Category: Hiking

The last GIN ascent of the Bellevue in Morgins was in September 2021. Memories from that occasion has meant that a repeat has been discussed many times since. Stephen was in Morgins for August 1st celebrations and so this seemed like a good occasion to ask the weather gods to be kind to facilitate the taxing straight up/straight down hike with the reward of a 360 degree panorama at the summit.

Despite heavy rain a few days earlier and cold and misty weather leading up to the planned date, July 31st started sunny with blue skies and little cloud as PeterT (+ Kobie), Mervyn, Mark2Ts, Ralph and Nathan set off from the Divonne car park. There were apologies from David and Thatcher who preferred to stay across the valley in Villars, several people claiming to be out of the country, one declination on grounds of excessive inclination and unfortunate withdrawals from RichardS and Rob on medical grounds.

Stephen could enjoy a leisurely morning and saundered down to the arranged meeting place for the 09.30h arrival. The core crew arrived ahead of schedule but the planned parking spot had been cordoned off due to Morgins’ preparation for the Fête Nationale, so some rapid arm waving was needed to redirect the cars to a suitable alternative. The group now gathered made a beeline for the local boulangerie for a coffee/tea to give time to mentally and physically prepare for the impending climb.

For those who had already been on this walk before it didn’t take long for the relentless uphill climb memories to come flooding back as we set off up the road. There was a fair amount of car traffic: a reminder that we hadn’t chosen the easiest means of ascent. However, we reached the Col de Culet base camp in good time with our backmarker taking his role seriously.

A break in the clouds with emerging Mark

Base Camp – Portes de Culet 1787m

The weather seemed to be taking a turn for the worse and even though there was no rain, the clouds were moving in and visibility was decreasing. By the time we reached the top after ca. 720m climb, admirably in under 2 hours, the panoramic tableau served only as a useful table for the refreshments and snack that people had brought.

Final push to the top and a false promise of blue skies.

Point de Bellevue (2042m) not living up to its name….. but a useful table

Cava and a Chilean Viognier served as useful lubricant to an assortment of sandwiches, crisps, nuts and some unusual dried chili mango. A toast was raised to our absent friends. A red wine was also available but was left untouched (are we becoming more sensible in our increasingly mature years?) and had to be transferred to a different rucksack, to someone with stronger knees, for the descent. Actually, knees and other bodily ailments were, as usual, a dominant subject of conversation during the day. Top athletes have been known to medicate for increased performance and this group was no exception….PeterT doing it overtly.

3 bad and 5 good knees heading down

On the way down going up.….

The clouds were starting to separate and we caught glimpses of the Dents du Midi with fresh snow on their peaks from recent days as well as the surrounding mountains. Stephen’s promise of “stunning views” was partly fulfilled. The decent down to lunch was steady and less severe than some of the climb and we arrived at the Ferrage alpage almost exactly at the booked time of 13.30h. The multitude of other clients were well into their meals and the car park indicated that most had missed out on the physical exercise pre-cursor. Beers were ordered and consumed and we relaxed in the knowledge that the hard part was over and that it was “mostly downhill” from now on. The Ferrage is not known for light meals and whereas some opted for the substantial fondue and röstis, even the light salad that Mark thought he’d ordered turned out to be sufficient for at least two. Natham probably was wisest in his choice of omelette.

Replenishing the calories

Small omelette, lots of chips.

Happy with his fondue

Yes, the Dents du Midi are over there

Desserts looked meaningful but with the prospect of tarte and biscuits at Chalet “Les Longs” we opted just for coffees before departing.

The descent in Morgins from the Ferrage always surprises tired legs and full stomachs with an uphill section and with a steep road section down to the valley before a final climb up again to “Les Longs”. These ensure that the total climb for the tour passes the 800m. Kate was waiting for us with tea, coffee and promised edibles soon prepared whilst Stephen found some of his homemade beer for those brave enough to try and not driving.

A final stroll back to the village centre to find the cars and complete the circuit. Electronic devices agreed that the total ascent was 814m, exactly the same as 4 years ago and just over 14km. Unlike Mont Blanc, the height of the Bellevue has not changed…..to be reconfirmed in 4 years’ time?

