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Second and successful attempt in Chartreuse, then Belledone massif.
As I explained in the article “Chartreuse and Taillefer,” we were caught in a storm while trying to reach the Pierced Tower, which forced us to turn back. After Emile joined his mother for the rest of the holidays, I decided to return to Chartreuse mountains to try and reach this difficult-to-access double arch.
1. A little over two hours after leaving VivaLaVida, first by mountain bike then on foot, after steep and exposed single trails, loose scree and a few climbing steps, I finally discover this double arch that had been catching my eye for a long time.
2. I cross it and move along the small ledge that connects it to another pillar pierced with two holes called “the eyes of the mountain”. From there, the view is magical and I need to take a panorama of several images to show it.
3. Under the arch. To give you a sense of scale, I’m standing upright in the lower arch, and even with my arms raised, I can’t touch the stone ledge that separates the two arches. In the upper arch, I’m just sitting, my head tilted so as not to touch the rock above. Officially, its span is 95 feet, making it one of the largest natural arches in the Alps.
4. Access is via the steep corridor that separates the arch from the cliff opposite.
5. Since the route is too exposed to attempt to descend, I continue uphill to reach the top of the cliffs. Here is the Pierced Tower from above the arch.
6. Here you can see the path that runs along a ledge, this layer in the limestone. It’s not difficult but rather exposed, with drops of up to 600 feet below in places. A misstep is not an option!
7. At regular intervals, the route changes of ledge, sometimes requiring a few climbing sections. The view of the Pierced Tower changes.
8. After an hour and a half, here I am at the summit, on the path we hiked with Emile three weeks ago. A last look at the arch which is barely visible from here.
9. The cliffs of the Chartreuse mountains during my descent by mountain bike. The Pierced Tower, on the left third of the edge, doesn’t reveal its arch from below. That’s why it wasn’t discovered until the 1970s.
Back in VivaLaVida around 2pm, I decide to head to the Belledone massif to discover Robert lakes above Chamrousse.
10. Arrival at the three Robert lakes in the late afternoon.
11. Sky is missing some clouds for better pictures… 😉
12. Backlighting.
13. Quietness in low light.
14. One last look before the descent that awaits me to rejoin VivaLaVida.
In the next update, I will tell you about the discovery of another arch in the Chartreuse mountains. 🙂
Tarentaise…
October 2025, we attempted to cross the Breach of Rosaël – a pass that connects Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys at over 9,000 feet via resorts of Val Thorens and Orelle – but the first snows blocked our path. This summer, on our return journey, we try again to cross this pass but this time from its southern side, starting from Orelle resort.
1. The last few hundred meters are still blocked by snow patches. I have to get out the shovel to secure some sections.
We’re definitely the first to attempt this route this year.
2. After a long climb interspersed with a few stops to cool down VivaLaVida, here we are on the other side of the breach with a strange light, kind of thick mist, perhaps because of the wildfires ravaging South of France.
3. We sleep on the descent to Val Thorens and after filling the fridge the next day, we opt to discover the trail that goes up to Pointe de la Masse.
4. Great photo spot for a portrait of VivaLaVida! 😀
5. Small lake at an altitude of over 7,500 feet.
6. We find our campsite for the last night on the ridge, not far from the summit.
7. Needles above Méribel.
8. Sunset on the Ecrins massif where we were a few days ago.
9. The sun sets behind the mountains…
10. Silhouettes at dusk.
After two weeks of overlanding, Emile joined his mother to attend a family wedding. As for me, I went back to the Chartreuse mountains to try to reach the arch we’d been aiming about twenty days ago but had to turn back because of thunderstorm.
I’ll tell you about it very soon! 🙂
Galibier (II)
1. We wanted to explore some of the surrounding trails but the Valloire town hall has issued municipal decrees prohibiting access to them throughout the summer, with only a few exceptions. Thus, I could only access to one spot I had previously identified, with a small chapel and the Aiguille Noire in the background.
2. After a night near Valmenier where the trails are also closed, Emile wants to return to our previous campsite from which we will set off on a hike the next day.
3. Dreamer in nature…
4. We enjoy the late afternoon to observe the local inhabitants. Here, a northern wheatear.
5. Including a family of marmots that aren’t too shy.
6. Youngs.
7. Watcher.
8. Taking care of himself.
9. Curious.
10. Sunset from our camp.
11. The next day, set off on another hike which first take us to Lake of Cerces where some hikers spent the night in tents.
12. Cottongrass.
13. A look back at the path so far. VivaLaVida is tiny down there.
14. The White Lake, on the climb to the Grand Galibier.
15. Panoramic view to the south…
16. It’s time to regain strength!
17. Pretty little lake of La Ponsonnière, behind the pass of the same name.
18. Back at our campsite, a shadow in the needles reminds me of a drawing of Don Quixote with his sombrero on his horse. Do you see it? 😉
That’s it for today; more to come soon.
Lautaret, Galibier and heights of Claree
After going back up to the Granon Pass the following morning, we set off on a hike to discover the Cristol lakes.
