For this hike I got up at 6:30 am, met Chris at 7:30 am and met the group at 10 in Valleraugue. This village is about one hour and half drive from Montpellier, I got a ride with Chris. It is a beautiful morning, sky is perfectly blue, very few cars on the road, the scenery is breathtaking, it is definite worth it to get up early.
We were a group of 8 people, it is a 9 hours hike, it seems that not too many people are keen to do it. But everyone in our group was determined and looking forward to the hike.
The trail starts in the village by a sign “4000 Marches=stairs”; and the trail goes up and up with very little flats.
I feel like I am doing the “Grouse Grind” in France. We take very few breaks and we keep going. It takes us about 3 hours to get up to the top. The trail is beautiful, the views from the top are amazing, after all it doesn’t feel that hard because we are surrounded by so much beauty.
At the top we find a good spot with almost 360 degrees view and we have our picnic; fresh bread from Cevennes, sausages, home made pizza, cheese, dessert and of course wine.
We are laying there is the grass on top of this amazing mountain – hey, why go anywhere :)
But it is getting late in the afternoon and we have to get up and go; we have 4 hours of descent.
Going down we are taking a different trail, the hike is a “boucle=loop”. The trail is mostly switchbacks, it is not too difficult to hike down; but it is a long way down.
We are almost back to the village, we passed through some farms with charming old houses, surrounded by beautiful gardens exploding of spring flowers, yellow, red, violet, blue, and fruit trees; and above all and everywhere is the dominant fresh vibrant green; this place is so idyllic, it almost feels surreal, I am walking and looking around as in a dream.
We are back to village centre---we hiked Mount Aigoual, it feels like a victory. We are tired, dirty, sweaty and happy, what a great feeling!
We end up the day by having drinks at the local restaurant. My French friends are giggling and laughing I understand that they have a good time, so did I even though I understood half of the conversation. It is difficult to understand jokes in a foreign language especially after 9 hours hike.
Got home at 10pm, Mark was waiting for me with dinner! Did I mention how important is to have a good friend……..
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