It was an early start this morning with plans to hike to a cave and a summit.
It started off with a quick car drive to around 500m above Chalet Le Dragon (1562m). From there the trek started towards Lac d’Arvouin, a popular watering hole for the local wildlife.
Mid-way to the lake the route started a rapid ascent towards a cave half-way up the mountain. The track was narrow and appeared to have been made by goats – believe me, 4 leg drive is better than 2 legs!! It was hard going but a welcome banana at the cave saw energy levels replenished!
After we continued upwards, we were greeted by magnificent views in all directions. Of note, down the valley towards Abondance and Richebourg, across to Switzerland and the mountains the other side of the valley. Spectacularly, we could also see Mont Blanc on the horizon just behind the Dents du Midi and Dent Blanche.
Our descent began just by the top ski lift at Braitaz. Looks like some improvements are being made to the ski lift arrival area – perhaps making the skiing more accessible. It was a rapid descent down a new footpath. It took something like 20 minutes to return to the car from here. The flora and fauna is out in force here as the ground is alpine meadow.
In all, a superbly energetic 2 ½ hour circular route. It became very clear that there are numerous options for routes once you commence a trek up the mountains and all are incredibly well sign posted. We had a plethora of choices and decisions to make and could have headed further into the Swiss sector or even made our way towards the Cornettes de Bise!!
Time: 2 ½ hrs
Ascent: 500m walking, 500m by car
Wildlife: Eagles, Chamois, Hawks, Cuckoo, Mountain Goats, mouflon.
Chalet Le Dragon
Le Rys
La Chapelle d’Abondance
France, 74360
See us: www.SkiBikeorHike.com
Email us: contact@SkiBikeorHike.com
Call us: 0033 (0) 4 501 72913
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