Winter 2004-2005, Kristin's visit in February 2005

Dwight Peck's personal Web site

Winter 2004-2005

as life's hectic non-stop party threatens to get out of control and really exhausting

Kristin's February 2005 visit

You may not find this tangibly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

Still not fully recovered from hiking adventures in Switzerland in January but anxious for a few more, Kristin has traveled back in February from the Land of Ferocious Christian Rectitude to view some more of what the Jura has to offer.
Pré de Rolle

At the far end of the forest near Pré de Rolle, off the Marchairuz road, Kristin passes a Swiss/Vaud government signpost that specifies which animals can be shot, exactly when and exactly where, but not exactly why. In general, the sangliers (warthogs) seem to come in for the worst of it. Humans are exempt.

Kristin prepares to turn out of the forest onto the Pré de Rolle, 23 February 2005, an extremely cold day.

Late afternoon sunlight on the Pré de Rolle

Passing the farm of Pré de Rolle, 23 February 2005

Looking back towards the Crêt de la Neuve in late afternoon

A bit of impatience with slower members of the party, as dinner time approaches at the end of the day.

The Fruiteries of Nyon

Fairly stalwart snowshoers leave St Cergue, 26 February 2005, up a well-trodden path, headed for the Fruitières de Nyon a few hundred meters higher in the Jura.

And passing the farm of La Borsatte.

Dr Pirri impels the party onward to the Fruiteries of Nyon

And Kristin follows, with lunch in mind

Kristin and Teny coming up on the Fruiteries of Nyon on a rare sunny day in February.

Okay! Time for lunch.

And now it's time to go back down. Dinner is waiting. (And we had a very nice dinner in Coinsin, an excellent auberge that's worth recommending.)

Kristin waiting for her chemical handwarmers to fire up inside those giant mittens.

Ooops.

Les Petites Chaumilles

In a paroxysm of youthful exuberance, Kristin is sprinting up towards the top of the hill just west of the Petites Chaumilles farm, 27 February 2005, in an invigorating snowstorm.

A number of startled deer or chamois lope past us somewhat higher up the hill.

The group leader almost lost sight of the party's stragglers in the snow, and peers down at us.

Topping out at 1405 meters on a windy, snowy day in late February, Kristin and her sherpa take stock of things and prepare to go on to the farm of Petites Chaumilles.

Kristin descends through wonderful knee-easy soft powder towards the farm at Petites Chaumilles, 27 February 2005.

Lovely Jura farm in a snowstorm.

The front door, with a painting on it

Our horse was ready and saddled, but wouldn't move at all, however much we goaded. We're reminded of Mark Twain's Riffelberg party sitting in single file on the Gorner Glacier, anxious to get back to Zermatt and wondering when the glacier pulls out of the station (A Tramp Abroad).

We're not going to get anywhere on this thing. We're probably going to have to walk all the way back down.

Kristin somewhat frantically tries to pound some immediate action out of these American handwarmer packets.

Kristin leads off back towards the car.

There's the route back across the "Plateforme" as the wind kicks up again. . . .

. . . and there it's not. We'll just keep going in the same direction, it will probably get us there anyway.

Kristin strides forcefully across the Plateforme headed for the forest wherein our car is frosting over quickly. With the cold wind behind us instead of in our faces, Kristin urged haste and complained of getting "frostbutt".

Having reached the Marchairuz road (left), Kristin has merely to coast along to the car, and then, alas, go on back to the USA for a while.

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