Day 4 Les Rousses to La Clusaz

At last, a beer!



La Clusaz FUAJ is lovely in a location providing a fantastic mountain view from my bedroom window. However all but the very centre of La Clusaz is dead.


I had time to spare before dinner but the road doesn't have a pavement and is quite busy. There are 2 bars in easy reach of the hostel, both looked closed bot one was open. Hooray. Judging from the newspapers around, I don't think they'd tidied up since the end of the ski season in March though.

I'd planned a scenic route from Les Rousses with a few roads marked as unsurfaced on the Michelin large scale map. Early on I made a wrong turining by misreading my instructions and being too wet to care, Nonetheless it led to a pleasant ride though the forest. Once I realised exactly where I was, I rejoined my route and went on to the first track. this led to a mast. Only km each way but good to be off tarmac a little. There should have been a great view but it was misty.



Next it was into the woods again for a short 'RF' leading to a short length of Michelin's dotted red road, indicating difficult terrain. At the start was a sign which I loosely interpreted to say "This is provate land, you can come in, but if you hurt yourself then tough."



Actually all but the first few hundred metres were well surfaced and none especially treacherous. A large sign seemed to show which other tracks had seasonal access. There were a number of dear running around, but this one stood so still that I thought it was stuffed, until I rolled almost up to it.



At a cafe at the base I was wished good luck for my journey and took the main road for some distance. I'd chosen to do a minor pass across to La Clusaz with dirt on the col. Unknown to me the plain at the summit is a major tourist attraction as it has a memorial to the French Resistance and a few cafes.



The various visitor boards mentioned restrictions on vehicles and I feared that the 2km link across the top would be closed to me. No red signs though. I checked in the tourist office and she said that I could go, just take it easy.



So off I went the occasional van and car making their way across too. The descent was steep and knowing the number of cars and lorries at the summit one had to take each blind bend anticipating that a truck could be oncoming.

That brings me back to the beginning of today's report. A ski resort out of season isn't a lot of fun. Even the hostel warden complained that he only had 3 people staying.

219km