1. We discover the lake after passing through the Door of Cristol, a small pass 2 miles away from Granon.
2. View on the Aiguille Rouge, the Pass of Thures and Italy.
3. Emile the hiker. 😉
4. The place is really beautiful.
5. We then head back towards the Door of Cristol to discover the second lake called Round Lake of Cristol.
6. Upstream, there is a beautiful peat bog.
7. We do some groceries shopping in Serre-Chevalier and then head back up towards the Galibier. We find a boondocking spot at the top of a hill where only 4x4s can access. Can you spot VivaLaVida ?
8. Emile is practicing his dribbling there, it’s Soccer World Cup season! 😉
The next day, after passing the Col du Galibier, we go up on mountain bikes to discover the lakes near the Pass of Rochilles.
9. Grand Ban lake.
10. Recovery…
11. Round Lake and Pass of Rochilles.
12. Beyond the pass, this small lake marks the source of the Claree river..
13. The alpine pasture at the bottom of the military road on the Galibier side.
14. Our camp just above.
15. …near a beautiful stream.
16. We enjoy to cool off.
17. Late afternoon light.
18. View toward northwest.
More to come in the next article soon.
Oisans and Hautes-Alpes
Having not been back to Oisans for ages, we go up to sleep on the heights of Alpe d’Huez.
1. The next day, at the Col of Sarenne, a small road offering beautiful views.
Although a gate stops VLV from accessing the Emparis Plateau, we try to get there from the opposite side, above the small station of Chazelet.
2. We ride our mountain bikes up the valley towards the Refuge of Pic du Mas de la Grave.
3. Last hamlet of Rivet du Pied below the face of La Meije.
4. The valley is beautiful despite the traces of recent storms.
5. Despite Emile’s good health, it’s too late to reach our goal.
6. We head back down, not without stopping for a few photos..
7. Looking for a place to sleep, we discover that there is a small lake above the road to Lautaret Pass and we go to the parking lot, below the lake.
8. Lake Poncet is beautiful and almost without people at the end of the day.
We sleep below the Lautaret Pass where a flock of sheep visits us at sunset.
The following day, we climb to Granon Pass and take our mountain bikes to explore the Fort of Olive, a vestige of the past.
9. Discovery of underground barracks beneath the fort.
10. Arriving at the fort after a steep climb.
11. It is still well preserved.
12. We set off again towards VivaLaVida while the wind is blowing hard.
13. Descent before the climb back up to the Granon Pass.
14. The view to the East, above the Claree valley.
15. In the distance, Mont Thabor and Pass of Thures which we discovered last summer, at Lake Chavillon.
16. We sleep below the Granon Pass, all of whose spots are now closed to campers…
I’ll tell you the rest shortly. 😀
Grand-Serre and Pierre Percée Arch
From the Grand-Serre ski slopes, we decide to go over the Pass of Alpe du Grand Serre, descend into the valley behind and then cross the Pass of Olliet. On the steep slope leading to the pass, recent storms had carved out deep gullies and at a narrow passage, VLV’s right rear wheel slip slightly and slide into a deep gully. It is so deep that the rear axle is resting on the differential housing as the wheel is spinning in the air.
1. Uncomfortable position! The picture doesn’t show it but the slope is really steep.
2. Bad posture.
The only way to get VLV out of this bad stept is to fill the ravine with rocks. It works and an hour later, VLV is free .
I don’t go for a second attempt and decide to follow another trail to Parché Pass.
3. From Parché Pass where we have our picnic.
4. After a rather exposed descent, we arrive at Pierre Percee Arch in the middle of the afternoon.
5. Amazing to find an arch in the middle of a pasture…
6. We find a nice spot to sleep nearby, up in the hills.
7. Alpine pasture and small lake.
8. We have a beautiful view to the south and the Dévoluy massif.
9. Low-angled light as the sun sets soon.
10. Herd at sunset.
We’ll be back with the next update shortly. 😉
Chartreuse and Taillefer
This little blog is getting a bit of a boost with the summer holidays, as VLV is back in action. It won’t be very long, as Emile has a wedding in his mother’s family in mid-July. So, we’re going away only for about two weeks and given this limited time, we’ve decided to explore a few spots not too far away.
We start in the Chartreuse massif to try to locate the Roche Percee (Pierced Tower), a double arch rarely located on maps.
1. Our campsite for the first night, beneath the walls of the Chartreuse massif.
2. The next day, at the top of the cliffs after passing the Aup du Seuil.
3. I realize I’ve gone astray and we head back down the quite steep path we took earlier.
As an aside, we continue towards Roche Percee along a faint path beneath the cliffs and just as we approached the final climb, a thunderstorm caught us by surprise. Coming from behind the cliffs, I hadn’t seen it forming. It take us nearly an hour and a half to get back to the bikes we’d used that morning for the first part of the climb and reach VivaLaVida, soaked to the bone. We return to our campsite from the previous night to dry off and eat after nearly 14 miles and 3,000 m of elevation gain, having missed out on the coveted arch… We’ll be back!
