Les Logis d'Essaillon and Montagne de Peitieux via the Red Cross Col

Thank you very much for your feedback

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Date of your route : Feb 20, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hello,
Thank you very much for this lovely route around Nyons.
The trails are lovely, with plenty of single tracks.
The views of Nyons are stunning, as are those of the Baronnies mountains and Mont Ventoux.
It’s true that the climbs are quite steep and challenging, but hey, that’s part of the fun of this hike. You just need to take your time!
The section along the ridges is also very beautiful and offers superb panoramic views.
We had a lovely day, thank you very much!

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Thank you for your kind feedback

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Date of your route : Nov 26, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely route – from the heights I could see the view over Nyons and the Roman bridge; it wasn’t particularly difficult, but a GPS or the Visorando app might come in handy.
I didn’t see a soul, not even a hunter.

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Thank you very much
Kind regards

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Date of your route : Feb 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Hello,
Hike undertaken by a group of 10 people.
A somewhat challenging hike, especially the first two climbs.
Half the group wanted to climb to Garde Grosse; in the end, the total ascent was 1,102 metres.
The Coucou national forest is very beautiful. At Garde Grosse, we were treated to magnificent panoramic views over Nyons and the Baronnies mountains, between which we could see Mont Ventoux in the distance from an unusual angle. Whereas we are used to seeing it as majestic, unrivalled, standing alone and dominating the entire Rhône valley, here it was just one mountain among many! On the other side, Mont Racha and Rocher Garaux were clearly visible.
The descent path down the north face was slightly snow-covered but not very slippery, presenting no particular difficulty.
The second ascent was just as steep as the first, with a few sections along the cliff face but posing no risk.
A somewhat ‘challenging’ hike, but nonetheless magnificent!!!
Thanks to the author for this wonderful discovery.
roger

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Thank you very much

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Date of your route : Aug 19, 2022
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We did this walk partly because, at Les Mayets, we turned right to head back to the car.
BUT the section we did is absolutely MAGNIFICENT, with lovely paths and stunning views both towards Nyons and Les Pilles.
Definitely worth doing and doing again.
Thanks to the author of this route.

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Date of your route : Apr 10, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

I had already been on a hike in the Essaillon mountains and at Garde Grosse, but starting from Nyons.
So I wanted to revisit these places, but this time starting from the Col de la Red Cross.
The road leading there from Mirabel-Aux-Baronnies is very narrow for nearly 6 km. So take care!
I parked at the Col and set off on my hike at around 9.10 am. After the Church of Saint-Michel, you need to take the GR 9 and ignore the Yellow Cross on the signposting. Once I reached the spot known as ‘Le Double Lacet’ at 775 m, I started to have doubts.
The instruction to “follow the path” misled me. Should I have taken the GR 9 or climbed up to Grosse Garde? I ended up doing the latter, having turned back after initially taking the GR 9. A couple of hikers I met at the summit of Grosse Garde explained that I should indeed have taken the GR 9! But no regrets, as the view of the snow-capped peaks of the Dévoluy from Grosse Garde was well worth the 15-minute climb. I therefore recommend taking this little detour before setting off on the GR 9 from “Les Deux Lacets”. The descent takes barely 10 minutes.
It might be more helpful to mention the GR 9 rather than the term “path”.
After a long descent, I did indeed find the three-way junction mentioned in (3). Shortly afterwards, I came across a poorly marked path branching off to the left, so I took it. I therefore began my ascent towards the Montagne de l’Essaillon, but after about 30 minutes, I found myself on a sort of well-defined track, forming part of the “Des Bois de Lumière” route. Shortly afterwards, I arrived at the Col de la Croix rest area ( 709 m). I then climbed up to Montagne de l’Essaillon from the pass and walked along part of the ridges. I returned to the Col de la Croix for a short 20-minute break to eat. Then, a long descent along a track to a bridge before taking a path on the left. As indicated, I took a path on the right, but it wasn’t really narrow; it only became so after crossing the forest track. An easy climb up to Montagne de Peitieux before starting the descent back down to the A-road and the Col de Red Cross. Do not miss the small path (11), which is marked by a tiny cairn. I was back at my car around 2 pm, having taken less than 5 hours for this route, including the climb to Grosse Garde.
The elevation gain given in the description seemed incorrect to me, but on reflection, it seems to tally with my total route. The Col de la Red Cross is at 513 m, and Grosse Garde at 944 m, which gives an elevation gain of 431 m for this first section. After that, there must be less than 300 metres of ascent to reach the Montagne de l’Essaillon, and the elevation gain from the bridge just after the hamlet of Les Mayets up to the Montagne de Peitieux must be around 200 metres.
All in all, a lovely hike, quite wild, and very quiet.
The description is very detailed; it would just need to correct what I mentioned and provide more details on the direction of the path to take after the signpost (3).

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