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Another beautiful autumnal day, another hike.

This one was organised at short notice to capitalise on the unseasonably warm and clement weather. In the event eight of us were seduced by the idea of the annual amble up Le Môle, some old faithfuls and some for the first time.

Those participating: Bill, David, Mervyn, Mark 2Rs, Michael Ma, Nathan, Philip, & Ross.

Apologies for absence received from ten more, including the hiking team leader and several of his deputies. You were all missed.

The day dawned bright and we assembled at our usual muster station, the Divonne Lake parking, at 9am, all except the honorable member from Arzier who was waiting at the parking on the other side of the lake. (Note to the organiser: spell it out more clearly).

We loaded into two cars to travel the one hour journey to the start of the hike at Chez Béroud 1160m, a few kilometres beyond St Jean de Tholomé. Le Môle had been visible, a lone peak, for almost the entire journey, but from the car park was now obscured by thick forest,

The path up starts wide and stoney and with a moderately steep and steady gradient. This warmed everyone up and we were soon shedding excess layers. At a junction we wrestled with the choice between steep and very steep. Being without the “A team” members we opted for the former and in less than an hour later we reached the isolated farm at Le Petit Môle 1534m for a photo stop. We had got tantalising glimpses on the way up through the forest of the Vallée de l’Arve far below us, but now we had reached open pastures with a clear vista of the distant alpine peaks from Mt Blanc and stretching west.

The broad south facing grass covered mass Le Môle now stood before us with several path options leading to the summit. They all looked steep but the ground was dry so we headed up the middle at various pace. The breakaway group reached the top, 1863m, at 12:30 and set up camp for lunch at our usual spot – the Wine Bar (see photo). Only one bottle of Côtes du Rhône between eight this time and no sign of the GIN bottle of Many Spirits; almost a temperance hike! It was quite windy but the visibility was superb and the anticipated 360° panorama did not disappoint. This really is an exceptional vantage point and banished memories of our ascent in the fog a year earlier.

The descent took us by way of the lower summit cross, along a narrow ridge and then down a steep and rocky path. There were vestiges of snow clinging to the north facing flank, which seemed incongruous in the prevailing warm conditions, but perhaps a reminder that winter is not far off. Upon reaching the Petit Môle we retraced our, by now weary, steps to Chez Béroud. We had noticed at the start a café which one of our number with sharp eyes and an optimistic outlook thought might open at noon.

It was by now 4pm but, perhaps……….?

Yes! It was.  Beers and panachés were ordered and quickly downed by us thirsty hikers as we sat outside watching the late afternoon sun set behind the trees and reflecting on a grand day out – perhaps the last of the excellent 2025 season?

Distance 10km (24,500? steps for some)

Denivelation 740m

Beers  courtesy of Nathan (for which many thanks)

We had hiked last week but as I had planned to be absent on 13 Nov, I chose to organise an impromptu (tonic) hike up the two peaks north of La Dôle.

A large number of excuses and apologies with varying levels of credibility were proferred, all were accepted – I’m a generous soul (I think). Six of us turned out, eventually at the starting point.

This is not a place for a dispute as to the location of the start of this hike. I will simply relate the following.

My Flyer stated :-

“Meet just after 10 at the parking above St Cergue at Couvaloup de St Cergue (W3W ///piglets.decency.duke), for an ascent of the Pointe de Fin Chateau and the Poêle Chaud. 

Ross has done this with me earlier this year but I believe no one else has ever been up the path which goes directly up to the P de Fin Chateau. It’s not much above 400m of up but as it is steep I would rate it as moderate-hard.”

In the event one of our vehicles struggled a little to find the parking – and first tried the “Couvaloup de Crans” – a totally different place. We were indeed starting at W3w ///piglets.decency.duke (Michael found that piglet.decency.duke is in a Moscow suburb).

The parking is actually at 1151m at the “Refuge de la Barillette” the large black building in the photo above. I would own that there is a board at the parking which indicates that one is at L’Archette, but that does not tie with the maps, L’Archette is up the hill.

We finally got sorted though. Michael Mathews came on his e-bike, and by car came Nathan, Mervyn, Peter Strebel, new initiate Chris Newton, and me and Kobie.

We were swiftly underway, the vibe was good, the weather set fair with a bit of high cloud and intermittent sun expected later, temperature reasonable, little wind. The team were guided onto path Code-Red. Large splodges of red paint signalled the narrow path upward through pine and deciduous forest at a persistently steepening angle. We stopped a couple of times for short breathers but the trail relentlessly led upwards until finally one emerges into the open pretty much at the top of the Pointe de Fin-Château, 1556m. We had made the 400m in not much over an hour.

