11-Nov-2005 -- After parking close to a bread oven in Chantelouve, we hit the trail (alt. 1200 m) at 11am. An hour walk in the forest led us to a first mountain pasture with a green shepherd cabin (alt. 1800 m). At 1:30pm, we took a lunch break at the second cabin (alt. 2080) at the base of the long inclined mountain pasture right below the confluence. The approach started to get strenuous when we finally got to 45N06E(alt. 2400 ), only 10 m from a steep ridge leading to the Petit Renaud summit, 200 m higher.
The whole hike has been really enjoyable thanks to the clear sky and the mild temperature. Only at the end of the route back we had to hurry a bit to avoid the coming darkness (6pm).
From a geological point of view, we enjoyed great outcrops all along the trail which wings entirely on the calcareous Lias formation, a dark detrital limestone. The beds have been tectonized into remarkable flysches. The resulting N-S accordion folds are dramatically illustrated on the Sommet des Clottous, South of the Petit Renaud, and on a fold hinge 50 m above the confluence point. We took note of the undergone deformation by looking at fossils found along the trail. An ammonite is flattened by a 4/5 ratio. This picture of a truncated belemnite is an other illustration of the deformation due to the stress.