Thursday 5 August 2021
| Distance (km) | 6 kms | |||
| Distance (time) | 1.5 hrs | |||
| Climb / Descent | 360m / 50m | |||
| Hard / Soft surface | 30% / 70% | |||
| Landscape |
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| Weather |
 14° 3 Bft
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After we succesfully walked to Polset the day before yesterday and yesterday it rained the whole day, we drove to Pralognan today to walk the missing link between Pralognan and Les Prioux. Pralognan is only 20kms from Termignon as the bird flies, but by car one has to leave the Arc valley by following the river downstream and then go upstream the Isère valley to Moutiers from where you have to go up a side valley: a total of 160kms one way to walk a missing piece of 6kms. But ok, we want to walk every kilometer and so we drive the drive. The missing piece on the Col de l'Isèran we don't even count anymore as we didn't continue the GR5 there anyway and choose to walk the GR55. We park the car just beyond Les Prioux where it's rather cold and clouded with an occasional drop of rain. We catch the shuttle to the centre of Pralognan in order to walk back to the car. In the meantime the sun is peeking through the clouds so we feel confident about the weather. Out of the village it immediately climbs to pass above the camping sites and basically it will just remain climbing. Until the crossing with the tarmac road to Les Prioux we're in the forest and after that it's more open. For the rest it is not so exciting: we follow the stream upstream just like we did the day before yesterday. In 1.5 hours we are in Les Prioux that is 10 houses big, but includes a restaurant, an auberge and a refuge. Talking about dense catering possibilities. The last bit from Les Prioux to the car is literally a walk in the park following a nicely leveled wheelchair friendly gravel path. We have a look around, and well, that was it. Down in the village we have to visit the local sports store. My walking poles are 19 years old by now and the locking mechanism is failing. I can put them to length and tighten, but within 5 minutes they're loose again and if I would then lean on them they shorten. Not handy and possibly even dangerous in case of emergency. And because the poles are so old I can't get spare parts anymore: somewhere in those 19 years they changed the diameter of the poles and so new parts don't fit old poles (according to the manufacturer). Well, in Pralognan there are several stores that sell dozens of different poles and that's nice because that I can really touch, feel and try them. I like cork grips because it feels less sweaty than the rubberish alternative and it gives me less blisters on my hands. But the brand I had so far (Leki) reduced the size of the grips and they're now too small for my (rather big) hands. So after some searching and trying I leave the place with Black Diamond poles....hopefully tomorrow in the last descent of this year I can trust more on the support of my poles now. |
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Download track PraPri.gpx