Bright and clear today once again and even colder than previous days Now -16°
... so we thought about alternatives to ski tours. Chris and M-J were planning a
walk from Villard sur Doron - just down the valley a little way, so Steph and I
joined up with them.
The idea was to park in the village then walk up the
hills towards Bisaane 1500 taking a track across to Les Granges before turning
back down a path that came back to Villard.
We parked in the village car park - the turning after the supermarket -
and then walked up through the village to an innocuous back entry - luckily
Chris and M-J knew where this was after they had walked down it yesterday.
Climbing steeply out of the village over fields before Going through a farm.
Crossing into the woods with numerous zigzags to Les Chagney and another farm.
Through the farm and up to a back road - we would now be close to this for a
while.
Over the back road (the route basically went straight uphill, whereas the road
zigzagged a lot) and through some buildings (still weaving around) to meet the
road.
Now cutting the hairpins on the road until that diverted away.
Continuing uphill and into more woods coming out at Le Plane. An Isolated
building looking over towards Mont Blanc (around the corner of the valley).
Our high point for the day, and looked down towards our chalet behind the
fortified chapel on a hill.
We also had views up to Mont Blanc (minus cloud
for now)
This was the turning point as we then contoured across the hill side towards Les
Granges.
Over midway across we had to traverse a stream coming down from Bisanne 1500 -
very icy.
This was a reminder of our tour yesterday behind Le Planay, but
only a minor obstacle.
At Les Granges we followed the drive way and road - smaller than the one we
followed uphill - to the path to begin our descent. This was from the corner of
a large pasture that was still snow covered and very frozen.
Above us was the top of Mont Bisanne - this has lifts up the other side from Les
Saisies.
Another day perhaps a walk up there from Bianne 1500? maybe even
some touring through the woods - there looks like an off-piste route there.
Down through the woods on a steep path hidden under a large collection of beech
leaves. Crossing the backroad a couple of times before stopping for some lunch.
After lunch more of the same descent - this was actually a marked mountain bike
trail, but I would not have liked to descend it! It passed through Les
Maisonettes, and down to the road again. This descent was like skiing but on
beech and oak leaves.
Another wooded section led down to Le Frais, before reaching Le Cudray. Lots of
leaves and sharp (banked) bends, with many signs telling cyclists that it was a
shared path.
Now down in the valley, we followed a path back across the fields to Villard.
The path had a final moment as we crossed a small field with frost flowers all
over. Then it moved through a farm and joined the village at the opposite end to
the car park so we walked along the (narrow) main street.
Back at the car we all relaxed for the trip home, looking back up the hillside
where we had been.
Unfortunately after passing through Beaufort and climbing the hill to our
chalet, the car was side swiped by a van coming down. Not a good ending to a
pleasant day. Luckily the car was still driveable and we had been saved
further damage by our rear wheel.
Chris and M-J dropped Steph and I off
before finding a nice "garagist" who helped make it all safe. Then spent the
evening completing the accident report forms.
