Col de la Machine

On this side of the Vercors Massif are steep cliffs that were impassable until the Combe Lavale was built in the late 19th century. So what did the loggers do before then? Without a road, the loggers built a machine to lower sacks of charcoal to the valley below. They pulled on the ropes by hand and they used it until Napoleon built his Imperial Road in the early 19th century.

When I saw the thick fog, I stopped for a coffee, hoping that it would dissipate. It didn't.Read more