Cycling With Monsters in France: Thursday, June 28th

Today the Monsters recovered from yesterday's ascent of Col de La Bonette with a leisurely start to the day and a "short" hike in the Alps. We hiked the Circuit de Trecolpas, a moderate trail according to the guidebook, 1.7 km in length with 500m elevation gain. This was Peter F's idea of a rest day and he advertised a 2 hour hike -- however later we discovered that it's actually billed as a 4 hour hike by the guidebook. In Spinster form a loop was added and pace quickened bringing on a full sweat. Peter was right - we did each need two water bottles.

At the start we encountered a pig farm - some had more of a pig encounter than others; then we hiked at Peter's furious pace. After climbing for close to 2 hours we came upon a restaurant tucked into a beautiful alpine setting (all food, etc. is carried up) and we enjoyed a great lunch..... sausage with tomato sauce over rice...and for dessert a delicous berry tart with coffee. This was not your father's AMC hut :).

After lunch the expected descent became a side trip (ascent) to a beautiful lake..some took a refreshingly brief (measured in seconds) swim and then continued the trip back. Again, this became a Spinster pace assault on the trail through stunning scenery. Proof below.