June 8, 2021

Hike from Pont de la Caille to Mésigny

In the winter of 2020, I went on a hike from Pont de la Caille to Mésigny, crossing the Usses river using a smaller bridge.

Here is a map of the path I walked:

In the morning, I took a LIHSA bus (line T72) from Annecy to Pont de la Caille. I first made a detour t the bridge: I crossed it to the Allonzier-la-Caille side but then went back to the Cruseilles side. I then went on my way down towards the Usses river, in order to cross it using a smaller bridge. On the 1:25000 scale IGN map, it looked like that bridge was called Pont Vieux (Old Bridge) but it didn’t look that old. It seems that label was for the ruin of an older bridge a little downstream from the bridge I used. After that I went up to reach the village of Allonzier-la-Caille. I then walked towards Clef des Faux between Montagne de la Mandallaz and Crêt de la Dame. I walked a little bit along the Mandallaz but soon took a fork towards Choisy. After a while, I entered the forest. In the morning, I had intended to go all the way to Col du Mont Sion but there didn’t seem to be enough time for that. So instead, I went west to Mésigny in order to take another LIHSA bus (line 22) back to Annecy.

▲ The old Pont de la Caille (Pont Charles-Albert).

▲ Gorge des Usses.

▲ The newer Pont de la Caille (Pont Caquot).

▲ In Cruseilles, on the way down to the Usses river.

▲ Highway bridge.

▲ There was a lot of graffiti below it.

▲ Ruin, with Parmelan in the background.

▲ Below Viaduc des Usses, built for the Annecy-Geneva highway.

▲ The bridge I used to cross the Usses.

▲ Usses river, which flows into the Rhône near Seyssel.

▲ Passing under the Viaduc again…

▲ … and again. Here I had planned to simply walk to the dirt road above but there were fences blocking the way. I should simply have passed through, but I tried to find a way around. I did but I had to go through some dense bush.