Sébastien randonne à Pierre-sur-Haute
Sebastien Giraud, in charge of hiking at the Livradois-Forez Tourist Office shares his crush on one of the most beautiful hiking routes in the regional natural park. The one going up to Pierre-sur-Haute. A beautiful and long hike that leads walkers through the wide open spaces of the Hautes-Chaumes, departing from Saint-Anthème.
At the highest point, at 1634 meters, the panorama is splendid over the Fossat glacier valley. But also the volcanic mountains of Cantal, the Sancy massif and, with a little luck, Mont Blanc.
A landscape shaped by geology
“Imagine that a glacier about 150 meters thick and 5 km long occupied the Fossat valley.
As it moved, it ripped a huge amount of boulders and earth from the walls. After the climate warmed around 10 years ago, the glacier melted to make way for a shallow lake.
Then, this was gradually filled by the deposits brought by a torrent. Today, you can still see traces of the passage of this glacier. Here rocky materials called glacial moraines; there isolated rocks, the erratic blocks. »
“All along this route, you walk between the Puy-de-Dôme and the Loire. »
“On the Forez mountains several centuries ago, you would not have discovered a vast expanse of grass. But almost continuous forest cover. Everything changed when man, a true landscape craftsman, began to gradually deforest the peaks. Thus creating pastures: summer pastures.
In the summer, the women guarded the herds of cows there. They made the incomparable Fourme d'Ambert in the jasseries, those little farms you can see in the distance.
Today, animals still go up in the summer pastures under the supervision of cooperatives and shepherds. »