Autor: Ania

Pit stop: Vevey

As Radek and Michał were riding round Lake Geneva, we decided to meet them somewhere half way. After a short discussion we chose Vevey for our meeting point. This little city is well known for Charlie Chaplin who lived and died there, as well as for propagation of the slow and healthy food.
When we arrived guys were already there waiting for us at the lake shore. We grabbed a bite, talked for a while and then they wanted to move on having still quite a distance to cover. So I stayed with Magda and walked around the city.

I liked the walk a lot as there where many little details about this place that made it unique and very vivid. When we went past the old part of the town, we moved on to the shore again and continued along a promenade, admiring various statues and installations scattered all over. We didn’t get to see the alimentarium museum – this will have to wait for our next visit!

Wine tasting in Féchy

We’re very happy to host in our place our best friends Magda and Michał. I just can’t imagine not taking them to wine tasting – it’s always so much fun! We planned to visit a lot of caves, but as usual, we overestimated our possibilities when it comes to visiting those places and finished up seeing two. I won’t write „just” two because two was definately enough 🙂

We decided to go for a new destination – Féchy. It’s a very small place but full of vineyards. Our first one – Domaine La Colombe turned out to be a real hit! We stayed there for over an hour, chatting to the owner, getting to know all bits and pieces of wine making and of course… tasting! But I also appreciate the artsy part of those tours. Each cave has its own unique style, full of little quaint wine-making related art items.

From there we moved through Féchy to find another spot to sit. What a lovely village! It’s situated on a hill from where we could see Lac Leman and the surrounding vineyards.

Most of the places were already closed since we overstayed our visit at Colombe Cave. We managed to find one place though – Cave La Goutte de l’Amitié – which welcomed us with open hands. It was a completely different place than the previous one. It was small and living up to the expectation of its name („Drop of Friendship”). We were greeted by the two elderly owners who sat with us by the table and drank the wine with us as we tasted their makes. That was really nice and on top of that I got to practice my French!

We would love to stay longer but it was getting late and it was time to get going back. As we bough a couple of bottles, said goodbye and left the place, we were stunned by the rainbow over the lake. I imagine it should happen quite often here, yet I don’t remeber having seen it earlier. Bye, bye, Féchy!

  

Haute Cime des Dents du Midi (3257 m)

This is a biggie… Our first mountain over 3k elevation – Dents du Midi – well known around for rewarding hikers for their efforts.
I have planned this trip for long. I knew this would be a cherry on a pie this year, I talked with many people who tried hiking it. I didn’t find it suspicious that all of them said it was a very easy mountain and yet, none of them had actually made it to the top! Now I kind of understand it more…
Dents du Midi is a series of seven summits, Haute Cime being the highest and the only hikeable of them. 3257 m – that what it is!

We started by a clear blue skies, on a beautiful morning, and soon reached lac de Salanfe. Haute Cime was towering right above the lake, inviting us to continue on walking. Boy, we were really excited by this hike!

The greenery was gradually perishing, leaving us with rocky views.

Most hikers split this trip to two days, staying overnight at Sulanfe hut. We decided to have all the fun in one day, which would be around 9 hours and over 20 km in distance. Thanks to this approach we were kind of the only ones at the trail up, since all other mountain lovers were already descending when we were in a quarter of our way to the top.

Col de Susanfe and its lunar surroundings. Already tired but not yet expecting the difficulties to come…

We went past all the hikers at Col de Susanfe and began our lonely duel with the mountain. For the first time in my life I experienced this feeling of a battle with still nature. The fact that we became the only ones on the trail was menacing to me. The weather was getting worse and worse. We had a very strong wind (I checked later, it was around 80 km/h) and clouds were lurking in. The shortness of breath became more and more apparent due to lack of oxygen but the worst thing was – we lost the trail! Technically the mountain was easy – that’s true. But in the end most of my colleagues who didn’t finish this hike said they would turn back because they were lost. And it’s true, it was very easy to lose the path and unfortunately we did. We ended up hiking on a gravel that made us slide down with every step. I don’t want to sound dramatic but it was a real challenge to us to fight these conditions.

 
The pictures above are taken from Col de Paresseux – Pass of the Lazy. I guess the name is taken from the fact that many people turn back at this point. We continued, but the final 200 m were dreadful. Clouds finally covered the view, we were exhausted, cold and anxious about being alone in the mountains. But we made it and I am very proud of that.

We had no views at the top but we were so tired we didn’t even care. Now I do care of course 🙂 It’s a pity you can’t see the abyss below the wobbling cross that made me hold my breath. I have to say, I did feel reassured when we started descending.

