Today a short story of a hike leading to the Lac de Peyre. We will share some remarks and advice to approach it as best as possible.
The meeting point is set; the Col de la Colombière which peaks at 1613 m altitude. It connects the valleys between the massif des Bornes to the north-northwest and the chaine des Aravis to the south-southeast. This pass is popular with hikers but also with amateur and professional cyclists. Indeed, the Tour de France has passed here many times! Access is possible in the summer season, but it is closed from October to April or even later depending on the snow cover.
From the Col parking lot, we just need to follow the marked trail. It should be noted that this hike is classified as a “family hike”. We do not entirely share this opinion and will come back to the subject a bit later.
The estimated time is set at 1h40. We took more than 2 hours because of its attendance and the site’s difficulty. A small detail that may be important, we left the Col around 10 a.m.
Small reminders before departure:
- For the respect of the herds and the guardians of the herds (mountain dogs), please keep your four-legged companion on a leash.
- Equipment is essential: good shoes, poles (they help!), suitable outfit, the backpack contains a picnic, enough water, first aid kit, jacket, hat, sunscreen, phone (even if the network is unavailable in some places, still have it with you).
Here we go! We climb calmly to a small chalet in about 20 minutes. Let us remind you that hiking is not a race but a pleasure. To fully enjoy nature and the so pleasant air, it is advised to go at your own pace allowing even small breaks of 2-3 minutes if needed.
Here is a first viewpoint after 30 minutes of walking. Not bad, isn’t it?
We continue. The trail is quite rough and scattered with stones with more or less difficult ascents. The body tires more “quickly” being more solicited than on a less rocky path. Doing this hike with children under 9 years old seems difficult to us. But that is just an opinion! We test and report our impressions.
Second viewpoint after 45 minutes of climbing. Magical!
We continue our walk. Sometimes we overtake hikers, sometimes hikers overtake. It is a frequented access during tourist season, which can slow down a little but again hiking is not a race. Especially since it is essential to respect each hiker.
We arrive at a passage that may seem “anxiety-inducing” but which is absolutely not anxiety-inducing after all. It is a passage on a somewhat delicate rock but a chain installed on the wall allows us to pass it without any problem.
We keep going up on a rocky path. It may seem tiresome but by observing the viewpoints and nature this impression decreases. However, for children under 9 years old, the tiredness can be more difficult to manage.
A photo? Look at these rocks…Impressive nature!
The last part is less rocky hooray!
We reach our final point but the more courageous can of course continue. We stop here for today. Here is the Lac de Peyre which at first glance does not trigger a “wow”. We stop there for a few moments to picnic and regain energy. We observe this nature. We did not see a single ibex. Its presence is so expected by hikers. A small disappointment not to have encountered this beautiful animal but that is also part of the mountain.
Now it is time to go back down. One might think that the descent is easier than the ascent. We would say not necessarily. On the descent, the joints are more stressed especially as the path is very rocky. One piece of advice, take your time!
A little refreshment at the bar of the Col de la Colombière is in order. Don’t they say “after effort, comfort?”.
