OK, I admit it: I am obsessed with a hairpin.
It’s become an annual tradition to stop a few kilometres below Col de la Croix Fry and take a photo. There is a set of recycling bins at the hairpin that make a perfect platform for my little tripod, and the views of L’Etale are always inspiring.
This favourite hairpin over the years:
It was a beautiful sunny day, and after cycling up Col de la Croix Fry, I descended back to my favourite hairpin and took a few photos.
This was a short loop. A couple of other ideas: 1. A 77 km loop including Croix Fry, Col des Aravis and Col du Marais and 2. The west side of Plan Bois, then Croix Fry, and Col de Merdassier
From Manigod, I turned off the main road and descended down to climb the great, but not-well-known, Col de Plan Bois. It was the first time climbing the east side. It’s less than five kilometres long, but at times very, very steep. It’s a scenic, very quiet climb.
The tougher west side is a superb “long-cut” for heading up Croix Fry – but note – unlike the higher Col de la Croix Fry, the top stretch linking the two sides of Plan Bois is closed in winter (making a fun adventure possible).
Col de Plan Bois was the site of my Christmas Card a few years back:
2 Comments
Excellent 🙂
A variation on this, and some of your other suggestions, is from the megeve side. I’ve been staying around there and went from Megeve via Flumet.
worth mentioning is that the run down from Le Clusaz to Thones isn’t much fun. partly because I’m a lightweight when it comes to fast descents but it’s also busy and there’s a quarry near the road which adds to the traffic.
From there I looped round, up the Croix Fry and back. Given how hot it is here it was good that a few cafes were open!