Gentlemen in Nyon
Gentle tour of the Pays de Gex with nice lunch in Gex. Mervyn kept his shoe together with rubber bands, Mark finessed and Steve cruised it. Dave Gernand joined us for the first part and we look forward to more from him. We did a good turn too – we helped rescue an Italian driver with two front wheels firmly in a ditch. Pleasant biking in pleasant company. P
Gins Mervyn. Richard and Peter with aspirant from Evian, Freddie, scaled the Dent d’Oche which sits at 2222m (or 2221m). With over 1000m of denivellation, up some atmospheric heights, using chains and with some scrambling, this is an interesting and challenging hike. The chamois were not scared of us and provided some good photo ops. A memorable day with good chums. Thanks Mervyn for organising and driving, and to Brian Hardy and Denise for the showers, dip in the swimming pool and tea and cake above the Lake at Evian.
Ken Forrester organised an excellent lunch for 24 of us at this lovely Auberge. Unfortunately, views of the Alps were obscured by haze, but this didn’t prevent us enjoying a tasty, well-presented three course meal with plenty of lubricants to wash it all down! The ambience was, as usual, very lively with lots of animated discussions. Many thanks, Ken.
No Peter T (feeble excuse about being stuck in England due to cancelled flight), so ably led by Steve with Mervyn following and Mark GW bringing up the rear.
Similar route to previous trip: to Genolier, but not by the Abbaye de Bonmont, then onto Coinsins for coffee, then Gilly and Tartegnin for lunch. Slightly more direct route back.
Somewhere around 50 kms, longer for Steve and Mervyn, and about 400 m climbing.
Good cycling despite the severe heat.
Morning sail this time. Just Dave G, Rudi, Mark GW plus our own photographer, Lynda.
Absolutely dead calm at first so we motored for a while and then a slight breeze picked up allowing a very gentle sail. First of the season, only put the sails on last week. Brand new motor behaved very nicely.
Necessary re hydration at end
An also for our photographer and honorary GIN member
Thanks to Stephen for leading the hike which replaced the intended route above Morgins owing to mixed weather.
Taking the path from Chéserex up to the chalet de la Dole, breaking for lunch at La Barillette and descending to our starting point, we covered 27 km and 1000m dn. A good test for our molets and preparation for the season.
Participants: Stephen Long, Mervyn Powell, Robert Pashley, David Colledge.
Just 4 of us: Peter Taylor (leading), Mervyn Powell, Bill Westermeyer and Mark Watts (lagging behind).
To Vinzel via Abbeye de Bonmont, Peter’s 62nd time up this hill this year (but he’s not counting) and Mark’s 2nd (ever), and Genolier. Lunch at au Coeur de la Côte and back more directly. Perfect weather throughout. Only disappointment was the restaurant had run out of filets de perche.
Total trip just under 50 km with 400 m of climbing.
Creusaz above Bernex, Haute Savoie was the starting point for our second hike in 2019. Rising from 1200m our path took us mainly through woodlands to the summit of the Grand Mottay at 1730m.
Crossing over to the ridge of the Memises for our picnic, we then took the ridge walk of Balcon de Léman. En route we met a group of bouquetins before descending the Col de Pertuis down to Creusaz. Over beers afterwards we found we had clocked up 12.5kms taking 4.30hrs; only regrets, cloud cover prevented us enjoying the superb views across the Léman.
Had a good turnout of 8 hikers: Mervyn Powell, Thatcher Shellaby, Stephen Long, Mark Warren, Robert Pashley, William Westermeyer, David Colledge (leader) and Freddie Westbrook, an invited friend of Mervyn.
best
P