Once we all had recovered our breaths and rested it was time to leave, wandering down then on up the grassy ridge in still air to the Pointe de Poêle Chaud 1629m.

We enjoyed a very pleasant 45 minutes or so, sheltered from the slight breeze below a summit mound. Côtes du Rhone oiled the sluices and I did not have a choking incident. We drank to absent friends, one very far away, one with health issues. I was pleased that newly-retired Chris fitted in so well with our hike culture of reasonable effort and Last of the Summer Wine. I was also pleased that Kobie did not succeed in nicking anyone’s lunch. It seemed a very convivial affair, as are nearly all of our mountain picnic lunches.

It was all too soon time to pack up and return to the parcours. A unanimous decision was taken not to hike up La Dôle, we have all been there many times this year.

Descending to the Col de Porte (1557m) we headed down the trail towards the Chalet des Apprentis. All of a sudden a large herd of chamois appeared ahead up the slope to our left. Kobie decided to make their acquaintance and he scootered off up the hill in pursuit. The herd tracked back across our PdPC skyline and they dislodged a large rock which came tumbling down above me. Happily I could judge that it would miss me by a few metres and I watched it bash noisily into an old tree stump. We watched fascinated as the bulk of the herd traversed the Col de Porte and danced swiftly across the steep ledges underneath La Dôle seeking escape from their lumbering golden pursuer. Kobie soon could be seen returning down the path we were on, sensible lad. He needed a lot of water to quench his chase.

The Leader had decided that the more interesting return leg would be over La Barillette (1528m), albeit one of our party decided on the more direct route to return to the cars – perhaps for a sleep (etc). We were soon there having taken the skirting path to the right avoiding the steep ascent from the Bent Tree.

From the tower the route tracks down the road to the Barillette restaurant (closed – much to the chagrin of an old couple who had just driven there- they said that the internet indicated that it was open…).

We were soon back at the cars, rejoining the member who had taken the easier descent option for a snooze. We were back before 3pm and siestas were the order of the day at home.

I really enjoy this parcours and it was made infinitley better by fine company and really nice November weather. The views were stunning and the whole day will linger in the memory into the dark depths of winter. I think Chris enjoyed himself too, new and younger life for our club.

I had recorded 9.1km and 559m – my watch/iPhone Session said – “Moderate”, albeit I had had 31 minutes above Zone 1 heart rate (112bbm).

Thanks to you all for the company and for putting up with me and my hound. Kobie slept well that night, no doubt with vivid dreams of chasing chamois to no avail.

The hike last week was cancelled owing to persistent rain. So this Thursday with the BLeader being in the South Atlantic no biking was arranged and instead a delayed hike was organised. Following Mrs Pashley finding the excellent, recommended and newly made “3 villages path” (above Bassins, Le Vaud and Marchissy) recently, Jill and I hiked it and I spotted a possible new section of forest to explore upward of this. Hence 6 of us with 2 hounds assembled at Marchissy (883m) at 10.15 am ready for an ascent to Cret de La Neuve (1494m). I had reckoned on 611m of up (simple math really).

Attending : 6 :- Peters Strebel, Solomon and Taylor; MikeH; Ross; RichardS; with dogs Kobie and Rocco. I had apologies from many, some ill, some away, some busy, some just chilling.

Happily the paths above Marchissy are now well mapped and signposted and it seemed that my target of Cret de la Neuve was reached simply by following the Sentier du Coq, then heading NW up the ridge.

The forecast was good, and so it was a little disconcerting to be starting in the mist, the cloud had yet to lift. We set off in good cheer though following the wooden Coq signs, gently upward through the autumn forest colours.

At one point we had to leave the Coq path and take to tarmac as loggers with noisy chain saws had closed the trail. It took about 2 hours to reach the top of the Jura ridge at the Perroude de Marchissy hut, with tell-tale (and very small) signs of the snow that had fallen recently. We turned right and wandered up the sunny slope to our old favourite lunch spot at the Cret de la Neuve.

A bottle of Bordeaux helped to relax the party and stopped me from choking on my sandwich. One hound perhaps ate too many of my chews too quickly and made an offering to Richard, which he then consumed (again). We met a courageous young lady (from Paris) there who was cooking up her lunch on a stove. Her pack included a tent and she was solo en route from Marchairuz to St Cergue.

