Our crossed paths

   I like the symbolic arrival at the top of a mountain and seeing the cross. I don’t think of it as a religious sign and what it could symbolise in that respect, I just think of it as what we have managed to finish, and that we have done it. Not always easy to all be in the same photo; luckily, there are often people to help. The tripod is not part of our hiker’s gear so we do what we can; we turn on the timer and run to be in position.

   This one will probably be the easiest of the summer, because from Bettex (above St Gervais) we used the cable car to go to Mont d’Arbois. Then, 20 minutes by foot on a road and here we go ! One down !

   The Mont Blanc range is a great discovery for us. It can be seen from quite a few summits in the Chartreuse, but we had never had the chance to walk about in the actual area – except for once about 20 years ago in the Montenvers train. How magnificent these snow-capped peaks are ! 

How could you ever get used to a view like this ?

The panorama allows us to see the bigger picture.

   Hiking is all well and good, but the most important is to have fun, and if the fancy takes us, we say “why not do some sport”. Something to remain zen ! Célia also mimed the notion that we were on ski slopes… “But you’ll have to turn around this winter if you want to go down the right way ☺!"

  "Huuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" 

   From the Mont Joux (whose cross stands at 1843m of altitude) in Bettex via the Grand Montaz (1673m) and the Communailles, it was a descent by the “ski slopes” amidst the small flowers of every colour though with certain dominant ones

… white…

   Narcissus-flowered anemone (top-left), Common Cottongrass (top-right), and us… amidst the flowers !

... yellow ...

Bird's-foot Trefoil (top-left), Oxytropis campestris (bottom-left) Kingcup (or Marsh Marigold) (middle) ou Globe-flower (right).

... or purple  ...

Orchid, Nettle, Alpine toadflax (bottom-right) or Alpine flax (top-right)   

   The region did a good job in imposing wood for the houses as these chalets blend in perfectly with the decor and add to the alpine charm. Ah if only St Pierre de Chartreuse could have a similar unity, our little village would improve in so many ways !

   A bit of humour with Paul’s joke that you need to read (in French) out loud as the play on words is oral and not written : “Oh un arbre à six troncs !”. Well I can tell you that it destabilised more than one ☺☺☺

   The second hike of the season should have been the next day in Chamonix, but the evening cloud over the Mont Blanc announced some bad weather – a prediction that turned out to be true. The next day, the visibility was reduced to just about 500m so we had to throw out our ideas of seeing the Aiguille du Midi; we decided to return to Our mountains and planned to quickly return to our hiking shoes and discover fauna, flora and “crossed” peaks.

24/06/2012