Hey Actifitters,
For Sunday, we had decided to go on a long hike. My suggestion was an iconic hike in the Alps called Les 7 Laux because originally it used to go through seven lakes (kinda still does but from what I understand, some were sorta merged by the power company, not exactly sure what it means). It is a hard 15+ km with a very steep first portion making up for most of the 1200m total elevation gain. Some of us didn't feel like they were fit enough for it and we reverted back to an easier route, also closer to home, less than an hour drive, instead of the 2 hours for the other one. Well, we thought it was much easier, but by combining multiple hikes into one, we ended up walking almost 20km with approximately 700m elevation gain. Not so bad for an easy back up hike!
We drove to the Col du Tracol, thinking that if we started already above 1000m altitude, we wouldn't need to climb too much. Turns out the start was quite steep too, as can be seen on the profile. Only about 300m gain but when you expect an easy one with little elevation, that's for sure a surprise! That climb was mostly inside a big forest, keeping up mostly in the shade. That's important because even though it was a few degrees below the valley, it was still close to 30C.
On our way to the first col, the first milestone is the Croix de Cellarier. I have no idea about its significance but it has something to do with pilgrims, which makes sense since one portion of Camino de Santiago passes nearby.
And then Col de Charousse. I believe it's the last spot where you can actually drive to, and indeed some people were there just having picnics or simply 'apero'. A few of them even offered us drinks.
After that, it's the final ascent to Le Grand Felletin, the highest point on our route. Well, technically, this isn't the actual peak, but that spot with all the cairns is where everybody stops for lunch or at least a break. And when you see the view, you understand why.
Because of the heat the area (and most of France) has been experiencing, it looked kind of hazy, but when it's clear, you can see all the way to the Alps, including Mont Blanc straight ahead.
They even have a small orientation table, where you can find all the peaks and villages you can see in the distance.
Look, my favorite hills. Even from there, you can still see them!
Just breathtaking views all around!
We had a nice lunch break up there, no need to rush, that's why we started early. That also gave us time to quickly check the map and we decided to add another loop, so we could see slightly different scenery on our way back. And mushrooms carved directly into tree trunks!
Trails were a bit different from the way in, but just as beautiful.
Even in areas where they took down many trees like that, it still looked pretty cool.
And we were back to that very first climb. Now obviously a downhill in this direction, it felt so long, actually hurting us more than the uphill.
Just as we reached the car, the weather completely changed, with dark clouds rolling in, and we could hear loud thunder. We were gone before it actually started raining but my guess is that it was heavy rain not long after.
We did make a stop in one of the tiny villages on the way back, as we felt we deserved a good beer or two to rehydrate. Overall we ended up walking significantly more than we thought we would, and probably we could have kept the original hike we had in mind. But we weren't disappointed, it was a great day, with beautiful views and awesome company!
As always, thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow.
PS: very approximate pin location because it's not easy to find it somehow
[//]:# (!pinmapple 45.19883 lat 4.48678 long d3scr)
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