Tour of Rochers des Fiz through Col d’Anterne (2257 m)

I officialy claim this my favourite hike till now (but I do have a couple of exciting plans so the detronization will be possible). Rochers des Fiz is a mountain chain very close to Mont Blanc that we decided to get to know inside out. And so we did a ~27 km hike with elevation gain of ~1600 m going round the huge massif of Fiz with Col d’Anterne as our destination point. The variety of terrain struck me, but no wonder, as we covered all possible directions, sun expositions and different elevations.
We started gently by the woods, through the chalets and up to Passage du Dérochoir which was a fun scramble up ladders and chains.

Clouds were trying to creep in but dissolved by the time we reached them. Mont Blanc accompanied us every now and then (playing hide and seek behind the clouds).

Soon the landscape changed as we started struggling through plain rocks and boulders. This topography is always fun!

Before reaching the vertical passage we had a final chance to gather strength and courage, and have a peek on Mt Balnc.

So there it is… Anyone has vertigo?

And finally – reward – namely the views at the other side of the rocks. A beautiful green valley awaited us. After a vertical climb we could enjoy a mild descent and then flat parts at the foot of the mountains.

When we reached the end of the valley we were exposed to yet another change of topography – countless waterfalls. They were huge and numerous and I loved them! We didn’t linger too long though as it was not even half of our way yet.

From there we made a turn and had more meters up of hiking to reach the other side of the mountain chain. After a while we could see the famous wall of the Fiz mountains. Very impressive.

From there we had yet another hike (we were hoping it would be the last one but it wasn’t) to reach Lac d’Anterne. So, a final look on the refuge and another view change.

By this time we were pretty exhausted and we still had a final hike to Col d’Anterne ahead of us. On top of that, the weather was changing and we were afraid the showers that were forecast might actually occur. So we gathered our strength and continued. At the col Mt Blanc reemerged but we rushed down very quickly. On our way to the car we had a couple of drops but the thunders we heard in the distance didn’t reach us fortunately. We were to tired and in a hurry to do photos though… In any case, that was an awesome hike!

Col des Verts (2500 m)

I am very disappointed by the weather this year (almost to the point of frustration) but I try not to be held back because of it. And sometimes it is good to go hiking in unobvious conditions because you get to see marvels like the one above.
Our today’s destination was proposed by our friend Agnieszka and it’s a pass just right by Pointe Percée – a holy graal of hikers around since it’s one of the most difficult summits you can claim without specific gear. Well, you will read about Pointe Percée in my posts to come but this time it’s about Col des Verts which was actually easy and agreeable.


We started in the clouds, first on soft paths in a valley but then soon through hard rocks and stones. We didn’t have much of a view but that would change a bit on our way back.

We quickly reached the refuge and and continued to the right. At some point hope had lightened our hearts as we began to see sunny spells and blue skies patches. Soon the mist cleared completely revealing Pointe Percée and Col des Verts in its full bloom.

As we continued to the top the views became more and more stunning. We left the clouds behind our back and enjoyed the first real sun in some days.



The final part of ascent was pretty technical but short. Radek went first and as he reached the pass before me he shouted with delight. That kept me reassured! And indeed, I also couldn’t help but just whisper „wow” when I saw the other side.

We stayed on top a longer while, Radek even went to check out the path to the neighbouring Pointe Percée but capitulated shortly when it turned out it was basically a climbing route. When we started descending the clouds raised a bit and the valley below became a bit blurry but still breath taking.

Since the clouds moved a bit higher we had a chance to see some of the views we missed going up. Lovely…

007 jump

To do list: 007 bungee jump – check 🙂
The story dates back to 2010 when I was in Switzerland and heard about the famous James Bond jump for the first time. Do you know GoldenEye movie? In its opening scene 007 agent runs away from villains by making a jump of a dam. That dam is located in Switzerland, close to Locarno and is open for public stunts. I didn’t go to jump in 2010 because Radek couldn’t join me and we decided this was a moment we wanted to share. So the dream stayed in my head and heart until this day!
Before I continue the story have a look at our jumps:

We decided to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary by making one of our dreams come true… and doing something utterly awesome and crazy. We organised a trip with a couple of other CERN colleagues and set off for adventure!

The jump was crazy, it really was! But we were really happy to do it. It will be one of those experiences that you will never forget and be proud of ’till the rest of your life.
So, 1,2,3, JUMP!

