{"id":5249,"date":"2024-09-13T12:41:54","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T11:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/?p=5249"},"modified":"2024-09-13T12:41:54","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T11:41:54","slug":"annual-lac-de-joux-hike-12-september-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/2024\/09\/13\/annual-lac-de-joux-hike-12-september-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Lac de Joux hike 12 September 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Would we or wouldn\u2019t we?\u00a0 There was some speculation on Wednesday as to whether we should trust the everchanging weather forecasts and proceed with the annual LdeJ hike.\u00a0 In the end, six of us showed up, three (Mervyn, Peter S and yours truly) in Divonne and Rob, Richard W and Andrew met us at the parking spot at the Geneva end of the lake.\u00a0 We had a few spots of rain on the way up, but it was dry at the meeting place.\u00a0 Noting that the weather was only 5 degrees up there, most opted for long trousers except for our hardy Scotsman who had decided to display his bare legs.\u00a0 We set off in a clockwise direction on somewhat muddy paths until we reached a boardwalk that one of our number tested the slipperyness of, thankfully with no painful results.\u00a0 Progress was swift but we resisted the temptation to stop at the Bellevue Hotel at Le Rocheray for a coffee and ploughed on admiring the views across the lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking towards Le Pont<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The lake level was high and we enjoyed the rocky path right by the clear water.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rob, Peter and Andrew sauntering <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Selfie effort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mervyn considering a swim<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Watch the tide doesn\u2019t come in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stops were made for comfort breaks and photo opportunities on sandspits and then we climbed to about 100 metres above the lake where the inevitable refreshment was proffered, a very acceptable nip of Glenmorangie, thanks Richard!\u00a0 \u00a0A phone call was made to the resto to confirm numbers and timing and we set off past some bungalows of the charmingly-named settlement of Le Lieu.\u00a0 Two chamois in the road eyed us cautiously followed by two more and as we entered the woods, a group of six were meandering around on the path.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mervyn and Andrew making friends<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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First big group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few minutes later, we encountered a herd of about 20 grazers and shortly after, a larger group of 40.\u00a0 It was certainly a record to see 70 chamois which included several very young \u201cbambis\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Forty more here, we counted!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our rocky and rooty path dropped down steeply almost to lake level and I needed to take a breather on a convenient bench.\u00a0 Then our shorts-wearing member arrived complaining about a pulled tendon, so various piggybacking options were considered, and rejected.\u00a0 Anyway, he soldiered on with gritted teeth and we reached our goal which was the Brasserie des Combi\u00e8res.\u00a0 \u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our goal across the lake, pink building in the centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Locally-brewed ales were ordered as was the plat du jour which turned out to be a very large entrec\u00f4te with all the trimmings.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t fully regained my taste buds or full appetite but I was assured that the meal was a definite\u00a0 improvement on last year\u2019s offerings (the resto is under new management).\u00a0 The steak was far too large for me but I\u2019m sure Peter S\u2019s hound benefited that evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As usual, there was an eclectic range of subjects discussed, including postprandial naps, US elections and misogyny, hearing tests, doggy diets, UK politics, phone contracts, rugby, beer and wine barrels, and of course, how could we not \u2013 Scottish Independence!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fully repleted<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After desserts and coffees, some\u00a0 more Glenmorangie (courtesy of Rob this time) and some nocino di Modena from my magic bottle which startled the palates of the participants, there was little appetite to continue walking around the lake for another two hours or more.\u00a0 So we repaired to the gare in Le Pont and caught the little red and white train back to Le Solliat, about a kilometre from where the cars were parked. \u00a0Our whole hike had been without rain and indeed we enjoyed quite a lot of sunshine and eventually, a balmy 11 degrees!\u00a0 As I write this on Friday morning, I hear that it\u2019s snowing in St Cergue \u2013 snowshoeing may not be far away!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow hikers for their encouragement and concern on what was my first hike for over 4 months, and also to all my dear GIN friends whose good wishes have helped me get through a difficult period of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our hike was about 14kms and just over 200 metres d\u00e9nivellation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Would we or wouldn\u2019t we?\u00a0 There was some speculation on Wednesday as to whether we should trust the everchanging weather forecasts and proceed with the annual LdeJ hike.\u00a0 In the end, six of us showed up, three (Mervyn, Peter S and yours truly) in Divonne and Rob, Richard W and Andrew met us at the … Continue reading “Annual Lac de Joux hike 12 September 2024”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5249"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5263,"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5249\/revisions\/5263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ginclub.website\/home2\/gentsinnyon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}