TU4EVER

July 5th, 2022 : Our 205 climbed all the way up to 3000 m !

Col Basset - Sestrières - Lago Nero - Bardonecchia - Colle del Sommeillier - Rifugio Scarfiotti

📏 Distance : 93 km (a little bit more with some detours)
⛰️ Positive elevation : 4042 m (800 m more for the bonus mountain pass)

To be completely honest, day 3 itinerary read 93 km, but in reality we almost drove the double. The day started off by the end of the Via dell’Assietta. Photos speak for themselves, this track belongs to our top 3 of the most beautiful ones we took during our journey.

With this truly amazing landscapes, we decided to take a small break while some other crews were fixing carburetor issues. The altitude is very demanding for the cars.

Before we started to drive again, a little engine check-up was mandatory just to be sure that everything would be fine for the rest of the day. The view from there was unmatched !

Everything was fine, we took the road again.

After climbing all the way up to Col Basset, we went downhill to get to the town of Sestrières, from where we kicked another mountain climb off, on the other side of the valley. We used an old military road named Strada Militare 79, which was very shaky… this portion of the road seemed long to access to Lago Nero.

The more we progress, the tougher the road, until a portion where gaining momentum was mandatory to climb up this extremely dry and dusty track.

We finally arrived at the lake, where we enjoyed a stroll on the shore, while our 205 took a well deserved rest at the shade of a Pine.

Unfortunately, when it was time to get back on the road, we were told that the track we were supposed to take to get to the 7 colors Lake was closed to circulation. We didn’t have any other choice than turning around on this military road until we got to the nearest village, where we could circumvent the mountain by the valley all the way up to Bardonecchia. The detour done, the day was not over yet. We had to climb back up on the other side next to another lake, all the way up to the Rifugio Scarfiotti where we would set up our camp.

On the road to the Rifugio, we took a short break to enjoy a small stream with clean and fresh water.

This track is also very enjoyable on this side of the valley, and is photogenic as well.

We got to the Rifugio late afternoon. We had two different choices : the first one was to set up camp and enjoy the sights with a cold beer. The second was to climb a winding track all the way up to 3000 m height. Hey, days are long in summer. We chose the second option to climb up to Colle del Sommeillier, adding up 1000 m of positive elevation back and forth, for the challenge of bringing this Peugeot way over the clouds.

The beginning of the track went well. The surroundings are wild and beautiful. We drive up, and up, and up again.

As nothing scares us and we kept going, we finally reached the top. Proud of this accomplishement, we enjoyed a lot being there, taking photos, driving in the snow and in the puddles.

Time flies, the sun started to get lower and lower, and we finally started to go downhill to set up camp at the Rifugio. As nothing goes along plan, a rock destroyed our exhaust line as we were going down. Hopefully, we were very lucky as the rock did just hit our exhaust tube and not the gearbox nor the break fluid tubes. It could have gone way worse, the adventure could have ended up here for us. Another crew that went on the Colle del Sommeillier was not as lucky as us, because a rock cut open their fuel tank. But other crews stopped by to repair their tank quickly, so they could get down to the camp.

We finally got to the Rifugio, where we set up camp and ate. We enjoyed the last sun light, and went for a well deserved sleep.