La Roche Parnal (1986 m)

Is there a better way to celebrate your 6th wedding anniversary than a life threatening experience in mountains? Well, I don’t know because I chose the risky way of commemoration… But from the start… I chose la Roche Parnal for our today hike because it was close and not too long and we didn’t want to spend the whole day in mountains. As usual, when I saw some nice technical parts of the route I got excited and decided to go for it… Well, that was the first time I have underestimated a mountain. Hopefully my last one!

That’s la Roche Parnal as seen from distance. Looks innocent!

The supposedly fun part was Col du Cable – an exposed place equipped with chains and spikes. The spikes were there to put your feet on while crossing the passage. There were a couple of problems though… Firstly, the weather was nasty. It had been raining a lot earlier and everything was wet and muddy making us slide on almost every surface. Secondly, the spikes were not evenly hammered, the distance between them was big and sometimes there were none whatsoever.

It was a rather dramatic venture to cross this passage. One false move
and we would find ourselves dangling at the cable with feet down over a
10 m almost vertical slope. Our shoes kept sliding from rocks and spikes
because everything was wet so we needed to watch our every step.
Fortunately, noone died and it is one of those experience that once you
are passed it you are able to laugh at it. Once past Col du Cable we soon reached the summit. A bit of bad luck though, because 5 minutes before reaching the top clouds came in and covered the view entirely for around half an hour.

We didn’t wait till the clouds disperse and started walking down. Of course, the clouds dispersed shortly after 🙂 On our way down we encountered lots of wild goats and a groundhog.

We kept moving on a muddy path, trying our best not to fall down. That’s Radek balancing on the route.

We soon left the rocky parts behind us and continued on through fields and grazing cows back to the car. Indeed, a very good way to celebrate our anniversary!

La Tournette (2351 m)

Our longly awaited La Tournette hike has finally come true. Overlooking Lake Annecy, La Tournette is a nice mountain having a lot to offer. The ascent starts rather innocently but we had nice views practically from the beginning.

The actual summit is this square block at the left side of the chain:

The weather was perfect for hiking – rather warm but no burning sun. Thanks to that we reached the ridge quite fast and continued on walking on higher altitudes.

And here it is – Lake Annecy. From that moment on it accompanied us on our tour more or less all the time.

At last we reached the square block of La Tournette. It didn’t look hikable but I already learnt that everything is hikable here! In this big cube of rock there was a little crack at the back. This is where chains and a ladder were installed so that wanderers could reach the highest point.

 

As usual, we made a little pause at the top but at some point we felt little drops on our noses and decided to get back. Fortunately it was a false alarm because what was ahead of us wouldn’t be very pleasant in rain. And what was ahead of us? Chains, ladders (ok, one ladder), vertical passages… I didn’t expect that our descent would be so technical! We all enjoyed it!

At some point the sky cleared a bit. Yey! But that was already when we were already at the foot of Tournette.

Oh yeah, did I mention we encountered tons of wild goats? They’re always soooo cute!

Route de vignoble in Dardagny

Switzerland is well known for wine, cheese and chocolate. We like to delight in all these three little pleasures. Today’s trat: wine. We took our mom to wine tasting in the nearby village of Dardagny. There are thousands of vineyards around and majority of them (if not all) can be visited for wine tasting. Dardagny is a perfect location to indulge in the God’s liquor since there are a couple of them along one street.
Not only is it interesting to try different wines of the region, but it’s also fun to talk to wine producers always shedding some light on the curiosities of their vocation and getting to see different wine tasting rooms (each of them being decorated in different style and nature).

La Dôle (1677 m)

We are resting our legs after a Tuesday hike, before a more challenging weekend plans. Radek took half a day off and we decided to hike La Dôle (1677 m) – the second highest summit in Swiss Jura. It was supposed to take 4.5 h but we were in a hurry and we did it an hour faster. We gave the most of us – not really good for the whole 'resting idea’ 🙂 Anyway, the hike was marvelous. Starting from the skiing fields, we had a beautiful view on the plateau, surrounded by the cowbells sounds. The ascent was very mild and pleasant.

La Dôle is well known in the surroundings as it’s easily visible from almost every place at the north west coast of Lake Geneva thanks to its dome – which is a meteo station in practice and looks like a huge football ball.

The view from the top is spectacular! I think it will become my favourite guest hike because it’s relatively easy and the panorama on the Alps and whole Lac Leman is just breath-taking!

We stayed for a while at the top – actually it was the very first time I didn’t feel like continuing the trip because the view was so nice. And ironically, we were in a hurry that day so we couldn’t stay too long. Anyway, the clouds started to threaten us a bit so in any case we needed to descend.