It was time to re-attempt the Parmelan, known to some as the Parmaham, others as the Parmesan. Here was the flyer :-

Dear GinHikers,
For this upcoming Thursday 17 July I am proposing to visit David’s old favourite, not the hard cheese normally grated, but – The Parmelan. The weather forecast looks to be dry. 

Le Parmelan

• Difficulty: Intermediate 
• Altitude: 1,832 m
• Ascent: 2 hours 00 min via the Grand Montoir
• Descent: 2 hours 00 min via the Petit Montoir
• Elevation Gain: 750 meters
• Round-trip: 9.0 km
• Map: IGN 3430 OT
• For viewers :- Richard found this YouTube video showing the itinerary:-
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlvRxdUu9Hg

Parmelan is one of the must-sees of Haute-Savoie. Visible from the surroundings of Annecy, its imposing cliffs dominate and make it a panoramic viewpoint that will amaze any hiker. The ascent by the Grand Montoir is delicate, with passages exposed to heights on a narrow and steep path. Although entirely secured by chains and ramps, the passage can scare people with a fear of heights; I thus advise the use of a rope.

The route I propose describes a loop which starts at the Bois Brûlé parking lot and descends smoothly through the Petit Montoir. The plateau of Parmelan is very sculpted by erosion as chasms and fissures form the lapiaz.

Starting Point: 45.952219, 6.222312

Ascent

On the right of the parking lot, the path gets into the forest and becomes quite steep very quickly. Follow the direction of Chalet Chappuis reached in 20 minutes and already offering a beautiful view of Lake Annecy and Dents de Lanfon. Turn left to reach the junction with the road coming from La Blonnière, and continue again to the left. After a good walk, the trail gives the right to admire Parmelan’s cliffs and runs down to the bifurcation of the Petit Montoir where you take a right towards the Grand Montoir. By entering the Grand Montoir, vigilance is in order: the pathway, although secure, is still difficult.

Indeed the weather was set fair with early clouds forecast to disperse leaving a clear and sparkling day.

Richard had some fore-knowldege of a buvette on the top, which might have attracted more punters, but after receiving many apologies and excuses, some tendentious, some robust, five of us and a dog turned up at the Divonne parking at 9.10am, with Richard joining us later at the start. At the last minute MikeH pulled out for medical check reasons.

Attending : Mervyn, Nathan, Ralph, Steven (Ralph’s brother – a photographer from Blighty and who has been on previous hikes (Incl Le Salève)), me and Kobie with Richard meeting at the Parmelan parking.

As we approach the mountain a herd of cows gave an opportunity to take this shot from the car:-

As we drove up the zig zag mountain road, cars in front and behind foretold that there would already be a number there and indeed it was a pretty crammed parking lot (at 1167m) as we arrived, but there was room for us all. Clearly the Parmelan was going to be busy today, but I saw this as a good sign in that here is a hike really well worth doing.

Richard arrived shortly after us and we assembled for the task ahead, 700m of up, steady at first but getting steeper and a little tricky in the Grand Montoir. The weather was perfect and the team were in high spirits, including Kobie who was pleased to be back in the peloton.

At Chalet Chappuis the views are expansive and give only a hint of what is to come. We continued steadily up stopping for a drink at the 1500m level before the path bifurcates, Grand Montoir to the right, Petit Montoir (and our descent route) to the left.

There are notices here that the paths are dangerous in winter when the gulleys are snowed up, as when twenty five years ago or more I recall they were badly verglassed and Jill and I retreated.

And so to the crux section of the Grand Montoir and I fixed Kobie on his leash. There were a number of parties ahead of us, but all moved steadily up in good humour.

The path steepened and some exposure began to be felt. A stout wire was available for pulling on or just for balance.

We zig zagged up the steep trail, passing some, allowing others past us.

We all regrouped after the main section and took the final steep section at leisure – well almost. Soon at the col, Kobie looked for shade while we regrouped again.

A notice stated that dogs should be on a lead as the chickens thereabouts are aggressive, so I retained him on the leash. The team all looked in good shape and I think had enjoyed the mild excitement of the steep path cut in rock. So we tootled up the remaining 80m to the hut at the top – the Chalet Hôtel C.Dunant, next to the Croix de Blondet.

There were quite a number of folk at the top, enjoying the fine views. As Richard had predicted the restaurant/bar was open and we went inside to escape the sun. Ralph ordered large beers for us all which were cool and refreshing.

