pile.org

2017 E5 walk, day 25: Beignon to Trémelin

Section 6, Day 25
Beignon
2°9′6.6″W
47°58′42.3″N
Trémelin
2°1′40.3″W
48°6′4.0″N
low 44 °F
0.02″ rain
high 63 °F
49,500 steps
19.0 miles

After making my way back up to the GR 37 trail, I immediately crossed into the Ille-et-Vilaine département, the easternmost and least-Breton part of Brittany.

The trails of the eastern Brocéliande are kind of a mess — lots of sub-trails and local trails loop around, for day walks into the (admittedly lovely) forest. Fortunately, the GR 37 goes relatively straight, and the trails are well-signed, so I rarely had trouble following it.

Dappled light falls on a signpost to the northwest, in front of ivy-covered trees. Signs point back to the right (a PR, with a single horizontal yellow stripe), back to the left (a GR, with a white stripe over a red stripe), and ahead to the left (both a GR and a PR). Through the trees, we see what might be a field and more trees, with blue sky above.
This trail sign shows a PR (promenade & randonnée, a trail for day hikes) heading east-southeast to Plélan-le-Grand, the GR 37 north-northwest (later swinging around northeast) towards Saint-Péran, and the GR 37 and a PR south the direction I came from.

I left the trail again at the crossroads in the picture above, this time to visit the town of Plélan-le-Grand for groceries, pastries, and crêpes. Then I wound my way north towards Saint-Péran and beyond.

Another signpost stands next to trees at the edge of a large field to the southeast. Signs point ahead to the right (a GR), ahead to the left (a GRP, with a yellow stripe over a red stripe), and back to the left (another GR). The sky is mostly filled with clouds.
Southeast on a GRP (grande randonnée de pays, a local long-distance trail) to the Vallée du Berein, north on the GR 37 to Saint-Péran, and south to Plélan-le-Grand.
A brown stone church stands to the east-southeast. Its windows are mostly small and high, and its steep roof and steeple dark grey. A paved road passes by to its right; across the street and at the intersection down the road are two- and three-story buildings of the same stone. The sky is overcast.
Église-Saint-Péran, in the village of the same name.

Later in the afternoon, the trail did a weird loop through some rocky terrain and into a steep valley (labeled on the map as la Chambre au Loup — “the wolf den”!). The markings were unclear, and I think I ended up following an old route of the trail, since I walked right alongside the Ruisseau de Boutavent rather than up above the valley as shown on the map.1 However, I ended up back on the trail at the northern end of the valley, saw some older couples fishing, and hiked up the steep valley wall (exposed and rocky, and frankly a little nervous-making) and back along my way.

The campsite for the evening was at a mostly-closed recreation area at the north end of the Lac de Trémelin. The site was expansive but (as far as I could tell) had no other guests. I arrived after the office was closed, checked their opening time for the next morning so I could pay, set up my tent, and slept well.

Map of the day’s route.

  1. Supporting my theory, the trail was very poorly maintained, such that at one point I slipped and soaked a foot in the river — my first foot soaking on the whole walk, which is a pretty good record. ↩︎