Tence to Tournecol Previous | Books | Cave de Lablachère | Films | Index | 日本語 | Pics | Training | Via Gebennensis | Next

10 September 2026 - Tournecol

There was no rain, but my tent was not dry in the morning either. I broke camp about 7AM and headed up the hill. Around an hour later I stopped in Pouzels to replenish my water, brush my teeth, and take my vitamins. One of the hardest things for me when I get in a driving mood is to stop and do the little things. Part of this journey is about learning to stop. Atop the hill at Saint-Jueres, there was a nice little town but sadly no café open to find my morning coffee. So I continued without a break down from there and then up again to Araules, where there was a boulangerie to stop for coffee, a croissant, and an orange.

Araules

At this point one starts getting into the volcanic region of France, which I started to notice with the hills having steep, symmetrical sides. Pic du Lizieux is probably the first to exhibit this characteristic of volcanoes. Then there was the climb up into the forest of Meygal, where the dirt and rocks underfoot really start to change to obviously igneous ones. At Raffy the trail provides quite the scenic overlook to the valley below with dozens of volcanic peaks. And then at Queyrières the town is built around a tower of basalt columns from the core of an old volcano. Not quite as impressive as The Devil's Tower in Wyoming, but still quite exciting. I ate my sandwich for lunch there.

Several times today when I was stopped or they were stopped I met a couple from Grenoble who walked out of their front door and don't plan to stop until Santiago. They are also camping and I first saw them whne they passed my campsite in the forest above Bourg-Argental a couple days back.

The downhill from Queyrières to St. Julien-Chapteuil is pretty easy, but mostly in open fields so it was important to stop and re-apply sunblock. Along the way are some incredible views. I stopped there for a couple hours to read and avoid the heat while enjoying some beers. As the evening came I piyked back up my backpack and headed back out, stopping at the grocery store on the way out of town. It's important to always have a sandwich in reserve in my bag and a bottle of wine for the evening in my tent. The valley after town had some impressive rock formations, especially the basalt columns at Eynac. I camped as the sun was setting in a field just past the little ville of of Tournecol.