Hiking over the Chartreuse Massif to Le Sappey

On Saturday, June 5th, we hiked over the Chartreuse Massif behind our house. We did this hike without the kids since we knew it was going to be a hard hike and we didn't want to have to carry any kids up the steep terrain! We went with our friends, Rawdy and Nathalie, who had done this before and knew what we were up against. The night before we drove our van up and left it in Le Sappey, a small ski village at the top. Then Saturday morning we headed out in time to hike up and over to Le Sappey and have a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant before driving home.

Kevin and Rawdy checking out the map and planning our route.

The trail is an ancient route used to transport goods over the mountains.

Thankfully it was mostly in the woods and shady because it was a hot day for June!

Finally at the Col de la Faita.

We were rewarded with some gorgeous views! This is the view across the way of the Belledonne mountains at the Col de la Faita.

And of Chamechaude, the highest peak in the Chartreuse massif at 2082 meters.

We still had to go up a little more...

until we got to the fields with Chamechaude in the distance.

Then it was a nice downhill walk followed by a steep downhill section through some rocks to Le Sappey.

View across the beautiful wildflower fields.

It was a tough but fun hike. Definitely glad we didn't bring our kids along! It was also great to spend the time catching up with Rawdy and Nat, thanks to them for the bonne idée! We were rewarded with a fantastic lunch at a good restaurant in Le Sappey and an easy drive home. It's fun to think that we climbed over the mountains right behind our house that we look at every day.