Riding and hiking the Col du Granon: a high mountain pass in the Haute-Alps in France

Grand Lac de l'Oule, Granon, French Alps

Each year I spend the 3 weeks of the Tour de France on the couch, with the afternoon sun on my back and a knitting or embroidery project in hand, watching this great event. And I have done so since we lived in France in the mid 1980's. We had 'accidentally' watched an individual time trail in Nice some years before and did not even know what it was all about. How times have changed for this fan of Le Tour!

Last year (2022 Tour de France) we watched a particularly epic day when Team Jumbo-Visma launched an attack against our favourite, Tadej Pogacar, on the Col du Granon. The attack lost him a few minutes and the ultimately any chance of winning the race. Well yesterday we drove these steep narrow switchbacks, the cyclists names in white on the tarmac road, and wound our way up the mountain to 2413m, completely in awe of these cyclist we so admire. 

Our Grand Lac de l'Oule hiking trail started from the Col du Granon and we climbed gently towards the Col de l'Oule. We walked through vast pastures, with beautiful views of the Cerces massif and the rocky cliffs of Grand Pierron and then onto the peaceful setting of the green alpine lake. The way back along the ridge with its panorama of the Guisane valley and the Ecrins massif was quintessential alpine landscape. 

A truly memorable circular hike, 300m elevation gain and 7km.

On the path down to the Grand Lac de l'Oule

Fred with the Granon peak in the background

Majesty of our hiking trail

Sidebar: so a slippery rock on the muddy path along the Guisane Valley got the better of Fred, he feel on his right hand and because he was protecting his phone, he split his skin above the knuckle to the bone. So our afternoon was a visit to the medical centre in the village for stitches....never a dull moment.