Chartreuse
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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. 🙂
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… 🙂
D5 Creation