This weekend I went on two hikes. The first was from St-Cergue to La Dôle and back and the second was from Marchairuz to St Cergue. It amounts to about 66,000 steps and thirty four kilometres of hiking. The La Dôle walk is a familiar walk that I have from multiple directions over the years so it was relaxing. There were some patches of snow where appropriate shoes and crampons or hiking sticks will help but other than that the conditions are good.
When I went snowshoeing as a child I was photographed and it was used by the St Cergue Tourism board. I still have that poster in a room. Since then I went snowshoeing a few years ago and didn’t really enjoy it. The snowshoes didn’t feel comfortable. A few weeks ago I saw that people were planning a snowshoeing trip so I checked that they were set to my snowshoe size but skipped.
The Cascade Du Flumen are in the Jura, on the French side. They can be accessed either with a 1.6km walk from a large parking nearby that requires going over a few pot holes or down a steep path with loose scree. What makes the waterfalls so spectacular is that they are formed not by water flowing over a cliff and falling to the ground. They are formed by holes in the rock allowing water that has been through underground caves to seep through the rocks.
Yesterday I cycled from Haute-Morges to Nyon along the top. I did this because I was curious to see what route the GPS would recommend. The natural thing to do would be to cycle downhill towards Rolle and the lake. Trees and a meadow in a road bend
The Route
Instead I cycled upwards towards Montricher. From there I cycled west vila Mollens to Bière, and from there, down and across towards Saurraz, Marchissy, Le Vaud before Bassins, Le Muid and then finally down from Genolier towards Trelex and from Trelex down through Grens before heading down towards Nyon.
The most striking thing about a winter with little to no snow is that there is no noise. Normally ski lifts clank, people talk and there is a lot of noise
When there has been very little snow the ski lifts are turned off and the mountains are quiet. This is when you realise the impact of winter sports.
In summer you hear cowbells.
Cows resting beneath pine trees.
A Swiss rural scene in Switzerland.
View of La Dole and the limestone rock.
Today I woke up and instead of cycling up to see this view and have a meal I decided to do the opposite. I would walk down. Two or three summers ago I walked up and they took four or five hours. Walking down is much easier.
One or two bits are steep and my shoes lost traction. It wasn’t serious or life threatening.
During a pandemic it makes sense to go to the mountains and it makes sense to walk where you have space to the left and right to keep social distancing. Today I saw the cows near St Cergue and they were all sitting and relaxing, chewing the cud, waiting for the tourist day to open.
I haven’t been to the mountains much over the last four years because of the pandemic, a broken arm and for one summer no car.
Cycling from Arnex to the Signal de Bougy and back is a nice ride that takes you along the lake through the lower part of Nyon, Gland towards Rolle, and from Rolle up towards Perroy, Aubonne, Pizy, The Signal de bougy and back down on the other side.
View when you are almost at the Signal De Bougy
This route can be ridden both ways. The direction I suggest is easier because the climbing, although physical from Rolle to Perroy levels off, The next challenge is up from Aubonne to the Signal De Bougy.
In 2015, I was exploring on a mountain bike when I found a road above La Rippe that was closed to traffic, so I decided to explore it. I managed to cycle a certain distance before I met a rockfall blocking the road, so I had to turn back. I then tried again in 2018 and I got quite close to the top but decided to give up and turn around.