Sometimes I don't show the best judgement and this was one of those times. After a fitful night of non-sleep, due to the noise made by the plastic matress covers, I looked at the forecast and was fooled into believing it was better. I got up and walked across the street in hopes of grabbing some snacks, but that shop wasn't open yet. It wasn't raining and in fact, I could see blue sky.
I figured the noise would keep me awake again a second night, so suggested we pack up and go in search of breakfast and try to make a call about moving on. We found breakfast in town and also picked up some sandwiches for later. Checked the forecast again, which suggested cloudiness, and decided to risk heading up to 9,000 feet. Because what could go wrong!
I neglected to check the map carefully, and silly me, assumed there would be a café or something at the top of the pass. It started out cloudy, but as soon as we started on the climb, sprinkles hit our glasses. I started seeing signs for a restaurant that suggested it was at 2000 meters (elevation). So I held out hope that we could stop for a warm meal there and maybe a place to stay. Sadly, as folks have been telling us throughout the trip, this is the off season. It was closed, but did have a covered seating area, where we bundled up and enjoyed our sandwiches. At that point, a smart person would have suggested heading back down the way we had come, but no smart people spoke up, so we pressed on. Soon afterwards, I heard thunder, but then a group of motorcycles passed us, and a few cars. I was still hopeful that there had to be something at the top. After all this was a well known pass, and the highest through road in France. It turns out, they built an extra little loop off the pass to achieve this honor, but did NOT build a hotel or café, or even bother to put up a sign.
John was a little ways back when I reached the turn to the extra loop. The wind was howling. I looked in vain for shelter, but none was to be found. I had seen him a few hairpins below, and figured it might be a little while. I pulled over and put on more clothing and sent a text that I was heading down the far side. We had a good phone signal, if nothing else!
Fortunately not too long afterwards, I spotted a few buildings. It was an abandoned military camp, but provided a bit more shelter to add every bit of clothing I had. John caught up here. The thunder was behind us, but the rain was coming down heavily and the GPS was reporting temperatures a few degrees over freezing.
We continued down and were quite surprised to encounter a couple of cyclists in shorts and short sleeves headed up. The first one seemed lightly loaded, like us with a large seabag. The second had panniers, so maybe they had a tent. But they had a long way to go, late in the day if they were aiming for civilization. We still had a long way to go, as well. It turned out to be about 16 miles to the next village, and it took a bit of searching once we arrived to find an open hotel with a vacancy! This was a day that is seared into my memory! We survived and learned to pay attention to the original forecast, especially when big elevation changes are involved!
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| Farewell to our not so restful stay |
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| Shortly after starting the actual climb, the rains came down in earnest |
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