Topics at lunch were many and varied. We toasted absent friends and one member told his favourite Margaret Thatcher joke – when visiting a care home she asked an old lady in a wheelchair – “do you know who I am?”. The old lady replied “I don’t know love, but if you ask at that desk over there they will tell you”.

Richard dug out his famous bottle and several of us benefitted from some Russian vodka.

The cloud rose as we moved to go and it suddenly got chilly.

The descent, after a first steep section, was long and uneventful, easy angled with much walking on wide trails and some tarmac and the sun came back. At least this enabled plenty of chatting, and we were soon back at the cars, well before 3pm.

I think we all enjoyed this one, visting an old haunt (for some of us) from a new angle, moderate hiking, in fine autumnal weather. My measurement today was 616m denivellation and 14km. Thanks to attendees and to those supplying photos.

For the sixth time in the modern (GIN) era, the classic hike on the shores of the Lac de Joux was planned for Thursday, 9th October.  It was billed as a relatively easy outing which might have attracted a larger response from the hiking community, but in the end just eleven of us embarked on the trip as several “would-have’s” were otherwise occupied, along with some regulars who were either incapacitated or off on their travels.  Seven of us (Mark 2rrs, Mark 2tts, Nathan, Stephen, David, Rob O’Riordan and myself) met at the Divonne parking.  Rob had just descended from St Cergue by public transport only to be returned by private mode. Our delight in seeing that there were none of the usual queues up to the autoroute was quickly dampened by the slow-moving, sometimes stationary, traffic on the said road.  Messages were exchanged advising of  possible late arrivals at the L’Orient parking place, where we met up with the four (and a half) remaining members (RichardW, Andrew, Thatcher, MikeH and Rocco).  Rocco ran around greeting everyone, but was obviously confused that his mates Kobie and Nessie weren’t present.

The weather had been sunny on the plain but as we had reached the summit of the Col du Marchairuz, we encountered the cloudy conditions which unfortunately persisted for the rest of the day.  The leader communicated the bad news that the little red and white train for the return trip was out of service, but the good news that there was a conveniently-situated bus stop which would enable us to be ferried back to the cars.  It was also noted at this point that there were three virGIN members who hadn’t participated in earlier hikes in the area.

So we set off, somewhat delayed, which may have precipitated the cracking pace set by the first two in the group.  However, everyone managed to keep up with the young bucks at the front and there were occasional stops to admire the views across the lake and take in the bird life and Autumnal colours which had been promised.  One common topic of conversation which seemed to prevail were the latest exploits of the Orange man and whether his efforts to bring peace would prevail, and if he would be subsequently rewarded by the Peace Prize.  Nobody fancied a swim except the brave Rocco who didn’t stay in for long!

The trail, which varies between grass, road, wooden boardwalk, pavement, soft woodland soil and rocky paths, follows the edge of the lake until there is a steep uphill section rising about 80 metres in a series of switchbacks to a welcoming seat which served a very useful purpose. 

Upwards and onwards

Tucking in

A bottle of excellent red from Puglia was produced (many thanks, Stephen) as well as a variety of snacks, which were gratefully consumed.  Sitting forlornly on the bench was the GIN bottle who would remain untouched until much later in the day

Conscious of our tardy start, we continued into the woodland section hoping to see large herds of chamois, but were somewhat perturbed to see several groups of fellow hikers in both directions which may have scared off the wild animals.  However, the leading members of our group, including an excited Rocco, did soon espy a small group of chamois disappearing off to the right.  Although we didn’t encounter the 70-odd herd that we saw last year, we did eventually come across a gathering of 10 individuals who seemed quite happy to munch away even though we got quite close.

The path down to the lake level is quite steep with rocks and roots, which is slippery even in dry conditions, so the team became a bit strung out with the leaders obviously thirsty and hungry, probably in that order, marching off along the Le Pont promenade towards the Brasserie des Combières, our lunch spot. 

Beers brewed less than half a kilometre away were quickly ordered and sampled and we were pleased to see that a selection of “chasse” was on the blackboard. 

About half our number opted for one or other of the game options and a couple of bottles of red were consumed, although we agreed that the quality was not up to Stephen’s earlier offering.  Our twelfth honorary member, the GIN bottle, was passed around and several partook of it’s contents of Stolnaya vodka.

The buses back to the cars run hourly and with the 14.30 departure not being an option, 10 of us bought tickets online or from the driver at inexplicably different prices for the 12 minute trip leaving at 15.30.  Rob took his chances that trains would at least be running northwards to Lausanne so headed off to the station.

Our total hike was 12.5 kms, somewhat less than last year, but hopefully just as enjoyable.  Total ascent was 180 metres.