Hike to la Pinéa--October 18

This week's hike took us back to the Chartreuse mountains. On our path we could see the peak of La Pinéa where we would be stopping for lunch. The weather at first was very cool--42 degrees F. (5 degrees C.), but sunny and no rain was predicted.

It was chilly enough to wear hat, scarf and mittens. At the beginning of the hike, there was quite a bit of logging going on. The logs were being pushed to the side of the trail and elsewhere we could here the chainsaws cutting the trees.

Otto says that if there is a goofy-looking picture of him there has to be one of me as well.

About half-way our hike we met two large groups of seniors. They were armed with GPS', altimeters, and roasting forks. They told us they were part of a hiking club (there are several in Grenoble) and meeting a couple other groups at another summit to picnic and roast chestnuts and sausages. We were relieved to know that they would not be going to La Pinéa whose peak had limited space.

You can see the trail leading to the peak. The last bit was a bit steep but not as difficult as we thought it might be. At the top, two women were having lunch at what seemed to be the only place to sit, so we move down and to another grassy area.

We had enough time to read the paper and then have lunch followed by a catnap. I think this is the first time we took 1 1/2 hours for our lunch break.

Our dessert--baguette, chocolate and this time a bit of butter with it.

We had a 5:45 p.m. bus to Grenoble and we arrived back at the bottom at 4 pm. We found a sunny spot at the café in the village, read the local paper and then caught the bus home. The hike was a lot less taxing so we were not exhausted when we came home.

A fall hike has a different smell and feel. You can almost smell the snow coming and of course there are leaves accumulating on the path. The colors are not vibrant as they are back home, but the browns and yellows can still be beautiful. The sun is not strong, but it still gives warmth and sunscreen is necessary.