La Rasse to Villers-Le-Lac: Day 165

A walk through and above the Doubs gorge today, with an impressive waterfall.

Leaving my camping spot at 7:00 am to an orchestra of birdsong, I continued close to the river, steep wooded slopes and cliffs, rising beside me. Moss, flourishing in the damp air at the valley base, covered trees and older rocks beside the path.  Newer rocks, not yet colonised, must have recently fallen down the overgrown scree beside me. Periodically, the rocky path encountered fisherman's cabins. Although not occupied there were fishermen about, I encountered a few on the path with their rods. Last night, in the dusk after I had made camp a couple had been heading downriver in their boats, although it was more of a lake than a river due to the hydroelectric dam downstream. 

Above the lake the river resumed its frothy, tumble over rocks. There was a hydroelectric power station on the Swiss side but no dam, I assume its head of water came from a tributary that once entered here. The valley was so narrow, and the land each side so much higher, that a funicular had been built to service the plant. 

Moss covered trees and rocks beside path.

The power station was opposite a wooden shelter the "Abri du Torret". Beyond it the riverside path was subject to rock falls, so the GR5 headed steeply up the valley side on a switch back path among conifers and beside sections of cliff. I was glad to reach the top when a road and then a forest track took me gradually back down towards the Châtelot Barrage or dam. There was a good view of the barrage and the adjacent limestone cliffs from the car park. To reach the barrage itself there were several flights of shallow steps which allowed me to loose height relatively painlessly. A number of runners passed in the opposite direction. 

Doubs Valley by the Châtelot Barrage.

Beyond the barrage lay another artificial lake. I followed the lake as the valley curved around to reach a striking point where rocky headlands on each side of the valley approached each other, markedly reducing the lake's width. I wondered if there had been a waterfall here before the barrage filled the bottom of the valley with water. I had to walk to the end of the lake to see the waterfall at Sant du Doubs, although my main interest was the kiosk which sold me a Coke and Magnum Ice Cream. Suitably refreshed I returned to view the impressive waterfall with crowds of day trippers. From the kiosk and restaurant by Sant du Doubs the path climbed up to a road, from which I could look down on the lake that filled the incised meandered above the waterfall. A few pleasure boats were giving tourists a tour of the valley from the level of the water. I imagined that the Jura mountains rose up as the Alps to the south were formed, and the original River Doubs, with its wide meanders, cut down into the rock as it rose, keeping pace with the buckling of the earth's surface.

Sant du Doubs Waterfall, note the people for scale.

Incised meander of Doubs.

The remainder of today's walk followed an easy road walk to Villers-Le-Lac, which I appreciated as my left knee was struggling to bend, having had enough of rocky paths and climbing up and down the valley side. I had put on my knee support while drinking my Coke, but thought it unlikely to completely resolve the problem. 

I am now settled in the Hotel de France. As its restaurant is closed Sunday nights I had dinner in a Kebab place followed by a lovely, blonde bière in a bar.

24.4 kilometres walked today based on my GPS, although some of the readings were erratic due to the narrowness of the valley making it difficult for the GPS to read the satellite readings correctly, I deleted the erratic points. Total ascent was 910 metres.