Beautiful Apollo

Parnassius apollo is the largest of the butterflies that we saw this summer. It has a wingspan that can reach 7-8cm.

   It has a rather large and velvety body. It is spotted mostly in July and August. It’s a species that retreats from heat, be it towards the North or up to a higher altitude. We spotted them at about 1500m in altitude. It’s a protected species due to its shrinking numbers.

   The caterpillars hibernate in their juvenile state in the egg, and then hatch at the beginning of spring (March). They feed on leaves in the open air. At around mid-June, they weave a loose cocoon, slightly buried or located under dry grass. Pupation lasts between 10 days and several weeks. There’s only one generation per year and males are born before the females.

   It flies around in the sun and prefers the nectar of violate flowers (centaurea, thistles, scabiques..). The small black and orangey-red circles are called rosettes, of which the apollo has two pairs.

13/08/2012 La Grande Vache  

La Sure pour sure

   As leaving from the Currière is now impossible… due to unwanted distances… it’s from the Charmette that we’ll be leaving… like in the good old days !

   From St Pierre de Chartreuse, it’s exactly 30km, though with many twists and turns as you have to climb the Col de Porte, then go through Sarcenas and Quaix. Closer to the Grenoblois than to us in effect !

   The road is simple, and the climb rapid, so no risk of losing oneself.

   At the oratory, there’s a large zone where you can park. From there, you can also go to the Charmant Som opposite. Walk along the left path and you’ll reach a parking at the chalet de la Charmette 300m further. There has been a restaurant, but all seemed closed this summer.

   When we were young, how hard we found this steep start ! and, well, I confirm, it’s the same, just now, we don’t find is so tiring… well I do somewhat, which is why I gave the bag to Anton-E on this section. It’s crazy how you feel so light all of a sudden. Bringing only one bag for two people on short hikes like this is a good idea as it allows you to spend half of the time enjoying a light light walk. I’m 100% for this.

   From Charmettes, the sign said we had 1h35 before reaching the Col de la Grande Vache, though it took us… butterfly observation included… one hour.

   The path that we ‘share’ with the lumber-tractor with giant wheels is very clear, no risk of getting lost when you choose to go via the Grande Vache. On the climb, we follow the yellow streaks on rocks or trees, though there are many remnants of the past in the shape of large two-coloured arrows. These, at least, can be very easily seen ☺

   It’s also possible to arrive at the Col de la Sure via the Col de la Petite Vache, though at that junction there was a cross so I don’t know if they were not recommending that path to Mr or Mrs X. We also have the choice of doing a loop and going via the Prairie du Vivarais and the Col d’Hurtière. It’ll have to be for another time, today it’s directly via the Grande Vache both ways !

   It was a hot day, though there were some clouds that veiled Voiron and its surroundings slightly.

   Here we are, another cross ! This one’s at 1920m. We had asked a hiker to take a photo of us, and at the beginning I had had my doubts as he was so close. "But you see the cross on the screen ?" Doh ! well no he didn’t see it. It’s as if you had asked someone to take a photo of you and they only captured your legs. Sometimes, I ask myself what these people are thinking. Finally, a big smile and a correction, and here we are with our cross, happy and proud. Time announced by the Charmettes sign, 2h25. But we finished it nice and calm in 1h35 – a welcome change to the 4 hours it took us in June to only reach the Col de la Sure at 1675m☺☺☺

   From the peak, there’s a fantastic 360˚ panorama. From the Grande Vache, if you go to the left, you follow the path that goes all along under the crest towards Hurtière (left). Not the best of days for photo clarity seeing as the sky was quite cloudy.

   No Jackdaws this time. Actually, we realised that we were up top “too early”, 11h, and that it wasn’t time for lunch yet, when we saw the squadron arriving at 11h45 – as we were going back down – and flying towards the peak. It was the most popular walk, for a weekday, as usually, we only cross paths with a few hikers. Here, we thought we were in the town centre… well, let’s not exaggerate !

   The gruyere Chartreuse that doesn’t only have sinkholes, but also caves (left).

   Going back down from the peak, the “steps”, created by nature, and helped along by hikers, formed a rather interesting geometric design similar to the scales on a crocodile.

   And back to the Col de la Grande Vache we went, 1710 m. As we had taken photos of the bighorn sheep in June, we had the idea of taking pictures of the scree and then loading the up at home to zoom in on them. In fact, we met a retired couple with binoculars and searched with them, and found what we were looking for. 

   The first one that I noticed was the one perched on his rock. Actually, he had been there since our passage in the morning near 10h30 when we had also taken photos. 1h30 later, it was still on its lookout. (follow the arrows). Even from afar, it amazes us !

