It has been quite some time since I’ve climbed the Grande Sure. In fact,
a good fifteen years since they had closed the road connecting Currière to
Charmettes. This year, we wanted to try it and, being next to it, didn’t want to
have to drive via Quaix on a winding road.
Now,
the weather was good, the decor as well, but the climb was frankly too long.
Parked (A) just after the monastery,
we immediately took a right (D) onto
a forest road (B). The advantage is
that the start wasn’t too steep, though on the other hand, we needed three
hours just to arrive “Au bas de la Prairie” (1490m).
We allowed our gaze to wander and follow the numerous butterflies, and
particularly a magnificent and rather large dragonfly (Golden-ringed Dragonfly).
In 1 hour, we arrive at our 2nd cross of the season, on the
Belvédère de None, 1200m…
… that gives us a superb view over Saint
Laurent, Miribel, all the way to Entre-deux-Guiers, and even further. "Hello, Suze & Louis, there’s
no-one in the garden today ?”
Now on towards the Cul de Lampe (1400m).
You mustn’t be afraid of heights or of falling in Chartreuse as we often pass
in very steep and craggy places that can seem very impressive, but are so
beautiful !
It’s the high season for flowers and we admired some anemones (left), St Bruno’s Lily (middle) or Centaurea jacea (bottom-right). For the “fluff”, I’ll
need to get some more information to identify it.
Once you arrive at the foot of the prairie, beware, go to the left where
the derelict house is. We decided to go right towards the sheep park on the
mountain’s flank, but after a while, we couldn’t see any yellow markings on the
rocks, and indeed no more path. Thinking that we had just strayed from the road
slightly, we powered on between jagged rocks and big boulders. Not easy, not prudent
should I say, as on this broken terrain, it took us a good half hour to get
out.
In the end, it’s after 4 hours and dust that we reached the bottom of
the final, 45‑minute climb. Hunger, fatigue and the perspective of a long, but
not as long as the climb, descent stopped us in our tracks. That’ll be it for today;
we’ll stop at the Col de la Sure, 1675m.
We heard, but didn’t see, quite a few marmots, so I decided to take some
pictures and then look through them at home on the computer. And then, what a
surprise it was when I spotted some brown, but my marmot had horns and actually
there were quite a few. In the end, I spotted no less than 17 Bighorn Sheep in
my pictures. What a discovery !
In the Belledonne range, they have some, but they also have wolves… more
than we do in any case, and the latter decimate the population of these
magnificent mountain goats – said a man who we met a few days later at the top
of the Pinéa. Not glop !
What a strange decor on the Col de la Sure that seems to be bare in
certain places. We may as well have been in Balmedie, in Scotland.
For the return trip, we wanted to take a shorter route and left from the
Col de la Charmille (1605m). In the prairie, we heard a small noise and all of
a sudden saw wild boar go by with their stripped marcassins. Judging by the
height of the plants, if they hadn’t moved, we wouldn’t have even seen them !
Finally, we saw that it was a better idea to take the long route to go
up, as the return journey was rapid what with the steep descent. Better to go
down this way than to go back up it, and if we took 4 hours to walk up, it only
took us 2 and a half to go down, even without running.
I smell home !
When we arrive above the monastery, we know
that the end of the walk is close and that we can savour this beautiful day
with our feet in the air, thinking about our intrepid escapade amidst the
rocks. In fact, we crossed a couple who had spotted three people in the middle
of nowhere and had wondered how to take that road. Well, go the wrong way, my
friends, and you’ll be close to the bighorn sheep and the other marmots that you
will probably not see either. But who knows; you may catch them in an impromptu
photo… quick, go back to your albums and zoom in, you may have some nice surprises.
28/06/2012
Currière - Col de la Sure par None and the Cul de Lampe
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