After our somewhat wet outing two weeks ago, it was a relief to awake to clear skies and importantly, a favourable weather forecast for the day. Assembly points had been arranged at Divonne and Val Thoiry and we all met up in the church car park in Farges on time at 09.30 (five out of nine of us in shorts). Three early birds had managed to grab a quick coffee and pain au chocolat before we all headed off up the forest roads to our starting point at 1,254m. We hadn’t got far before the lead car had to stop whilst Andrew removed a tree trunk and branches that had fallen across the road. Our cars survived the potholes over the 12km and we set off in good spirits up a jeep track taking advantage of a couple of shortcuts.
Once we had cleared the forest at about 1,400m, we started enjoying the wonderful countryside and views along the Jura. Shortly after passing the Chalet du Sac, we espied the Dent d’Oche peeping above the morning clouds across the Léman basin. Our path was not too clearly defined and despite the dearth of signposts, we attained our first summit – the Crêt du Miroir. This merited a small celebration so a nip of grappa was offered to all. There were still a few clouds around and a cool wind and we were grateful that the sun’s warmth cancelled out the low temperatures.
Another unnamed summit beckoned which gave us a view over the not-so-beautiful town of Bellegarde and the more attractive rolling hills of the Jura westwards. We then headed for the Crêt du Milieu and we tried to resist the temptation for more celebratory drinks as we could see that our lunch spot was not too far away. However, a bottle of vin blanc miraculously appeared and quite quickly, the contents disappeared! As is becoming our custom, any fellow travellers on a mountain-top are offered a glass of wine and three delightful ladies from Paris were duly supplied. We were later thanked with a large piece of local Tomme cheese.
Our next stop, the Crêt de la Goutte, is the highest point of the Crêt d’Eau complex at 1,621m and the orientation table there made an excellent bar on which to place the various bottles that had been kindly provided. As usual, the orientation table showed all the peaks through 360 degrees, as well as distances to various famous cities.
However, the only explanation offered as to why Brighton was the only town in the UK mentioned was that it was Mark 2rrs’ birthplace! On such a clear day, we had wonderful views and according to Wikipedia, we could see:
la haute chaîne du Jura, le lac Léman, le lac du Bourget ainsi que le lac d’Annecy, et les massifs du Mont-Blanc, des Aravis, des aiguilles Rouges, de la Chartreuse, du Vercors,
des Écrins, des Alpes bernoises, et de Belledone.
Lunch and a number of excellent Italian reds were consumed and what – more excellent grappa! Somehow, the Absinthe provided by Paul earlier was untouched and lives on for another day. We then swarmed down the mountainside reaching the strangely-named “Pierre à Fromage” which just seemed to be a faded wooden signpost
After that, maybe because of a strange lassitude, the route instructions became somewhat vague and with no discernable paths, we decided to go cross-country in the general direction of the cars. After reaching the ski installations that rise from Menthieres, we descended on a long ski slope that could be classified as red, or possibly black, finally reaching the Chalet du Sac where we rested a while in the warm sun with some of us in T-shirts.
We retraced our steps back to the parking spot taking the two shortcuts we had taken on the way up, although David and Mark 2rrs took an additional one which took them below the cars. A few phone calls and whistles later they appeared just as Mervyn discovered thathe had lost his fleece with his car keys and credit cards. After much discussion, it was thought that he had left it at the Chalet, so David kindly offered to ignore the no-entry sign on the rough jeep track and drive him back in his 4×4. We were extremely relieved to receive a triumphant call to say that said garment had been found intact!
It was a splendid hike of some 12 ½ kms and 760m with magnificent views, visiting an area that few of us knew well. There was much evidence of diggings by wild boar, but no fauna was spotted other than other hikers enjoying the area. However, the famous Jura nudist, seen a couple of times previously by one member, failed to make his presence felt. Many subjects were discussed as usual and a unanimous vote was taken on a certain independence issue. We lamented the absence of some of our regular hiking camarades.
Attendees: Peter, Mervyn, Marks 2rrs and 2tts, David, Stephen, Thatcher, Andrew and Richard
(leader)
Next Hike – 14 October 2021 – Le Salève (weather permitting) -leader Mark 2tts.