September 15, 2021

Hike to Crêt de la Dame & Mont Pelé (Allonzier-la-Caille)

Earlier this year, at the beginning of summer, I went on a short hike to Crêt de la Dame and Mont Pelé, in Allonzier-la-Caille north of Annecy.

Mont Pelé is the small mountain that can be seen from Pont de la Caille when looking towards Allonzier. I couldn’t find a hike report or guide about it online so I went to check it out, walking a loop through the two mountains.

▲ Mont Pelé seen from Pont de la Caille.

Here is a map of the path I walked:

In the morning, I boarded a very early Car Région bus (line T72) from Annecy to Allonzier-la-Caille. The name “LIHSA” for the intercity buses I often take has been retired since the beginning of September: The same buses are now known as Cars Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes - Haute-Savoie and usually have a Y prefix before the line number. I took that specific bus so I would have 4 hours to complete the loop and take another bus on the way back to Annecy. With later buses there would have been a long wait for the bus on the way back.

Once in Allonzier-la-Caille, I headed towards the trail to Crêt de la Dame, which I had already walked a few times, but only in the other direction. There was no view at the summit but there was a good viewpoint on the way down: Lake Annecy could be seeen. Once at Clef des Faux, I started on the trail towards Pont de la Caille but, at some point, I took a fork to the summit of Mont Pelé. The path started as a dirt road then became a trail for a short while. After that, it kind of disappeared, although there seemed to be some faint tracks here and there. Anyway, the forest was not very dense and the terrain not very steep so it was pretty easy walking. On the way to the summit, there were a few viewpoint on Crêt de la Dame and Allonzier. There was no view at the summit. After that, I walked down off-trail towards Allonzier-la-Caille in order to complete the loop. That part was quite steep. I then walked back to the bus stop to take the same T72 in the other direction.