Climbing Belledonne

While waiting for airlines to find my bag, I took shelter at Elodie's place. Lovely to see her and the boys again.

"You know what you could do? You could borrow my camping gear and go for a walk in the mountains while your bags are not yet here"

So off I went to climb the Belledonne mountains, which I had cycled along on their other side. The path up from Pont de la Betta cuts through beautiful forest as it climbs up to the plateau. Then through the plateaus it climbs on and on and then suddenly: this Lac de Crop fenced in by tall rock walls.

After a nap, I leave the few other climbers behind, and go past and above the lake. The path disappears into scree and then just large rocks to hop and jump on till the Col de Mine de Fer at 2400 m. What a climb over the rocks! A dazzling ibex with large horns looks at me unimpressed. So I move on and the path goes down and then back up to the next pass of Brèche de Roche Fendue.

What an amazing view opens up on the other side! After a tough climb down, I pitched the tent and watched the sun set in a thousand pinks on to the clouds and mountains ahead.Read more