The next day, we travel above Vizille towards Grand-Serre with the intention of exploring the Plateau des Mille Lacs (Thousand lakes Plateau) and in particular Lac Noir and Lac Fourchu. Arriving in the mid-afternoon, we stop at Lac du Poursollet and then go looking for a spot to camp for the night.
4. The following morning, we hike up to the plateau. At the pass, we catch sight of Lac Fourchu..
5. A little further on, the Lac Noir is visited by a flock of sheep, with the Aiguilles d’Arve in the background.
6. Back to Lac Fourchu.
7. Alternative view from our picnic spot…
8. Another perspective…
9. Last look before heading back down.
10. While I plan to discover another arch, we sleep on the heights of the small resort of Grand-Serre.
More to come in a few days… 🙂
Devoluy (2)
While preparing our exploration of the Dévoluy massif, I spotted several “chourum” – the local name for sinkholes, these limestone cavities sometimes forming caves – and we decided to go and discover one.
1. Going up from our camp…
2. Arrival at the Chourum of the Heroic Crossing from above. A group of mountain troops in training is climbing it, little black dots which give a sense of the scale of this vast chimney.
3. On the descent back towards VivaLaVida, looking up towards the Bure Plateau.
4. In the afternoon, we drive in VLV above the Super-Devoluy resort to get closer to Bure Plateau. The view opens up to the surrounding mountains.
5. VivaLaVida at the end of the road, at about 8,200 feet elevation.
6. The clouds are starting to gather but we still attempt to pass through “the Window” to discover the interferometer on the Bure Plateau.
7. After a short hour’s walk, a few breaks in the fog give us a glimpse of the site. Located at an altitude of 8,350 feet, the interferometer consists of 11 large-diameter parabolic antennas working together; it is the largest installation of its kind in Europe.
8. The scientists who work here in four-month shifts are particularly isolated during the winter, sometimes drawing comparisons to the missions of scientists in Antarctica. Only a private cable car serves the plateau, which suffered a serious accident in 1999 when the haul rope broke, killing 20 people.
9. We descend to about 6,500 feet to spend our last night of the holiday in VLV. The view is gorgeous.
10. Last dream campsite.
11. Sun is setting…
12. … and we make a final campfire to cook our supper.
13. This twilight concludes the story of VLV’s wanderings in the year 2025.
Thank you all for continuing to follow this little blog in such large numbers. It ends here for 2025 but will resume next summer with new discoveries… 🙂
Autumnal Savoy (2) and Devoluy (1)
First of all, Happy New Year 2026 to you all !! 😀 May it hold many adventures and wonderful discoveries!
I continue the story. Still at the Col des Encombres the next morning..
1. Large sinkhole.
2. We’re going to discover it…
3. Erosion…
4. Below our bivouac, an alpine marsh.
5. We go back towards VLV before breaking camp.
6. Going down the valley…
7. We go sleeping not far from where we were two nights ago, above Les Menuires..
8. Campfire…
9. We try to cross to Orelle via the Brèche de Rosaël but at 9,850 feet, the snow forces us to turn back. Without the snow chains left at home, we would have taken too many risks.
10. We then take the road to Devoluy, South of Grenoble.
11. Ascent to the Refuge of Vallon d’Anes.
12. From our boondocking spot.
13. Sunset…
14. Dusk…
That’s it for today. There will be another article about these autumn holidays. 😉
Autumnal Savoie…
While Emile spends the first week of his fall holidays with me, we go to Savoie for a few days in VivaLaVida to enjoy the fall colours already present at altitude.
1. Mountains of Tarentaise, above Meribel.
2. From the Pass of Tougnète where we spend the first night, view of the Aiguille du Fruit.
3. Emile drives offroad! 🙂
4. Our first bivouac at almost 8,000 feet with a lovely campfire.
5. The sun bows out in a cloudless sky.
6. Waking up to a sky as clear as the day before.
7. Small lake called “Large Lake” above Levassaix.
8. The mountain has already donned its fall hues.
9. We go discovering the Val des Encombres, with the hope of reaching the Maurienne Valley via the pass of the same name.
10. It is a gorgeous rather wild valley where only the hamlet of Bourtacombe, a few mountain pastures or herds embody human presence. It is unfortunately disfigured by a high-voltage line which crosses it from top to bottom and which I try to hide in my frames.
11. Alpine pasture of the Cariots,
12. The trail rises in the upper valley.
13. View of the valley already driven.
14. VivaLaVida on the trail.
15. Altitude marsh.
16. Arriving at the pass, at an altitude of 7,800 feet, we notice that the descent to the Maurienne Valley is impassable. While the beginning of the trail would be passable, this is not the case further down, where it has partially collapsed on an unstable slope, leaving only a quad path, far too narrow for VLV. Moreover, a recently posted sign prohibits access from the pass to any motorized vehicle.
We therefore turn back to a boondocking spot we spotted on the way up.
17. View of the Maurienne from the Petit Col des Encombres.
18. Our bivouac, with the Mont Blanc – the highest mountain in Europe – in the background.
19. Soft light at sunset…
I take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a very happy 2026! See you here next year. 😉
D5 Creation