Today was the first full day hiking the Grande Traverse of the Alps! I awoke at my wooded campsite in the hunting preserve, and packed up to hit the trail by 8:30.
There was nice level trail through small subdivisions, nice forest parks, and along a mountainside, winding down to the River Dranse. I stop there to grab some water and make coffee.
After, I cross the river on an old stone footbridge and climb steeply up a wooded hillside, eventually coming to a country road that leads on to the next stretch of trail. Wow, some of the houses here are immaculately cute! Every details, and many things you would never even think to do to a house, have been done just to make every inch of the living space truly beautiful. These people obvs take a lot of pride in the homes that they own.
The trail leads down to a nice stream, which was a great place to stop for lunch. I found some awesome little fruits on a nearby tree, I don’t know what to call them! They had the taste and pit of a peach, the consistency and skin of an apple, and the size of a cherry! They were totally delicious and a great random snack to find in the woods.
Then, it was time to start the 1,000m climb of the day. I climbed up into the mountains on trails, dirt roads, asphalt, gravel, through forests and grassy meadows and past cows and stables and chalets, all while being wowed by ever more impressive views of Lake Geneva.
Finally, I came to the top of the mountains at the Tete de Fieux, and the amazing ridge walking began. I had a bit of a climb up to about 1,900m and then was able to ride a very steep ridge for a couple kilometers, soaking in the first real views of the Alps of France and Switzerland.
I find a nice lake and go ahead and make dinner about 6pm. It’s been surprisingly hard to find water today! Probably because I’m not quite in the mountains yet, but on the cusp of them, at their front door.
Hiked on a bit further and found delightful views of both the East and West ends of Lake Geneva. Found the first real mountain spring and happily fill up with 2L of fresh water. And theres a sweet camp site with a view just a hundred meters away!
The GR5 has seriously cranked out the views today. I heard it was really scenic, but come on! What trail is this pretty on day 1?! Crazy.
Looks like rain tonight, with frequent lightning and thunder in the distance back the way I came from.
Good night!
Beautiful pics Daniel! I’m glad the fruit was not poison berries! Keep on hoofin’!