizza. we put in our order around 6:30pm then got it around 7pm. it takes a long time to make deep dish pizza. we just kind of hung around and watched the super bowl play on the TV. then the half time show started right around when our pizza came out. it was 3-0 while we were watching most of the game while we were at the restaurant. but we later found out the pats won against rams 13-3. the pizza was pretty solid, we split a small so we got two slices per person

- once we finished eating, we went back out to the pier and i took some more drone footage with my newly charged battery. got some dank views of the city from the pier side at night with the lights on. jwoos also flew the drone for a bit (low to the ground in front of us) just to try it out cause he’s thinking about potentially getting one

- we took an uber to chinatown to get boba and look around the surrounding area. we walked around for like 30 minutes, looking at the chinatown ish part, then the street with the gate. then went back to the chinatown ish part and got boba at saint alp’s tea house. i got some warm black milk tea and we just kind of hung out and chilled on our phones. we were all so drained and tired

- zac took the subway back to his campus and jwoos and i ubered back to our airbnb around 10pm, getting back around 10:30pm

we both just showered and now we’re chilling in the living room. i’m dumping today’s footage from my camera onto my laptop as i’m writing this and jwoos is editing some photos. it’s 11:45pm as i’m writing this

whew what a long day. but it’s been fun :D

the end

#post #february #2019 #travel #long day #normal

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societyresource · 8 years ago

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Winter Wonderland? Drone captures Lucifer’s dramatic impact on Alps’ glacier - RT

Winter Wonderland? Drone captures Lucifer’s dramatic impact on Alps’ glacier – RT

Drone footage has been released showing the dramatic impact of heatwave Lucifer on the Italian Alps, as temperatures soar to over 40°C.

COURTESY: RT’s RUPTLY video agency, NO RE-UPLOAD, NO REUSE – FOR LICENSING, PLEASE, CONTACT http://ruptly.tv

RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air

Subscribe to RT! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=RussiaToday

Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/…

View On WordPress

#Alps #archive #Drone footage #Global Warming #heat #heatwave Lucifer #heatwave Lucifer on the Italian Alps #History #melting #resource #RT #Russia Today #society #Stelvio Glacier #summer s...#warm

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host24space · 5 years ago

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Vector Typhoon drone footage in Alps

drone: DJI Mavic Pro Music: Bill Brown http://www.vectorebike.com

View On WordPress

#e-bike #ebike #Vectorebike

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jeffpelletier · 5 years ago

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youtube

I’d been using the GoPro Hero 6 for a couple of years before recently upgrading to the GoPro Hero 8. When the GoPro Hero 7 came out, I wasn’t convinced that there’d be enough of a difference to justify the upgrade. I this video I’ll tell you why I finally decided to upgrade to the 8, and I’ll show you some comparison footage so that you can decide if it’s worth the upgrade for you. Subscribe to follow my journey on the trails, in training and competition: https://www.youtube.com/jeffpelletierruns/?sub_confirmation=1 MORE VIDEOS: TOR Des Geants - Among the Giants of the Alps: https://youtu.be/1Qo10sZKAVQ Running the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coast of Kauai: https://youtu.be/YEq2Wl-uOZ8 My 10 Essentials for Trail Running: https://youtu.be/rMIwmUbszP4 --- FOLLOW ME: Instagram: https://ift.tt/35Nl56Y Facebook: https://ift.tt/2R6w0Vg My website: https://ift.tt/2OD1DUP MY CAMERA GEAR: DSLR Camera: https://amzn.to/2oCdUhO Action camera: https://amzn.to/2nPqJWd Drone: https://amzn.to/2o1ha6j I’m an ultra-distance trail runner based in Vancouver, BC. From the mountain ranges of Canada and the USA, to the Alps, the Andes, and the Himalayas, I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue adventures around the world. VISIT MY WEBSITE: https://ift.tt/1Tofjkk #goprohero8 #goprohero8review #goprohero6 by Jeff Pelletier

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hauteroutehiking · 6 years ago

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Haute Route Trail Report

PREPARATION

The Haute Route hike kept coming up as one of the best hikes in Europe, as well as being recognized as the 'classic' Alps hike. I think every hiker is drawn to the Alps for its natural beauty and concentration of incredible trails that range in length and difficulty. Because of the 180km distance, we needed to find a sufficient time period over summer that would fit our work schedule. Luckily, in April 2017, Susan got a new career opportunity that gave us 2 weeks vacation between leaving London and relocating to Amsterdam. This was our window!

We started our detailed research by buying a guidebook and reading the many personal accounts online. The first challenge we faced was working out how we could complete the hike in 9 days, starting mid-June. The guide only presented a 14-day itinerary and we were unable to find an online account of someone that had completed the hike in the 9 days. Without having enough detailed trail information to create an evenly spread hiking plan, we decided to double up 10 of the 14 days in the guidebook.