Suitably refreshed we set off to conquer the actual summit of the Parmelan, not far off.

It was time for lunch and we found some suitable rocks close to some shade for Kobie. Some red wine was shared and we did toast absent friends. They were missing a real classic. Kobie benefitted from Richard’s suasage and apple.

We all agreed that the fluid from Richard’s bottle was indeed excellent. Sirin Lingonberry liqueur from Finland.

Well refreshed and in a merry mood we upped sticks and set off back down to the col. An alternative but longer route traverses the lapiaz, but this was not needed today.

We had some astounding views over to the big hills, with Pointe Perćee not too far off. It was warm and Kobie, having escaped from the aggressive chickens, took time to shelter from the sun.

We stopped as Steven expressed signs of cramp, and he took on some mag tablets. This would not have been of interest for this record but for what happened shortly afterwards. We set off back down the trail towards the Petit Montoir and within 5 minutes or so at the front I heard news from the back that Steven had turned back; he had left his camera on a rock when we had stopped. Very shortly after a young lady appeared holding Steven’s camera. We thanked her profusely. (Richard believed she had looked at the photos in the camera and recognised us from crossing us in her ascent).

All that was needed was to recover Steven. We called him by phone and he was soon reunited with his beloved camera, relieved if not over the moon.

The trail descends gradually and then traverses back under the cliffs to the junction with the path up the the Grand Montoir. It was here that the kind lady gave Kobie some water from her pouch. We moseyed on down to the Chappuis Chalet where chickens were wandering among the hikers.

On the final trail Kobie took an early bath.

We were soon back at the car and rehydrating. It had been a warm hike, getting hot finally.

We said farewell to Richard and all the other fellow hikers we had been meeting on the trail, before driving back to Divonne (1 hour, no trouble) and then over to Mervyn’s for some cool beer in the garden.

A super hike in great weather, fantastic views and great comapny. I had 701 m (not 750m ?) and 11.5km (not 9km ?). My monitor also showed I had got my heart into level 5 (145 bpm and over) for 30 seconds. This rarely happens on hikes…. And Kobie slept well that night. Thanks for the fun everyone.

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

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

It was to have been the Parmelan. But the weather forecast was not the best, albeit I kind of promised dry weather. So 6 of us showed up at 9.30 at the Divonne Lac parking, with Kobie. And Stephen met at 9.50 at Genolier, hoping for a gentle hike. I had hinted at 700m or so, with a gist of a plan to come down by train from St Cergue back to Sus Chatel.

Attending : Nathan, RichardS, Mark2ts, StephenL, BillW, Ross, and me PeterT, and Kobie. Apologies and excuses had been received from many, mostly plausible.

The forecast seemed to have worsened but almost 43% turned out in optimistic shorts.

We commenced by crossing the train track and heading up alongside the streamway where Kobie got some refreshment. After a slight break to take in the intimate stream landscape we continued on up, those at the front wettened by the close damp green leaves enfolding the path.

We soon arrived at Rob’s Gully, famous to the cognoscenti – which the team were rapidly becoming. At the top the path levelled out and a discussion ensued on prime numbers, in particular 17 which is a special number. And the fraction 1/17 has a coninually repeating 16 string decimal, a repetend.

153 is also an important number related to 17. Mark had some irrational pronouncements about rational numbers which none of us could make head or tail of. It all made for some light relief to the light rain which was beginning to fall.

No rest for the wicked and we continued up in what could have been Amazon rain forest. Muggy sticky and green.

The rain became a little heavier but it was not cold and we topped out at the Arizier Road in good order. A short stretch along the road, now partially in the cloud and driving rain, took us to the right turn which led through fields then into the upper forest. It was at this juncture in the lee of a large hedge, that the leader relented and offered the team a vote – to bail out and go directly to St Cergue for a pizza etc, as it was about midday already. We were saved by Mark’s phone which showed that the rain was about to end and that we could expect at least a two hour (relatively) dry spell. Vote cancelled!

What that meant was another 5 km and 300m ascent to the Fruitières de Nyon. The leader had a perception that the team were beginnng to become subdued, little was spoken as we trudged higher. A short revitalising stop was permitted before the final stagger up to the FdN under cloud and some wind, but no actual rain.

