Vaucluse Backpack Ventilation Gear

My hiking adventures took me up the Dentelles de Montmirail, a chain of mountains in Provence in France, in the department of Vaucluse, located just to the south of the village of Vaison-la-Romaine.

The word, Dentelles, has its roots in the Latin word dens which means tooth. As you can see from the photos, this mountain range looks like teeth!

The Dentelles are the foothills of the highest peak in Provence, Mont Ventoux, which is situated just to the east. You can see more photos of this view which you can see on our Instagram posts. The dramatically jagged shape of their peaks was formed by horizontal strata of Jurassic limestone being folded and forced into a nearly upright position and subsequently eroded into sharp-edged ridges and spikes.

Overall, I highly recommend this hike because the views are absolutely stunning and there are trails for all kinds of activities. If you want to climb, you can; if you want a strenuous hike, you can; and, if you just want a nice stroll with a great view, there is that, too.

I wore my 22L Osprey© Talon backpack and equipped it with a Vaucluse Gear Cool-Dry Backpack Frame. The combination is great to keep your back dry and body temperature cool. Plus the frame protects your pack from getting soaked with sweat.

My wife and I hiked uphill most of the time until we reached the highest point accessible by foot.

The highest peak of the Dentelles is St-Amand, at 734 m (2,400 ft). The range, which is about 8 km wide, offers over 600 trails for walking, rock climbing, and mountain biking. The only way to the top is by climbing so we reached as far as we could with our hiking gear and then walked around the peak.

As you can see from the photos, the foot of the Dentelles is surrounded by the vineyards of the Rhône Valley.

We parked in the town of Gigondas, on the northern side of the Dentelles. Parking was free, but I recommend getting there early before all the spots are full. The trail paths are very well marked with directional signs and blue dots to help you get from one checkpoint to another.

Thanks to a great trail, we kept a good pace plus we paused several times to take pictures and explore.

Here are the data points for our walk using the Strava GPS app:

Distance: 4.90 mi
Time: 2:57:38
Pace: 27:45/mi
Elevation: 1,548ft
Calories: 850 (felt like a whole lot more)

You can discover more about our hike by following our Strava activity here.

This uphill hike definitely put my Cool-Dry Frame to the test. The best part of the Cool-Dry Frame was its ability to allow airflow between my back and the pack. I could definitely feel the cool breeze hit my back when I was on the South side of the mountain range. As my heart rate picked up (I should get a watch that tracks this), my body temperature definitely jumped up too, causing me to sweat.

As you can see from the photos, my back definitely did sweat. However, it also stayed cool and my backpack stayed dry. Just imagine how soaked my backpack would have been after this hike? Just imagine if it got soaked continuously after multiple hikes like this one? The Cool-Dry Frame protects a backpack from turning into a sponge.

Overall, I was very pleased with the results of this sweat check. I could keep hiking without having to take my pack off to cool down. As you can see from the Strava data, I kept a really good pace and made minimal stops.

Overall, the verdict after this hike’s sweat check is… The Vaucluse Gear Cool-Dry Backpack Frame kept me cool and my backpack dry.

You can see more pictures of the sweat check by visiting the Vaucluse Gear Instagram account.

You can also watch videos on our YouTube channel.

Hiking Up the Dentelles de Montmirail in Vaucluse, France

Part 1 of 3: Trail Check

Part 2 of 3: Weather Check

Part 3 of 4: Sweat Check

The Cool-Dry Frame by Vaucluse Gear

It's your best way to stay cool and dry with a backpack.