If you follow me on Instagram, you know about my second trip to France this past September/October. Unlike the previous trip to Brittany in August, this trip included outdoor activities, like kayaking and hiking. This is the last of 3 posts about these activities. Click to see the others, Kayaking the Gorges of Tarn and Puy de Dôme.
While Puy de Dôme is the highest volcano in its chain, Puy de Sancy is the overall highest peak in the Massif Central, the mountainous central region of Southern France. It is a long-dormant stratovolcano with a height of 1,886 m (6,188 ft). So it only seemed natural that we would check it out before our trip ended.
Again, as is our preferred custom, we hiked it in an extensive loop, starting at a mid-sized parking lot with a little restaurant and picnic area at the end of a local road. However, it is possible to start in other locations to reach the peak via shorter out-and-back approaches. In the early morning, but after sunrise, there were only a few other people in the parking lot, including a couple of caravanners who had mostly likely spent the night there, which is common in France.
When searching for the correct trail, we noticed a smaller trail beyond a fence that went straight towards a valley and pastureland, whereas the one we chose turned left, was broader, and looked more well travelled. It was gradual in the beginning, following what looked like a wide, mostly abandoned fire road with a few long switchbacks. We continued to periodically see the other trail behind a fence down a hill. However, I feel certain we made the right choice because before too long, we intersected with this trail, still separated by a fence. There was an older runner, maybe in his sixties, coming up that trail who got a bit tangled trying to hop over the fence. (Honestly, I think we distracted him.) After we helped extract him, he ran easily up the grassy, disused fire road. Instead, we turned left again, following the blazes and signs in addition to the wider, more used track. I figured he was local and knew where he was going, especially since we later saw him much farther up casually trotting back down—a true inspiration.
The fire road/trail continued up through the forest, occasionally punctuated with more open areas until we crossed a stile and quickly found ourselves on a wide flat grassy saddle, most likely for grazing. Here, we intersected with the trail going down the other side of the saddle as well as the one we would take up to the ridge to Puy de Sancy. Once we climbed the first peak along the ridge, we were well above the tree line and could see much of our future path circling the valley below, but we could not yet find Puy de Sancy, as it was blocked by some of the closer peaks along the ridge.
Because of the openness of the region, the views were expansive and spectacular, but following the trail was easy and yet also difficult. The gray-brown soil of the trail stood out against the green hillsides, but it was a spiderweb of narrow human- and sheep-made trails deeply cut into the earth.
As we continued up and down along the ridge, presumably getting closer and closer to Puy de Sancy, we kept trying to guess which one it was. Finally, after circling around one of the higher peaks along the ridge, there it was! Honestly, the Puy itself it somewhat visually underwhelming, mostly because it is home to a large ski area, so its slopes are lined with broad, gravel service roads, ski lifts, and, well, slopes, as well as a small ski station just below.
We traversed the last peak, descended into the saddle littered with ski slopes and their maintenance trails, and hiked up to the saddle just before the summit. From there, we could see the other side of the mountain range and were suddenly in a crowd. They must have taken one of the other routes up because we saw very few people until this point—that runner, a few hikers, and a couple of trail maintenance workers. It’s clear that they do good work, despite the eroded trails in several areas. The final steep climb ahead of us looked in poor condition, but once I was on it, I could see it had been really well-managed and was easy to hike up considering the steepness of the slope.
At the start of the hike, I noted that the estimated time to the Puy was 2 hours and 30 minutes. For some reason, as I started this final push to the summit, I decided I was going to meet that time estimate. I think I had about 20 minutes or so left, so I booked up it, leaving my partner a bit behind. I did make it with a few minutes to spare, without even having to poke anyone with my hiking poles to prod them along.
The top of Puy de Sancy consists of a large, wooden observation deck, with a trail of stairs on the other side leading to the ski station below. After a photo and snack break, we took these stairs down, turning off to connect with a trail that circles below the summit and connects back to the saddle where we started the final climb. From here, we headed up the next peak along the ridge, following a ski lift. The terrain was open and easy to walk on and, other than the views, a bit boring, at least until we passed the final lift. Here, the trail cuts down the ridge, traversing around a peak in order to protect a rare flower. There is an out-and-back trail you can take to the top of this small, flat peak. Although we did check it out, we didn’t see the flower probably because it was too late in the season.
Once back on the regular trail, we passed by views of the resort town Super Besse below, where the ski lifts we had been walking amongst end. Turning away from the town in the valley, we finally left the ski resorts behind and came across another small Puy just off the trail that we climbed to eat lunch.
After lunch, we returned to the trail, progressing gradually down to a flat open area across the valley from the ridge we had followed that morning. We had almost completed our circuit above the valley! The trail there was so smooth and flat, and knowing how much elevation we had yet to go down, I kept wondering when we were actually going to start going down for real.
Soon, though, my questions were answered because we soon started a steep, no switchback descent through uneven, grassy hillocks. Then, the forest. Unlike the forest trail from the beginning of the day, this forest trail was reminiscent of the trails I knew back in the U.S. in Massanutten or Shenandoah. Narrow and lined with a chaos of slippery rocks winding steeply down through a thick understory.
At this point, I was regretting my decision to only bring my trail runners. Even with my poles, I felt constantly about to trip, slip, or otherwise end up in a pile on the trail. At the base, which must have felt longer than it was, we came to an optional out-and-back to what is supposed to be a nice waterfall. We started on this “trail,” but soon gave up. It was rocky, started going up again, and very difficult to follow through the forest. Neither of our hearts were really in it, so we decided to finish off our loop and go back to the car.
The rest of the trail was easy going. We passed a herd of cows relaxing by the river and joined another fire road. Just toward the end, with the parking lot in site, the road winds around a pasture and farm. Here, we were joined by an orange cat, who meowed and walked with us along the trail, occasionally running out front to perhaps lead the way. He reminded me of my mother’s old cat Charlie, who also liked to go for walks. He walked with us for about a quarter mile until we reached the house just before the parking lot. There, he plopped on the driveway, stretching out in the waning sun. Mission accomplished, friends.
Overall hike stats
Distance: 12 miles/19.3 km
Elevation gain: 3,337 feet/1017 m
Time: 6.5 hours with stops