The second challenge was securing alpine hut accommodation for our itinerary. Most of the huts do not have booking, availability or opening times available online. Some of the websites and contact details weren’t in English, so this added another level of complexity! After many hours of research and back-and-forth in broken French & German, we were able to book 7 of our 9 nights. Given we weren't taking our camping gear and some parts of the trail are very remote, we were concerned that closed huts could prevent us from completing the hike. We decided to visit tourist information offices along the way to determine if the remaining huts were open.

Armed with the best hiking plan possible we packed our bags and headed for the Alps.

There are already many great trail reports from fellow hikers, recounting the details of their trips. Rather than following the same approach for my report, I've decided to focus on the four challenges we faced and what we did at the time to overcome them. I hope this gives you some ideas if you face similar circumstances on the trail and the background to why I've created the various solutions to help future hikers better prepare and hike the Haute Route with confidence.

OUR SELF GUIDED ITINERARY

Our plan to hike the Haute Route by combining stages outlined in the guidebook, lead us to have 3 days of 30km+. Although we’ve regularly hiked this distance in a day, we haven’t done back-to-back days over a longer period. This worried us in the lead up to the hike.

However, as we travelled along the Haute Route, we discovered a lot of open huts and different trail options. If we had more detailed information while planning our hike, we would have been able to build an itinerary that was more evenly spread.

Our original 9-day itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Chamonix to Refuge Les Grands

Day 2: Refuge Les Grands to Champex (via Fenetre d’Arpette)

Day 3: Champex to Cabane Mont Fort

Day 4: Cabane Mont Fort to Cabane De Prafleuri (via Col Termin)

Day 5: Cabane De Prafleuri to La Sage (via Col De Riedmatten)

Day 6: La Sage to Cabane De Moiry (via Col de Torrent)

Day 7: Cabane De Moiry to Gruben (via Forcletta)

Day 8: Gruben to Grachen

Day 9: Grachen to Zermatt (via Europaweg)

Keep reading below for accommodation details and why we ended up staying in Verbier and Refuge La Barma on our third and fourth night instead of the Cabanes listed above.

The major implication to our trip was that the swing bridge on the Europaweg was not yet being built! We didn’t want to miss hiking the Europaweg as this was one of the sections that hikers raved over. So we decided to still do the Europaweg trail until the Europahut and then head down the valley to continue up to Zermatt. We found some information online before our trip that said this was possible, however, we weren't aware that it would add 4 hours to our day! Hiking up the valley floor into Zermatt wasn’t ideal as it was near the road and train line. Therefore I definitely recommend hikers complete the full Europaweg now that the swingbridge is built.

Despite Europe having a mild 2016/17 winter, we still had snow on nearly all of our mountain passes. It wasn’t enough to change our planned route, however, we did need to use our crampons coming over Fenetre d’Arpette and climbing up to Cabane De Moiry. I recommended hikers take crampons with them whenever they have decided to complete the Haute Route, given it can snow at any time of the year in high alpine areas.

As I hiked along in 2017 (and subsequently 2018), I recorded detailed information on all the subsections of the trail. I’ve now created a tool for hikers to plan their itinerary with more accommodation options and alternate routes to meet their needs. Click here to find out more details on what I've done.

MAPS AND DIRECTIONS

As this hike did not require any wilderness or alpine route finding, we decided to use a guidebook and trail signs, rather than also bringing topographical maps. We felt this was appropriate after reading many times during our research that the Alp trail system is one of the best in the world with fantastic signage. What the online comments fail to mention, is that the Haute Route is not marked on any of the 180km trail. Yes, you heard right, it does not have dedicated markings or signage. There is a maze of trails through the Alps and unlike the Tour Du Mont Blanc, that has its own symbol painted along the trail, the Haute Route picks and chooses from the variety of trails to enable hikers to travel from Chamonix to Zermatt. Hikers will always need to know the next village/peak/point of interest to use the signs effectively.

Wading through the guidebook text usually helped with this, however, sometimes the descriptions weren't enough for us, particularly when trying to find our way out of towns. Small yellow triangle or diamond signs with a picture of a walking person are provided in towns. These confirm you are on a walking trail, but it doesn’t tell you which trail. After navigating the high alpine, we thought this would be the easy part but, embarrassingly, this is where we would often get lost! Thankfully, we had a mobile data package so would use Google maps to navigate our way through the towns. The same cannot be said for all hiker though. I met a couple from the USA who became lost navigating their way out of Sembrancher using only the guide and signs. They added an extra 2 hours and 500m ascent to their day. Needless to say they were tired and frustrated by the time they reached Verbier!

We found that fellow Haute Route hikers brought with them an overload of information to compensate not having one trusted source. Their arsenal included guidebooks (sometimes multiple!), topographic maps, GPS trackers and printed out notes from online blogs/resources. Comparing and contrasting this information was time-consuming and confusing when all you really want to know is whether to go left or right!