It was almost 1pm. We were alone and had several tables to spread out over, but huddled together for companionship.

At some stage black (or perhaps red) kites swirled over us in the maelstrom. A nesting pair of swallows were seen on the roof of the FdN itself.

A pleasant lunch, nobody choked so I (or they) did not need to use my LifeVac (I did provide a short demonstration just in case, as I had bought another soggy wrap from the Volg). Nathan helpfully suggested that I could reduce my choking risk by not choosing the soggy wraps. Mark offered strong black coffee and Nathan his Japanese whisky. Kobie had some good chews and part of a pork pie.

We were ready to go. The plan now was simply to descend to St Cergue the easist way, avoiding the intial steep and damp path. We took the road down.

We took the trail right past the youngsters on their zip wires at Basse Ruche and arrived in St Cergue at 2.38pm just after the train had left. Undaunted we tramped over to the boulangerie café (Le Ptit Gourmand) where Richard treated us all to a warm cuppa (each!).

Richard had not yet paid just as we realised we had 2 minutes before our 3.07pm train was due to leave. We held the door for him just as it was leaving and we settled down for the comfortable train ride back down the mountain.

From Sus Chatel it is only a short hop back to the cars.

Another memorable hike, which Kobie and I do quite regularly, but I found quite hard in the conditions. Both Kobie and I were exhausted that evening.

12 km. 740m or so of ascent.

---

Posting a Comment later from Mark:-

I can’t let an opportunity for a bit of maths pass so here’s what I think the guy was saying about 17 (already shared part of this with Peter). Also here’s a proof that any number with repeating digits must be rational.

1. The decimal expansion of 1/17 repeats after 16 digits
   1. Perform the division by hand. Write out a few lines
              0.0588
      17) 1 00
                85
                150
                136
                  140
                  136
                      4
   2. At each step there is a subtraction with the result (highlighted in red) must be less than 17. If the result is zero the decimal expansion terminates. If it is a repeat of a previous result the decimal expansion repeats from here. Therefore the repeat length can’t be greater than 16 
   3. In general for any integer, n, the maximum repeat length must be n-1 and is usually shorter. I believe it must be shorter if n is not a prime since if n = r * s the maximum repeat length should be the product of the repeat lengths of r and s, i.e. (r – 1) * ( s – 1) < n – 1
   4. The repeat length is not always n-1 if n is a prime.  c.f. 2, 3, 5, 11, also 13 (repeat = 6). So 17 is the smallest prime with this property.

2. Any decimal with repeating digits must be a rational number (ratio of 2 integers)
   1. Assume X has repeating digits with a repeat length of n digits
   2. X may have some digits before the repeat starts, e.g. 1/6 = 0.1666…
      Subtract off these digits and then multiply by powers of 10 until it is of the form 
      Y = ( X – X₀ ) * 10^m = 0.a₁a₂…a_na₀a₁…a_n…
      above is not strictly necessary but simplifies the next step
   3. Now calculate Z = 10ⁿ Y – Y = a₁a₂…a_n, an integer
   4. Now work backwards
      Y = Z / ( 10ⁿ -1 )
      X = Y / 10^m + X₀ = Z / { 10^m ( 10ⁿ -1) } + X₀ , clearly a rational number
      
   5. As an example  try X = 3.142857142857…
      X₀ = 3, m = 0 , n = 6
      Y = 0.142857142857…
      Z = 10⁶ Y – Y = 142857 an integer
      Working backwards we get
      Y = Z / 999999 = 0.142857142857…  = 1 / 7
      X = 3  1/7  =  22 / 7  

Once again, thanks for a great hikeand for some mental stimulation., Cheers, Mark

12 good men and true assembled at the Col du Marchairuz for our GIN hike. 2 hounds also assembled who were good in parts but not in the least true!. We had some extremely welcome participants who had not been available recently in the form of Rudy P,  Rob Pashley (again with non matching boots), Thatcher and Peter Drew. Stalwarts include Peter Taylor, Nathan F, Ross Linsley, Mervyn P, Peter Strebel, David Colledge, and Richard Saynor and myself. The canine section was as usual Kobie and Rocco. The weather was somewhat overcast and on the cool side but Peter T’s forecast ice age failed to materialise. No rain fell. 

