Author: Mark Watts

We had originally planned this hike 4 weeks ago on May 22 but the forecast of rain and coolth forced us to adopt plan B, a gentle walk from Morges to Ouchy.

This time the weather forecast was great: wall to wall sunshine and temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees at the top of the gorge. But there were many apologies, ranging from “going to see a man about a knee” to fear that it would be too hot for hiking. After all the apologies we were down to a planned energetic eight. Then there were more apologies the night before the hike: two complained of stomach bugs, one with too much detail, and one feeling generally tired (turned out to be Covid so almost acceptable). So we were down to the fab five: Mervyn, Peter S, Ross, 2 Marks.

We duly assembled in Divonne at 07:45, climbed into one car and set off. The early start was in case of delays getting to, and on, the autoroute. In fact it took us 15 minutes to get to the autoroute. After that the journey was relatively easy and we arrived at Noiraigue at shortly after 9:30.

The station at Noiraigue has got a new loo, all high tech with an illuminated push button for every function (further detail suppressed). It was almost worth the drive just to inspect the loo, but that was not the intended purpose of the trip so, all booted up, we set off on the climb to the top of the gorge.

We soon entered the woods and then the path climbed steadily. Those of us familiar with this hike knew that the steady incline was just to give a false sense of confidence. Pretty soon we reached Les Oeillons where the path makes an abrupt left turn and starts climbing more seriously. The path from here is called the Sentier des Quatorze Contours and, sure enough, the path zig-zags 14 times before getting to the top. Each bend is labelled with a number on a tree (is this new? I’ve not noticed these numbers before) which is a great psychological help on the climb. Also the length of successive zigs, or zags, gets shorter so by bend 7 we are well over halfway up this section. At one point we found a, not very horizontal, bench and all managed to perch on it, with difficulty.

Eventually we came out at the top with fabulous views over the gorge.

From there it was only a gentle uphill, then downhill all the way, with plenty of photo stops, till we got to the restaurant for lunch.

We arrived a La Grand Vy exactly at the reserved time of 1 o’clock and found a pleasant shady table.

Ross had brought a picnic but joined us shortly afterwards with a maths problem for the resident geek.

Essentially take any 4 digit number and rearrange the digits highest to lowest and lowest to highest. Subtract one of these from the other to give a new 4 digit number and repeat the procedure. This ultimately produces 6174. I was asked to chose 2 four digit numbers and process them in parallel. By pure chance I chose 1357 and 2468 which both generated 6174 after a single iteration but I’m assured that any other 4 digit number, without repeating digits, will eventually get there. I’ve still got to check this out.
1375 => 7531 – 1357 = 6174
2468 => 8642 – 2468 = 6174

Maybe it was the high level maths, more likely the size of the main course, but nobody wanted the absinthe flavoured ice cream so we continued on our route. From here it is all downhill back to Noiraigue but the path is relatively steep and uneven so it was not a gentle stroll and took us a good 2 hours. Peter decided to take the train back as he wanted to meet his wife in Nyon so we were now down to 4 for the drive back. Naturally we hit the rush hour traffic at Morges and especially leaving the autoroute for Divonne but eventually got home at about 7.

About 14 kms hiking with 774m denivelation. A good hike in beautiful weather and well worth the drive.

Each year for the last 4 years we have had a hike early in the season to Sonnailley to see the fields of daffodils. A couple of times we arrived just after they’d finished and this time we arrived slightly too early. Still there were some daffodils on display and it was a very enjoyable first hike of the season.

Five of us: David C, Mervyn, Nathan and 2 Marks met at the parking in Divonne and drove up together to meet Peter, Steven, Ross, 2 Mikes: Hempstead and Mathews, and 2 dogs: Kobie and Rocko, at La Givrine.

It was a clear day with no prospect of rain but a strong, cold wind so we were all well wrapped up. After the usual fuss with the parking we were off. We walked up to Couvaloup de Crans, sadly closed midweek, and on to the top of the Dôle. Here we stopped, slightly sheltered from the strong wind, for refreshments. It being close to the birthday of one of the members a glass of crémant d’Alsace seemed appropriate.

On the way up we had seen about 6 daffodils so the prospect of seeing a field full of them seemed remote. On the other hand there were masses of crocuses.

The view from the Dôle was magnificent, we could see the whole lake and Mt Blanc in the distance. Sadly this is never properly captured in a photo.

Duly fortified we ventured out into the wind and began the descent to Sonnailley.

