Richard and Mark 2rrs led this fine excursion (9km and just over 300m) on a perfect day from La Givrine (1207m) to Cabane Rochefort (1385m) for lunch and La Genolière (1348m) for coffee and tart. Conditions were pretty much perfect. A crisp, cold morning blessed us with blue skies and warming sun, with plenty of snow in similar excellent condition.
Six punters including Mark 2tts, Mervyn, Philip and me, set out with a large hairy blighter called Kobie. Generally throughout the day in my opinion the dog was as well behaved as the punters. The SS trail meandered up eastwards to Combe Grasse in two large snow-crystal bowls.
There were few folk about and spirits were high. Kobie could not wander too far from the trail as he would otherwise sink into the slightly crusty snow.
We ascended the easy ridge with alpine views up the the Cabane Rochefort in time to establish ourselves on the only clear table in the sun, with a fabulous view out over the lake to Mt Blanc. The Cabane being closed, we were free to picnic with our own beverages, and Guatemalan rum quickly made its presence felt again. We are now into stylish Stanley shot-cup technology as initiated by Rob, but they don’t work well with hot coffee..
Very soon the quiet of our day was somewhat disturbed by a band of 40 or more teenagers out on a school snow-shoe expedition and who had chosen to lunch at the same Cabane. Somehow this disturbed our quiet, but not us, and indeed Kobie had much fun trying to beg for additional nutrients.
White and red wines, coffee and some sausage sticks, cherry tomatoes and crisps, sandwiches and fruit, with plenty of treats for the hound.
Having covered rugby, cricket, the Winter Olympics, Boris and partygate, Brexit, COVID pandemic, Scottish independence, the coming economic crunch, Ukraine, gardening and a toast to absent friends, it was time to leave. Happily the crowd of students had departed and we were quickly on our way over to La Genolière for coffee and promised tarts. It was busy but we waited a few minutes for a table. Kobie played with his chum the resident hut doodle resuming their play from several previous visits, the first a year ago.
We spent a pleasant further hour or so outside at La Genolière over coffee and fine apple tart, albeit Mervyn’s chosen vin cuit tarte was admittedly somewhat diminutive.
There remained a pleasant amble back through the forest avoiding the main walking trail, albeit it was a tad unpleasant for me as my (already troubled and overused) knee-tendons gave way just before the cars. The pain was worth it for the great day we had had. I am now in recovery mode. Kobie is fine. With thanks to those who put up with him, especially Mervyn who had a neck wash on the drive up.
PS For those who heard it, the impenetrable Monty Python RAF banter goes like this:-
Idle : “Bally Jerry, pranged his kite right into the howsyourfather; Hairy Blighter, dicky birded, feathered back on his sammy, took a waspy, flipped over onto his Betty Harpers, and caught his can in the Bertie”.
Palin inter alia : “Sausage Squad up the blue end ?” and “Bunch of monkeys on the ceiling, sir! Grab your egg-and-fours and let’s get the bacon delivered” and “Cabbage crates coming over the briny?” etc..