The assembled company set off more or less on time, descending behind the hotel towards the Valley de Joux before heading off to the southwest.

There were a number of ‘competing’ groups on the trail who were quickly overtaken and we soon reached the turning point where we crossed the ridgeline on to the lake side of the Jura.

We then had a gently declining stroll back towards the Col, appropriate for the gently declining GIN members, before beginning the ascent back up to the hotel. The last part of the walk was a fairly steep ascent which split the group for a while before we reunited at the Hotel for lunch. Three had to depart early but 9 of us assembled for lunch in the very convivial Hotel du Marchairuz.

Beers were had before the Wine Committee (Peter Drew and Thatcher) chose a highly quaffable red. The croute au fromage soufflé came highly recommended and the entrecôte was also approved of, not least by Kobie. Pig’s ears were found most acceptable by both Rocco and Kobie.

We tried to avoid talking about Donald Trump and mostly succeeded. Lunch can fairly be described as convivial.

Distance walked was approx 11 kilometres and vertical height gained was 350 metres.

Rob and I did discuss a plan for later in the summer which involve starting at St Cergue and walking to the Hotel du Marchairuz and staying overnight before walking down to the Vallee de Joux and taking a train back via Vallorbe. Early stages but we are thinking of perhaps July. We will do our research and come back with a firmed up proposal.  

Nathan organised this excellent hike warning us however, in view of the uncertain weather forecast, to “be prepared”. He recommended us to refer to Philip’s description of the terrain, from his 30 March 2023 blog. See below in blue. (Philip also reported in 2023 that his search of the “dusty GIN blog archives” revealed that a similar hike was organised in June 2018 by David Colledge. There were three participants then, an indication of the significant increase over the last 5 years in GIN hiking interest.) I note that David wrote – Lunch in La Cave de la Ferme in nearby Frangy – highly recommended with 4 course lunch at €16.50.

Further research into the dusty GB archives showed that David organised another hike up the far end of the Vuache in May 2019 from Chevrier with 4 attending. David wrote “altogether about 3.30hrs followed by a very reasonable lunch at Restaurant du Vuache.”

Philip : “The Vuache is a long lean mountain. Not at all a Fujiyama. Not even a Môle. But I see it every morning from my kitchen balcony. And it tells me what the day’s weather will bring. Geologically it’s part of the Jura range. Good Jurassic limestone, no doubt riddled, like the Salève, with water-filled cavities. And maybe bottomless potholes that nobody has explored. But physically it’s an isolated mountain, cut off eons ago by the melt waters from the immense Rhone Glacier that filled the whole Lemanic basin. And it holds secrets known only to those who explore it in early Springtime.”

On that hike in March 2023 hike we were 11 : two Marks, PeterT, Nathan, Rudi, Richard, Mike M, Ralph, Drew, Mervyn and Philip and hounds Kobie and Nessie. On this hike we missed Mark 2ts, Rudi, Richard, Mike M (and Nessie) and Mervyn. We added on this occasion Mike H (and Rocco), Stephen and Ross and were thus 9.

(I was told that several absent members have poor knees – at least they gave that as an excuse to Nathan. I can only recommend daily taking Pernaton tablets – they have saved my knees. )

https://www.pernaton.ch/en/produkte/produktubersicht

Unhappily the timing this year was different, it not being early Springtime. So we missed the wonderful display of daffodils (that we had seen two weeks ago on Mark’s Dôle hike). And unhappily too the warm sunshine we had enjoyed two weeks ago was missing and we experienced instead a cold dry and windy day almost exactly as per 30 March 2023.

It did not start that way as there was some weak sunshime as we ascended the ridge from Chaumont attempting to catch up with Philip who had started 15 minutes earlier.

We caught Philip up after about 300m of ascent. He was gayly and gently elevating himself up the ridge, stopping to take close-up photos of the plants he loves (not daffodils though).

Philip writes : –

Thursday’s ascent was the first time that I had seen wild orchids actually in flower on the Vuache. Having given myself a 15 minute head start on the peloton, I had time to photograph them (and have a breather!). The GIN plant enthusiasts, of which I’m sure there are many, will no doubt welcome this botanic addition.

