some steep downhills, probably hike-a-bike

At Lac du Chambon, we turned up towards Besse, briefly following the climb to Col de Sarenne. The road remains paved until a few kms past Besse and then becomes a good quality gravel road. After Besse, we leave civilization – and keep heading up into the mountains – the fun really starts here. At 1900 metres we passed Col Nazie – but the road just kept going up. Finally we crossed over the Col Saint Georges (2245m) into a “secret” plateau: Plateau d’Emparis.”

Our next goal was Col du Souchet – this required a little detour onto hiking trails due to a misplaced ranch with unfriendly “do not enter” signs. Boo.

The Col is an amazing place. The glacier-filled peaks of La Meije dominate (these are the same mountains one sees lower down from Col du Lautaret). Sadly for our photos, the clouds had rolled in.

The 6 km descent down to Le Chazelet is not easy – it’s more a steep hiking trail than a road. Talented cyclists can ride most of it, but I had to push the bike for much of it. But again, a beautiful place.