   Here is a hike that I really want to do more often ☺

13/08/2012 La Grande Sure 1920m, au départ des Charmettes

Tree eaters ...

... of sign posts !

This summer in the south of France ...

and climbing the Grand Som, 2 trees have literally eaten their sign ! 

Night or snow ?

The night is warm,

The night is beautifull,

And the surprise is there sometimes when we wake up !

13/09/2012 Morning snow on Chamechaude

The Chartreux eat fish

   Amongst my many discoveries this summer, I had the opportunity to visit the Aiguenoire meres. A few times a year, the owner opens his doors via the Saint Laurent du Pont tourism centre to small groups in order to visit his domain and its history. Registering is done at the tourism centre, and for €2, we had the pleasant surprise – at the end of the walk – of a drink and a slice of sugar pie. Yum ! I recommend the fire-cooked sugar pies from the Cottère bakery !

   On the property, there are also two granges – one of which has been beautifully renovated and can be seen from the road. An “agricultural” building, it served the purpose of supplying food to the monks in the Grande Chartreuse convent. There was land clearing, exploitation of the lands, crop improvements, and livestock rearing. The second one was used to offer a welcome place for pilgrims or merchants.

   The meat-avoidant Pères Chartreux created, between 1600 and 1650, artificial meres in Aiguenoire to supply themselves with fish (tenches, perches, pikes, carps…) and their activity was prosperous until the war. Then, the meres were somewhat abandoned. Empty, they served as tree plantations. In the 50s, the owners (who are the ancestors of the current ones) decided to refill them. After many long years and many accommodations to plug the leakages and re-establish the ecosystem, there are now four beautiful meres where fishing clubs come to meet.  

   The first mere, the biggest, is the one that receives the water supply before redistributing it to the other three. The fauna (muskrats, herons, frogs, dragonflies, rabbits…) is as rich as the flora. Seeing this calm mere does not betray the work that has to be done to keep the balance in fish or plant species. Some plants are too invasive – Mr Bethnod therefore introduced a specific variety of “cleaner” fish. Now these need to remain in check so that they don’t overrun the classic species that the fishermen enjoy. The grey heron is also large consumer and gives no choice other than co-habitation.

   The Granier reflected on the water gives this sensation of not knowing which way is up. The average depth of this pool is between 1m and 1m30.

   The aerial damselflies make the most of the summer heat. To differentiate themselves to dragonflies, they have wings at 90˚ to the body. Observe how the damselflies close their wings along their body. 

   At the very end of the property, the neighbour also has a magnificent building with mere. This location was once a turnery where wooden boxes for the Elixir de Chartreuse, supports for razor pouches, as well as canes were made – an activity that was popular for a long time in this area.

   Regarding management, what needs to be known is that any stretch of water dug before 1880 is considered as ‘impounded water’. This means that the owner can do what he wants with it; empty it and do whatever works he wants without any previous authorisation.

3/08/2012 Les Etangs d'Aiguenoire, pliane de Saint Laurent du Pont/Entre2Guiers

Insolite

When we raise our eyes to the sky, we sometimes have some pleasant surprises.  

Sometimes we need to turn up the imagination, but here, the amphora is evident.

One day, a “dog” was even jumping over Chamechaude !

Fauna and flora at Le Grand Som

   As well as the walk, we take great pleasure in discovering the fauna and flora, abundant in this season.  

Some more beautiful butterflies !

   As was the case at the Pinéa, we spotted some white-stomached swallows.  Many times, we felt their wings passing so very close to us, nearly skimming us, strange ! At the peak, we were sat down to enjoy the décor and the plenitude when our ear was attracted by the heavy noise of a bumblebee. A fleeting sound as a swallow swooped by and caught this heavy insect in mid-flight. The buzzing stopped all of a sudden, replaced by a “pok”, then no more… Oops, and so the chain of life continues.

        The Mont Blanc could be seen very well and gave the impression of being close by. At around 11h50, we saw a squadron approaching. The Jackdaws must have known that it was nearly time for lunch. 

   They’re smart, and seem to know that around lunchtime there will be hikers. They therefore come and show off their fine black plumage and shiny yellow beaks. I can confirm that they like quiche, sandwich bread, madeleines, though not pompote ☺☺☺

   Altitude flowers are usually quite low on the ground, though have startling and beautiful colours. Small carnations (right) can be found in a fair number near Racapé.

   The Apiaceae (left), much loved by flies, and this variety of Potentilla (right) are members of the white flowers.

   Same thing with this aerial stem (right). Despite the fact that it was the end of the flower season for them, I was able to see a few Martagon’s (also known as Turk’s cap lily). What magnificent flowers ! We saw it at about 1600m on an open, south-eastern slope. 

