Our next destination is Mont Aigoual. After a few kilometers, the landscape changes completely. The plateaus and steep canyons are replaced by dense chestnut forests. As chestnuts only grow on so-called primary rock, i.e. gneiss and granite, the reason for the change in landscape is clear. And this is true, as the Cevennes consist partly of limestone and partly of the ancient silicate rocks. That doesn't matter to us now, it looks great for biking here too. However, we made a mistake when choosing the route. A large part of the famous path of 4000 steps still runs through the national park, where biking off the wide paths is prohibited. Now that we're here, we at least want to take a look at the 1565 m high Mont Aigoual and pedal up with courage. There must be a lot going on here in summer, but in late spring there is no traffic at all. We pass a semi-deserted ski station - so you can ski 60 km from the Mediterranean in the low mountain range! - we reach the first remnants of snow and it gets really chilly.
On reaching the summit plateau, we realize that there really isn't anyone here today, so we dare to take the Sentier des Quatre Mile Marches despite the ban, as we are sure we won't disturb any hikers. And indeed, we don't meet a soul. The descent, which is just over 1200 meters in altitude, is not called the path of 4000 steps for nothing and is extremely challenging and extremely varied. Again and again we have to climb down some unrideable rocky passages with our bikes on our shoulders. Anyone who has done this descent is guaranteed not to forget it. Completely exhausted, we reach our starting point of Valleraugue after almost three hours of descending in the last light...
More photos in the gallery...
Text: Tobias Kurzeder, Jan Sallawitz, Holger Feist | all photos: Stefan Neuhauser
