Tag: France

This weekend I went with a group of CERN colleagues to La Dent d’Oche mountain which towers over the south of Lac Leman. Actually, it was not the first time I was in this neighbourhood as we did Pic des Memises with Radek just a couple of weeks earlier. Well, apparently Lac Leman doesn’t like me and hides its beauty from me because we didn’t have the best of weather (just like earlier with the Memises). Nevertheless it was a decent hike, with lots of technical parts and really nice company.

Once we reached Shalet d’Oche we could see Portes d’Oche (Door of Oche) which we would later see in close up on our way back. Also, the route becam way steepier and the clouds became to lower over the valley so we decided to speed up a bit not to be in the mist while on the summit. The route to Refuge d’Oche was not long from that point but pretty difficult, with vertical climbs equipped with chains.

The refuge was situated a bit below an actual peak so we didn’t stay long there. Only a glance at Lac Leman and off we go hiking to the cross – not a long distance but quite a challenging ascent.

We didn’t have a perfect view on the top but not the worst either.

 

At last… Let me tell you about my (first this season) a trully summer-like hike. With no storms, no hail, no fog, no mud… With a perfectly dry trail and super clear sky! And on top of that, the most awesome hike I have ever done so far. Ladies and gentlemen, Pointe d’Almet!
I went on this hike with CERN colleagues. We started from Col de la Colombiere and lost the route almost immediately (despite having gps coordinates and map!) We ended up literally climbing up a vertical wall without any gear. Pretty scary (a prelude to the later „really scary”).

45 minutes later we were basically still at the level of our car park, except a couple of metres higher. But the view was already very nice.

We continued on through roofs of the mountains in order to reach a ridge that would lead us to Pointe d’Almet. We lost our way again and ended up hiking through rocks and places we shouldn’t be hiking… We also had close encounters with bouquetins (wild goats with big horns). Fortunately they were friendly and understood that we came in peace 🙂

Once we entered the ridge we could see really marvelous views. Wherever we looked we saw something magnificent. Valley lakes on our right, Pic de Jallouvre and Aguille de Verte (that last one is known to us – see this post) on our left, and long and thin ridge in front and behind our back…

Soon the trail became even more demanding. We continued walking on a narrow path along the cliffs, frequently using our hands to find the balance and support in these difficult conditions. But boy it was real fun!

Cross of Almet was situated right after a tiny but deadly pass between two peaks. We really needed to focus and try not to fall into a chasm while crossing it. That was scary but once behind us, gave us a good deal of a sense of achievement. We spent some time by the cross and continued on along the ridge to actual summit which was situated some distance further.

Our hike continued in more or less the same conditions (cliffs, steep and narrow climbs, chasms – this kind of stuff) until we reached the end of a mountain with no path leading down. Bummer 🙂 Fortunately, the weather was good so we could make a cross-country descent through a grassy slope.

A rather rapid descent on a grassy slope:

Once down, we had still a long way to cover – we went along the footstep of the mountain that we earlier had gone through the ridge. It was nice seeing it from a larger perspective.
All in all we did 16 km but it’s not the mileage that made this trip my favourite hiking experience so far. A mixture of thrill, calm, snow, green, sun, chasms, grass, cliffs, rocks… I hope to do more hikes like that.

 

The snow started right after we did the chain passage. We were actually both surprised by the amount of it! Fortunately, it was very wet and heavy so we could pass through only with a bit of vigilance. A couple of minutes before the summit we could see a breath-taking view on the Alps, still covered in snow.

We made a pause by the cross but it was only the beginning of our trip so we didn’t stay long. Our round trip was supposed to go up to La Tête, then along the ridge of the mountain (which is actually pretty long) and then down at the other side and back to the car at the footstep of Le Parmelan. So we left a rather crowded top and went on a deserted hike along the range… We didn’t descent so there was snow everywhere – something that we hadn’t expected. It was very difficult to follow the path because there were few foot trails and the snow was hiding the paths from us. It was also hiding the wholes in rocks, so we really needed to watch our feet. The fact that we were the only human beings around was also a bit disturbing… If other hikers didn’t dare to claim the ridge, perhaps we were too bold?