I have given the relevant plant names to the photo files. I’ve also added one non-orchid, Sainfoin, the reason being that it’s a real beauty, whose identity had me initially confused until PlantNet put me right.

At one point Ralph kindly offered us all a cup of his hot strong black (and good value) coffee. Excellent! I almost did not miss Mervyn and his milk.

At a large green field two chamois (or deer according to Mark) broke cover and Kobie went off to investigate but soon came back. It was not long however before he found a leg bone of a deer (or chamois) left by hunters and he and Rocco spent some time arguing over who should eat it. Both won.

We wandered on up along the woodland path which traces the spine of the hill, in places steep and rocky. I spotted only 3 daffodils still in flower, but there were many other flowers (Philip will tell us).

On the way up we had noticed a picnic table at the top of the green field and members retraced steps back to it, keen to tuck into some warming sustenance and whatever wines were on offer. In this case a Nero d’Avola and a Rasteau. Drew of course had his flask, but we missed Richard and his abominable bottle.

Philip wrote 2 years ago :- There was no handy auberge nearby, so we ate our picnics (in a particularly windy spot) with extensive views over the Rhone Valley and in the distance the Plateau de Retord. This time we had the same wind and views, but the advantage of a (slanting) table that sat 8 of us, albeit we were 9.

All too soon it was over. No time or inclination to discuss Scottish independence. This was a time of Trump Tariff madness.

On the return, we initially retraced our steps but then Nathan again deviated down the steep western slope of the Vuache, fortunately relatively dry and unslippery. This took us through the hamlet of Chaumontet and back to the village of Chaumont. (most of this para was copied from Philip’s 2023 blog).

We passed some very young climbers about to start out on the training rock slabs.

Another enjoyable hike on the Vuache, despite somewhat inclement weather and gone daffs. About 10km and 546m denivellation. Thanks Nathan.

Attendees – MikeH and Rocco, Mark2rs, Drew, Stephen, Ralph, Philip, Ross, PeterT and Kobie, Nathan (Leader).

(I’ll post other pics if folk send me any – or do it yourself if you can. PT)

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.

Daffodil Hike 11 April 2024

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.

Six participants (Peter T, Mike H, Nathan, Richard, Ross, and Peter S) with 2 dogs (Kobie and Rocco) met at the Col du Mollendruz for the last snowshoe of the 2024-2025 season. Cloudy skies, the cool temperature (3°C) and a brisk bise wind called for extra jackets, beanies and gloves. There was no sign of any snow and definitely no snowshoes or crampons required.

The trail started on the left side of the Nordic sport cabin and headed down the gravel road to the Grand Chardeve (1097m) where it met the path up from L’Isle. After a gentle climb up through the forest we reached the fallen tree for a photo reminder of a previous hike done in Aug 2024.

A little further along the contour, a quaint chalet (Chalet des Italiens) with 2 benches prompted a water break. While Peter T and Ross settled in on the benches, Mike tucked into his sandwich thinking it was picnic time.

After a short inspection of the inside of the chalet, the group continued up to the junction with the path from Montricher and then onwards to explore the archaeological site of the Chatel d’Arruffens. The panel describes its origins as a fortified refuge which was used between 1500 BC up to 150 AD by ancient Celts during “troubled times” on the plains below. Little remains of the fortifications except a small cluster of “sacred rocks” which resulted in another photo opportunity.

After some indecision, a sheltered mound was chosen for the picnic. Before tucking into his ham and cheese wrap from the Volg, Peter T demonstrated use of the new suction device (LifeVac) he had acquired in case of a choking attack. This was quickly followed by the opening of a fine bottle of Cote du Rhone which served to, as it were, wash it all down.

After leaving the picnic mound, the path led up through fields of early white and purple crocuses waiting for the sun to burst into bloom.

With the bise picking up, there was a brief stop at the cross marking the summit of Chatel 1404m) before descending down into the valley below the Buvette d’Chatel (closed in winter).

A short uphill led to the Jura Club of Cossonay where the sheltered porch allowed savouring the Corsican cedar brew from Richard’s renowned bottle.

The final stretch tracked down the road to emerge from the forest above the Chalet du Mollendruz (recently closed at the end of the winter season). The group returned to the Mollendruz parking to complete a 4.5 hour tour of 11 km, and ~500m dénivelé.