This past weekend was expected to be one of the last, if not the last one, with good, almost Summer-like weather: plenty of sunshine and warm daytime temperatures. So, we planned a hike in South-western Vercors on Sunday. This was a hike we’ve thought about for a while, since we knew it to be relatively easy but very scenic. Both of these aspects were welcome since Tomi was a bit sick after returning from a conference trip.

We rode two hours to Col de la Bataille (1313m). From there we started on a practically flat foot path to Pas du Goullet (1323m). It was only there the trail narrowed and started gently climbing to La Tête de la Dame (1490m), which we reached after walking just six kilometers. Since we had driven here for two hours and expected another two-hour ride back, we did not want to cut our hike short. We could have just returned the same route back to Col de la Bataille. Instead, after enjoying our lunch sandwiches on the top (this time we remembered to pack them!), we started gradually descending on Le Plateau d’Ambel to Refuge de Tubanet (1331m). In the beginning we had a slightly scary encounter with a bull that was on the wrong side of the fence and clearly disoriented. We just hoped he found his herd.

Unlike in the first part of the hike, which was quite crowded, we did not meet any living things on feet on the plateau. We ended up walking 18.35 kilometers in 5 hours 27 minutes, with 738 meters of ascent and descent.