Mark Warren SS Leader writes :
The four members first meeting in Divonne and two plus Kobie going directly arrived at the Givrine parking rendezvous in good time for our scheduled 10am departure only to discover that the new pay parking system was creating more problems than the cost. The metres do not accept debit cards (the card operators charge too much for the liking of the Commune), the Twint QR card had been removed (what vandalism in St Cergue!) and there was little to no wifi connectivity precluding the use of the App “easypark”. (NB in future walk up to the station where 4G is stronger. Ed PT). There was however a traffic warden present to supervise the five or so cars in the carpark (one had a parking ticket) and to witness our plight and to enable Nathan to negotiate free parking. But all this came at a cost since we didn’t leave until 10h20.
This season has been particularly bad for snow shoeing. We started off with winter wanders before any snow arrived and then only had arguably three “proper” snowshoe outings before we were out hiking again, albeit with some slippages. Although it had snowed Wednesday morning, the restaurant and the webcam indicated that it had all melted so we traipsed off at hiking speed only to discover there was much more snow hiding round the corner, including some still in the trees. Not enough to warrant our absent snowshoes but deep and fresh enough to give that lovely crunchy sound made through walking on fresh snow. Animal tracks were clear (hare and wild boar).
It was lovely in the sunshine and we went to that extra post across a field, reaching the chalet Pré du Four for a pause, taken in the traditional GIN way.
A quick phone call to the restaurant to ensure a late arrival wouldn’t create a lunch problem enabled us to enjoy the view of the Mont Blanc range for longer, then off we went on an easy snow covered path to Chez Mamac for our lunch, which we took outside, starting with welcome beers and cheese with cold meats.
Chez Mamac is famous for its trifon – a fondue saucepan partitioned into three parts – enabling a choice of three different cheeses. The usual intellectual conversation scarcely covered Scottish independence but included Crédit Suisse and other banking problems, Shackleton and antarctica, and end of the snowshoe season and start of the hiking one. As the baker from St Cergue had delivered insufficient tartlets, we moved directly from main course to coffee.
Despite the temptation to take the train, we unanimously decided to leg it back to Givrine, which was mostly over snow! And so freak blizzards aside, ended the 2022/23 snowshoe season with a snow hike.
Mark handed the gavel back to Peter for the 2023 summer hiking season. Next hike 30 March 2023 – La Vuache led by Philip.
Participants: PeterT plus Kobie, NathanF, MervynP, RichardS, StephenL and Mark2R
Distance 11km; height difference 320m.
PS – Many thanks to Mark for leading us through this relatively snow-free winter. We had some memorable outings. We look forward to more in 23/24. PT et al.
