Tuesday 26/08/25
Ever since we arrived in Mallefougasse, we have been planning to walk up the mountain behind our house.
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| Heading out bright and early. |
We have been doing longer and longer hikes in the area to build up our stamina and wait for the right day (cooler conditions) to mount our assault.
From our side, the mountain has the profile of three large hills piled on top of each other, rising from our village, at 750m above sea-level, to 1,800m at the peak of the Lure. The northern profile is quite different, dropping sharply into the valley far below.
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Our route from the yellow start following the hearts.
You can see the very defined ridge line. |
There are numerous tracks on our side, mostly used by hunters and the summer shepherds with their flocks. These tracks are very rough, comprising loose rocks carried down by the rain storms and only a few of them are maintained at all. Although we could see some tracks on Google Maps, it was impossible to see their condition and, the higher up one goes, the less clear the tracks are.
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Much of the trail is wooded but every now and again you reach a clearing and the
views just keep getting better as you climb |
Nonetheless, we had decided today was the day, leave it too late in the season and we might risk running out of time. We set our alarm for silly-o-clock and woke up early, packed loads of water and sandwiches for breakfast en-route.
As the routes we use aren't really hiking trails, they don't follow the usual 'meandering' route but tackle the incline head-on with no breaks from the relentless uphill on the way up and downhill on the return.
As we were nearing the top we could hear the bells of a flock of goats/sheep and the barking of their accompanying Patou, very big sheepdogs. We were a bit wary as there have recently been a few incidents of hikers being attacked with this type of dog, kept to protect the herd from wolves and other predators. The dogs aren't always able to tell the difference between innocent hikers and predators, so we decided to divert across bramble-infested bush to try and get another trail. In the end we were able to get around the flock and reached the ridgeline.
The views were absolutely breath-taking at the top!
The wind was icy and almost gale-force so we took a few photos, ate our breakfast and headed back down again, trying to beat the heat of the day.
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| Views worth walking up a hill for. |
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| Happy faces |
We were within 100m of our property when we noticed a deer in the neighbour's garden with a plastic watering-can stuck on it's head. I walked towards it to see if I could help but as soon as it heard me, it panicked and started running away wildly, crashing into everything in it's path. We couldn't leave it like that so I raced off after it, hoping to head it off before the road below our property. In spite of it running around blindly, it was still able to reach the road before me but luckily there was no traffic. Fortunately I could then run quietly on the tar to catch up with it near our neighbour's gate and then grab the handle of the watering can. She pulled her head out and ran off - huge relief all around.
By now our legs were also feeling quite wobbly so we headed home, feeling a great sense of accomplishment and reward.
Total distance walked, 15km, vertical distance 850m, time taken 4.5 hours.
Now, what's next!
Bonus video:-
The wind is the only soundtrack but you get a better idea of the views in the video.