23/07/2012 Le Grand Som

Starting from Patassière

   For a long time, we’ve wanted to climb the Grand Som, starting from the house, but the idea of a steep first hour’s climb had always been a break on the idea. This year, our theme was “forgotten mountains”, and this one was therefore unavoidable… and we made it.

   It’s the Chartreuse 4^th highest peak, culminating at 2026m, behind Les Lances de Malissard (2045m), La Dent de Crolles (2062m), and the king Chamechaude (2082m).

   Not knowing much about it, we chose to climb by the Pas de la Suiffière, with the idea of climbing down on the other side to make a large ring… which was easy.

  

   We started at 8h40, from Patassière, steep, which leaves La Coche behind on the right. At the beginning, the path is quite visible up until the junction on the crest near our house, then it gets more complicated as other than a small piece of forest path, we had to climb up in a straight line where the cleft where the water trickles. We regularly crossed the original, lacing path, but it was now almost untreadable (right) due to the timber that had been left there in the worst of places, blocking various parts of this path. As a consequence, the vegetation had quickly taken its area back seeing as no-one was using it anymore.

   There are a good number of signs… reassuring signs :). We took 18 minutes to reach Sous Roche Cia, and an hour or so to arrive at Col Frenay, 1600m.

   Having passed the crest and forest section, we could take in the magnificent mountain view (left). At that time of day, we were in the shadows, which made the climb easier, though no less steep (right) to go to the Pas de la Suiffière.

   Along the various paths, we sometimes come across reminders that we’re in Chartreux territory (a sphere with a cross). We heard a plethora of marmots on that day, but didn’t see hide nor hair of a single one. On the other hand, we passed closed to their “house”, which is basically an underground gallery with several entrances. It’s easily spottable with its oval shape and digged-out stones at the front.

   In 1h40, we arrived at the Pas de la Suiffière (1798m). Anton-E climbed to see what was up above, but saw nothing and so we started off along the other side of the mountain towards Racapé. In fact, at the Suiffière, there’s a climb/mini-rockclimb and according to what I later read, you can reach the Grand Som via this crest, though with a few dangerous and vertigo-inducing passages.

   Our calmer way was more our thing…

   …and the arrival via this slope did fine by us (left). We took 2 hours to arrive at Racapé (1820m) then half an hour more to reach the cross.

   We were alone, for the whole journey and upon arrival. Therefore, the orientation table made itself useful and took our photo with the cross. And one more, one ☺

  2h35 from start to finish, all at a tranquil pace !

   From up top, we have a fabulous view over the Pères Chatreux’s Monastery. As with each hike, we brought our frozen quiche with us so that it can arrive still nice and cold… and our pomme-potes. What a luxury it is to be eating “apple ice-cream” at 2026m !

   After three quarters of an hour’s rest, and lunch shared with the jackdaws, it’s now down again with a view over the Entremonts, the Granier, and the Mont Blanc range in the distance (see the blog on the 12^th).

   It’s at the Racapé that we went back to the left in the direction of the Col des Aures, and the Col du Cucheron. The path was much easier to follow and we did part of the descent running. Pékin Express here we come !

   At the Col des Aures, a small man indicated that there was a risk of falling, but by following the (rather large) path, there were no worries. The downwards running pleased us, and even upon reaching the Couzon, we started off again and “galloped” to reach La Coche (950m). From there, only 10 minutes remained before the house and a well deserved slice of bread with Nutella.

23/07/2012 Le Grand Som 

Cadeau

Un petit tour au Cirque

   Still in Chartreuse next to St Pierre d’Entremont, with a foot in both Savoie and Isère, lies the Cirque de St Même, a must for the beauty of its scenery. No need to go far to see marvels when you live in our area ! The only hiccup is that in the past, parking was only charged at the weekends, and now, you have to pay €3.50 from the beginning of July to the 19^th of August. The scoundrels ! On the flipside however, it’s a very clean place and so self-replenishing. 

   This time, we went with the grandparents and went for a walk around the bottom of the ‘Cirque’ with the waterfall at the bottom. We then had a picnic on the bank of the Guiers and relaxed.

   There are a multitude of waterfalls to see when you take the mountain roads higher up.

Photo taken in 2009

   At half an hour’s walk, you get to a bridge with a nice view over some waterfalls (photo), and by adding the same time, you can reach the source of the Guiers by another path (though this one’s more delicate).

   All is good, and there’s no need to feel the need to go as far as possible. In about fifteen minutes, you can get to La Pisse du Guiers, a spectacular waterfall under which you can go, something you can’t do elsewhere. Fun and vivifying ! To be done on a hot day, as the water is colder and you need to dry under the sun afterwards !

   A cute bird even came and kept us company… or did he perhaps spot the crumbs we were making with our quiche ?

17/07/2012 Cirque de St Même 861 m