Péclet-Polset

18 August 2015:  We celebrated my 66th birthday today with a good hike from Pralognan to the Refuge Péclet-Polset (2474 m.).  The hike was unusual in that we followed a road the whole way.  The road climbs steadily and moderately up the valley.  It's a pleasant setting for a day hike, with several restaurants offering meals and farms selling cheese along the way.  We saw many people walking up and down that road as we hiked up to the refuge.  Well rested from a good night's sleep in our comfortable hotel room, we enjoyed the hike.

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Leaving Pralognan, we passed the campground where our family enjoyed a camping holiday in 2002.  We were delighted to see a tent like ours – a red Karsten tent that one inflates, a rare sight. 

Carroll is happy to hike with Mary on his birthday. 

We passed a prise d'eau (water intake) in the river.  This is one of several prises d'eau that take water and channel it to a hydroelectric plant downstream.  An explanatory panel states that these works were begun in 1943, but delayed by the war, and then completed after the war with Marshall Plan money.  It's not that common in France, in my experience, to see an express acknowledgement of Marshall Plan assistance.  

Hiking up the valley, we paused for a lunch at an auberge-refuge along the way.  We supplemented our picnic lunch with drinks and dessert.  In honor of the occasion, Carroll treated himself to a beer.

As we continued to hike up the valley, clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped.

The Refuge Péclet-Polset loomed into sight through the fog. 

We dined with some pleasant, interesting people, and Carroll had a happy birthday.