We’d got through the difficult bit of the descent and almost reached the plain when we realised we were semi dogless – Kobie was not with us. After much blowing on whistles there was still no sign so Peter went off on a hound hunt. The rest of us were on a gentle grass covered slope, in the sun and out of the wind, and it was already 1 o’clock so we decided to have lunch while waiting for the absent dog and master. This had been promoted as a daffodil hike and there was one solitary bunch in view with 5 flowers, somebody counted.

Peter and Kobie soon returned and we were treated to a selection of red wines courtesy of Peter, Stephen and Mervyn, followed by the inevitable black coffee from Mark. Some trouser legs were removed to reveal very white legs and all seemed well with the world as several layed out in the sunshine and maybe even had a sleep. Unfortunately our mean leader could not get comfortable so we all had to set off again towards Sonnailley.

We walked alongside the French border were the, bordering on illegal, entente cordiale hike had met up in Covid days, https://ginclub.website/home2/gentsinnyon/2020/05/31/hiking-section-ententes-cordially/, and finally saw some daffodils.

We then started the return via Sonnailley au Prince and a lovely path through the forest to arrive back at Couvaloup de Crans, sadly still closed, and on to la Givrine.

All agreed it was a great walk to start the season. 14 km and about 690 m.

The weather forecast promised a dry spell up to Thursday so it was suitable for a hike up the Salève via the Grotte d’Orjobet and back down via the Grande Gorge. Five of us duly assembled at the parking Le Coin and set off shortly after 10:00. Mervyn, Nicolas, Mike M, new member Peter Strebel and Mark 2Ts. The ascent was totally in the shade from the trees so felt reasonably cool and we made good progress with the occasional ooh and aah as we came into a clear patch and saw the views below.

Shortly after we were through the Grotte d’Orjobet with just a gentle stroll left until we arrived at our restaurant after a hike of almost exactly 2 hours.

We’d booked at the Auberge des Montagnards in la Croisette and they gave us a table with panoramic views over the alps. The food was up to the quality of the view and we left, well fortified, at about 13:30.

Our leader, me, then proceeded to get us lost, trying several descents from the plateau before we actually reached the Grande Gorge. Eventually, with the help of several phone apps, we found the correct path, further on than I had remembered and started our descent. This was as tricky as we remembered but we took it slowly, thought how much worse it would be when wet, and eventually got back to our cars at Le Coin where we replenished our energy with coffee, nuts and raisins before driving home.

A good day out, 12 km, 714 m height gain. All the ascent and descent in the shade from trees. Only the walk along the top in the sun, however this was longer than it should have been for which we blame the leader.

The weather forecast was not promising with severe weather warnings over most of Vaud so the leader of this event decided to keep this “hike” low and with opportunities to escape if necessary.

Just 5 of us assembled in the parking in Morges: Larry, Bill, 2 Marks and an Irish interloper -Arthur Grifith. Surprisingly none had walked the full path before. Despite the forecast, which was changing by the hour, the day started out dry but not sunny.

We started along the lake, past Préverenges to the Ile aux oiseaux which certainly lived up to his name. This was new to many of the participants and now includes two powerful, and free, telescopes to watch the birds at close up.

After many of the birds had been identified, but not by me, and the information panels scrutinised, we continued on to St Sulpice. This is the only section of the walk where the path leaves the lakeshore, just before and just after the church.

We would have walked past the church had Mark 2Rs not insisted we visit it and what a treat it was: built in Romanesque style in the 11th century and looking inside as if it is all original. This is a true gem and well worth a visit, thank you Mark.

Shortly after St Sulpice the path returned to the lakeside and we continued on to our lunch spot at les Berges de Vidy. By now it had started to rain so we donned waterproofs or raised umbrellas which miraculously stopped the rain.

Conversation, at lunch or on the walk, covered Irish reunification, the siege of Troy (Paris killed Achilles who had killed Hector), Philip Larkin and his Whitsunday poem, places to visit in Northern Ireland, whether we would be in time for the boat back from Ouchy and many other subjects which I’ve forgotten but will add when the participants remind me.

We left Vidy planning to catch the boat back to Morges and arrived at the quay in Ouchy just as it was pulling out.

So we originally decided to walk up the path from Ouchy to Lausanne station but there was a metro train already waiting for us at Ouchy so we caught it in order to just miss the next train to Morges. Eventually we sorted out tickets (the most stressful part of the day) and caught a train back to Morges and returned to our cars.

A very interesting, and even cultural, walk if not too strenuous. About 15 km with essentially no height gain. The storms came to nothing (but were violent during the evening) and the only serious rain was while we were in the restaurant.