Despite the uncertainty, we enjoyed the views – Annecy valley on the right, the Alps on the left. But it was no carefree hike and it actually became an opposite of carefree when we had to admit we had lost the trail. We reached a point there were only rocks and chasms around and what was worse, we really didn’t know how much time we had followed a goat trail instead of a marked route. We had no choice, we had to backtrack. Fortunately, at some point we spotted the correct trail, something like 30 metres under us. The problem was, we didn’t see any possibility to cross this distance at it was almost vertical, through rocks. In the end, we spotted a place that was good enough for us, so we took the risks and… slid!

As much fun as it looks in the photos, it was actually a scary experience. It’s not easy to control a slide like that and we had rocks and wholes covered by snow around. I felt a great relief the moment I found myself standing on the marked trail. From that moment our route continued rather calmly, even though there were pretty steep passages ahead of us. Nevertheless, nothing could frighten us afterwards.

I have been craving for a good weather hike for a while and had high hopes that would be the one! Well… it wasn’t exactly what I craved for, still better than the last ones weather-wise. Crêt de la Goutte is a summit in Jura range, just a 15-minute-drive from home. I chose it because it’s close, fun, and low-altitude (I don’t want to wade through snow on the routes). I was also glad that I could share this hike with my friend Kim who is a keen walker (and runner) herself.

We started off from Fort l’Ecluse but were unable to find the path up, so we went on the planned route clockwise (except counterclockwise). At the end of our hike it turned out that we had been just right by the track, we even looked at it, but we just didn’t believe it was a trail (it looked nothing like it – being wild, unmarked and steep). The path was very mild in the beginning, going through fields, meadows and forests. The weather was nice in general, pretty unstable though. At some point we saw a gloom of storm chasing us, fortunatelly we managed to get away only with a bit of a drizzle. I mean… that time 🙂

At that time… because just a couple of quaters later, right before the summit, we had to face a drastic weather change and make through the hail. Well, that was new 🙂 You can imagine my disappointment, struggling to get to the top, already tired after a couple of kilometres, and not being able to see the views around… again! Fortunately, we stayed a couple of minutes at the top and the sky started to clear a bit, in order to become completely visible after we have descended.

 

 

We soon left the plains behind and entered a forest, following a path that was well marked with cairns (stone pyramids) that came in handy, especially on the wilder parts of trail. Every now and then we sidetracked a bit to see stunning rocky cliffs.

At some point of walking we found ourselves above Fort l’Ecluse, with a charming view on le Rhône river and Vuache mountain range.

 
From the point you see in the photos above, we basically went down… Like, vertically down 🙂 The path we entered was very steep and definitely very wild!

That’s Kim in the bushes…  I mean on the trail.

While hacking through the shrubs, we heard thunders and were wondering how far the storm was from us. At some point we reached a viewpoint that terrified me a bit.

Having seen the doom, we accelerated a lot to soon find ourselves at the fort. From there only half an hour left to the car. Uff, the storm has passed sideways.

Put off by our last hiking experience when we had to turn back because of snow on the trail, this time we chose something less risky – Croix du Nivolet of a not-so-stunning altitude of 1547 m. Although it seems mediocre in here, actually it was a wonderful trail, filled with many attractions.
We started the hike from a forest path that soon led us to the plains at the footstep of the mountain from where we could see our destination – the Nivolet Cross which towers above the neighbouring city of Chambery.

Soon we approached a vertical wall of the rock. We already knew what was coming – fun chains passage and a ladder-ish installation that made our way on the mountain.

From there we quickly reached the summit through a crowded path full of families with children that chose an easier route. A beautiful panorama spread from the top – on Lac du Bourget, Chambery, Aravis mountains and Alps in the background. We made a well-earned pause before choosing a different route for a descent.

Our descent started  through a forest. We were coming forward to a vertical rock and you can imagine our surprise when we were close enough to see people climbing it. That was thrilling to me!

It’s not really visible but in the very centre of the photo above there are people climbing (just right from the cave). They are just attached to the vertical wall…  Anyway, we were soon to something similar at a close-up. We continued our walk and soon got to a La Doriaz waterfall. That was stunning! The water sprung from the rocks and just a couple of meters above there were people hanging on the rope, climbing down after cave exploration. I mean… how cool is that?

Our path continued along the cascades of water until we reached the fields that were situated beside the village we parked our car. I have to say that was a really awesome hike.