The Lente forest, the largest forest area in the Vercors (approximately 3,150 hectares), has been actively exploited since the Middle Ages, particularly in connection with the Carthusian monks of Bouvante. In the 19th century, the forestry administration developed access routes to the Vercors massif: the Combe Laval road was opened in 1896 to facilitate the transport of wood to Royans.
This scene is part of a transition phase in the Alpine massifs of the Dauphiné: exploitation was still largely manual, but increasingly organized by forest roads, before the motorization of the 20th century.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)