Walking up Volcanoes Part 1: Puy De Sancy with Rach

The year we holidayed in France. We spent the first several days in The Massif Central. The whole area is full of volcanoes that last erupted a few thousand years ago (not that long ago geologically speaking). We decided to try and climb a couple of them, and both Rach and Bethan then decided they wanted to 'upgrade' their hills! When we first arrived in France the weather was fantastic, and we had soaring temperatures for our day to Puy De Sancy. This is the highest peak in the Massif Central range, and at over 1800m, higher than anything in the UK. Rach was quick to claim it as her hill! If you can read French, try this link to read about the Sancy area. If you can't, then there's always wikipedia!

It should perhaps be pointed out at this point though, that we didn't actually climb all the way up from the bottom. The clue is in the first picture here - a handy cable car! The mountain-side has a number of cable cars and ski lifts which are used for winter sports, and we were able to make use of one to aid our ascent. The cable car journey itself was great, and we all enjoyed it. Many people just do the cable car ride, have a drink in the cafe, then return, but you can walk up to the top. There are steps and board-walks all the way to the summit, so although it was definitely up hill, it was not difficult terrain! There are plenty of places to stop, rest and admire the amazing views. We were lucky with the weather as it meant that we could see for miles in all directions. If you wanted to come here for a walking holiday, there were miles and miles of trails all around, and as we drove through the mountains, we kept coming across car parks full of hikers.

When we got to the top, we found a toposcope, naming all the surrounding hills. On the horizon you could just make out the Alps, with what we assumed was Mont Blanc as the highest peak. It was slightly unfortunate that as we arrived at the summit, so did a very large group of Scouts! They seemed to be everywhere! We think they had walked all the way up, and well done to them if they had!

We retraced our steps then back towards the cable car, although stopped on the way to divert up a lesser peak, where we could stand on our own (not surrounded by Scouts) and admire the views. There is a cafe at the cable car station, so we had a drink before the descent. It was a great day out, with a lovely drive through amazing landscape to get there and back just adding to the day. The weather was so warm that we went straight to the pool when we arrived back at the campsite. It was a nice pool, but rather cold! It was a good end to a great day though. We would love to return to the Auvergne again in the future, and would certainly recommend getting up Puy De Sancy! Thanks Rach for this hill - the numbering has been messed up by your upgrade, but I think this makes it 32 hills done!