Monts du Pilat - My Actifit Report Card: December 27 2023

Hey Actifitters,

With a very sunny forecast yesterday, the plan was to go for a hike. I had my eyes on a moderately difficult 10km one in the Monts du Pilat. But we weren't really well organized and when we finally got going, it was just too late for this one. So we decided to improvise. We drove to the hills above the small villages of Saint Pierre de Boeuf and Chezenas, parked the car and found a trail. We had no idea where it went, it just looked nice in the middle of all the vineyards.

But to me, the best part was the view on the Rhone valley and the Alps in the background.

Especially the Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps. It looks so massive!

We walked a while among the vineyards, in the opposite direction from the valley.

This is one the wine from there: Cret Louison. I never tried it but I've heard it's not a bad one.

Sam doesn't care much about wine or views, but he was clearly having a blast!

We met some of the locals on the way. They looked at us very intensely and I felt they were judgmental...

But we didn't pay too much attention and just kept going. I really wanted a good view on my favorite hills, where we wanted to go originally.

I grew up in a house with a direct view on these hills, so they are special to me.

After we finally found that view, we turned around, because it didn't seem we'd find other trails, it was just tiny roads. But we randomly chose different trails. It's always better to find a loop, rather than just doubling back. Of course, the scenery was still pretty similar.

And the view on Mont Blanc still magnificent!

I was surprised to find flowers. Not sure they can always survive all winter, or if it's just because winter is so mild so far. Also a couple of trees still with their fall colors and one mushroom, just one!

To change from the vineyards, we also found some reed (not sure if it's the correct translation of 'roseau') along a small stagnant water pond.

We followed Sam in a few trails, but they all were dead ends and we had to backtrack.

We should have known better because all Sam wants to do is to run like the wind!

The sun was still very bright, but getting lower. So we followed a few more trails, trying to get back near the car.

The colors on the vineyards and the valley were getting better already.

A few more zigs and zags in the vineyards and we were back on the small road leading to the car. All in all, it was just about 7km with very little elevation. Definitely not as long or strenuous as the original plan, but it was a really good fall back hike, especially since we had no precise idea where we went.

But this last view of the hills the last few meters before the car gave me an idea. Let's try and catch the sunset from the top. We missed the hike, but we may still have time to enjoy the scenery. So that's what we did, we drove to the Cret de l'Oeillon, where this big antenna is. But even before reaching it, a few minutes before the top, we saw a photo opportunity at the Belvedere de la Faucharat. Even if I was worried we'd miss the sunset, we just had to stop!

Can you see this tiny spot at the top?

Yep, that was a person. What an extraordinary location to enjoy the sunset!

I was still very impressed with Mont Blanc.

Then we finally drove to the top and parked below the antenna.

We followed one steep trail up in the direction of the Observation Table, I knew it was where to find the best views. And we were not disappointed! By then, the colors had turned pinkish.

With the Mont Blanc in the background, it's even better. I already struggled to select the photos for this post out of the well over hundred ones I had, so you can imagine it was even worse to select the one for Around The World contest. Once again, after lots of hesitation, I settled on this one:

The view on the valley and mountains was even better than before.

We walked a little bit more, took another gazillion photos of course, and finally went back to the car, as darkness fell upon us. I thought we were done for the day, but on the drive back we were surprised with an impressive Moon above the valley.

Since I stopped for the Moon, I thought I might as well snap one last picture with the low light.

And we left for good this time, driving back home. Again, for a day that was mostly improvised, we were really happy with how it turned out. Lots of sun, a good hike and some breath-taking views, what else could we ask for?
All combined, I thought I would be over the bar for #poprzeczka. But I was still missing a couple thousand steps. So I went running around the yard with Sam for a while. Kaia is used to that back at home, but Sam seemed a bit confused about what was going on. He didn't complain of course, more running is always a good thing! But again, he was very tired at the end of the day!

And that is it. Sorry for the multitude of photos but like I said, selecting which ones to add was very difficult! I'm also not sure we'll be able to go back in the same area during this trip, so I wanted to cover as much as possible.
As always, thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow.

[//]:# (!pinmapple 45.38555 lat 4.61559 long d3scr)
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Daily Activity, Hiking, Walking