The other challenge we faced was planning our water re-fill points, bathroom breaks and food stops. Some of this information was listed in the guide, however, you need to keep wading through the text to find it and then try to estimate how far it is from your location. This brought us unstuck on one of our ~30km double stages from Refuge La Barma to Le Sage. I ran out of water as we climbed up the hot boulder field to Col de Reidmatten. Unfortunately, the glacial streams noted in the guide were filled with rock flour from the erosion so I chose not to refill. The next spot for water was on the way down to Arolla, but the damage had already been done. I was hit by a combination of heat stroke and dehydration which lead to a very uncomfortable afternoon and evening. It was my own fault for not being more prepared for that section, however, it made me think that there must be a better way to help hikers see the location of important points on the trail like water refill locations.

With advances in mobile phones and mapping technology, there is a better way to present the key information and directions for the Haute Route. Click here to learn about the offline mobile maps we've created to help future hikers.

SHORTCUTS

I had never taken a shortcut when hiking before, however, I hadn't completed a hike as long as the Haute Route either. With 3 days of ~30kms in distance, we weren't sure how we'd cope. As our bodies began to tire over the first few days, we decided to look for opportunities to either shorten or shortcut our days. This was difficult to do on the trail as we didn't always have an internet connection or could confidently translate remote timetables into English.

Our first shortcut opportunity was a blessing after finding out that Cabane Du Mont Fort was closed. This meant we had to stay in Verbier instead, which added appropriately 8km and a 700m climb to the following day. We discovered that a gondola was running from Verbier to Les Ruinettes which would cut out most of this additional distance and elevation gain. However, it did come with the catch of only running for 15min at 10.30am. Considering we were aiming to make it to Refuge La Barma for that night, this was a late start but we thought the legs would appreciate it in the end.

On another one of our 30km days, we weren't as successful with our shortcut. We wanted to catch a bus from parking Du Glacier (near Cabane De Moiry) to Zinal in order to reduce the day to 5-6 hours instead of 10-12 hours. Our translation of the bus timetable wasn't good enough as we discovered that it actually hadn't started running for the summer season. The best we could do was a hitchhike along Lac De Moiry to cut off about 4kms from a lovely German filmmaker who was taking some drone footage of the glacier. This short hitchhike helped us make it to Gruben, just in time for dinner.

Having an uneven hiking itinerary caused us to look for shortcuts, however, others we met used them to rest their tired legs, avoid wet weather or simply give themselves more time on remote parts of the trail when hiking up or down ski-hills. Fellow hikers wished they had information on shortcuts ahead of time rather than stumbling upon opportunities or desperately searching for them when in need. Click here if you want to see what we'have done to make this information available.

ACCOMMODATION

Due to hiking in mid-June, securing accommodation was difficult in some spots. As I mentioned above, most of the alpine huts do not have ways for hikers to check availability and book online. This meant it took a lot of time and effort to secure each nights accommodation via email or phone, sometimes only in French/German. The tricky bit is the juggling act to check the availability of all your selected alpine huts, adjust hiking dates due to some being closed or fully booked on your target night, recheck availability of others with new dates...and repeating until you've booked a series of dates that line up with your hiking plan.

We secured most of our nights ahead of time, however, did not receive a reply from Cabane Du Mont Fort and Cabane De Prafleuri. The tourist information office in Verbier told us that Cabane Du Mont Fort wasn't open yet, although they didn't know about Cabane De Prafleuri. We adjusted our plan to stay in Verbier and take a shortcut the next day, however, we headed for Cabane De Prafleuri without knowing if we could stay there. Our backup options were to come down to Grande Dixence where there was a hotel or continue on to Cabane des Ecoulaies or Refuge la Barma. Chatting with others coming towards us on the trail, we were told the Refuge La Barma was open so decided to head there. In the end, it turned out that both Cabane Du Mont Fort and Cabane De Prafleuri also had winter rooms open where fellow hikers had stayed in, so we could have stuck with our original plan.

The lack of consolidated information online made the booking process harder than it needed to be, as well as caused us to carry risk in our itinerary that we wouldn't be able to stick to our overall plan. It's not easy for some for refuges to bring their availability and booking systems online but click here to find out what we're doing to help future hikers with this process.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Haute Route is the best multi-day hike I have done and lives up to its reputation as one of the top in Europe. Check out more photos from our trip in the gallery.

You can certainly complete it with the current resources available and information you cobble together online. Our trip in 2017 and the many other personal blogs you've read are testaments to that!

But just because it is possible, does not mean that you need to settle for carrying the same uncertainty we did into your trip. I have the best hiking experiences when I'm confident in my daily itinerary and trail information in my hand. Not when I am worried about getting lost, whether my plan is achievable and not knowing if I'll have a place to sleep at night! I've tried to do something about it and am keen to share it with others so they can hike the Haute Route with confidence.

I'm giving everything away for free until the end of October 2018 in return for feedback, improvement suggestions and words of encouragement, so I know the effort has been worthwhile!

Happy Hiking

Brendan

#hiking #chamonix #zermatt #montblanc #matterhorn #walkershauteroute #hauteroute #backpacking #multidayhike #thruhike #hikinglife #europaweg #switzerland #swissalps #swissmountains

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