Dwight Peck's personal website

First snowy walk on Mont Tendre for 2013/14

3 November 2013


You may not find this terribly 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.

More soggy vistas on Mont Tendre

It was just another rainy day down by Lake Geneva (as so many in the past month), but at our trailhead near the Pré de St-Livres (1360m altitude), things are becoming more interesting.

The sun peeks through, joyously, as we set out up the farm track. It's a bit disappointing.

It's just a sombre sort of no-account drizzle, as we're about to turn up towards the headland of Druchaux.

Ah. More interesting.

We're only at about 1500m now. We'll put a baseball cap on.

Ooof. Blustery. We'll tie the baseball cap down with a headband.

Our plan for today is just to poke round in the Creux d'Enfer de Druchaux and see what's to be seen that we haven't seen already.

We'll leave the Druchaux farm road here, by this little cabin, and start up into the Creux d'Enfer to the right.

As a pointless orienteering exercise, we'll go farther down into the combe and see if we can find the most interesting of the big holes in the forest floor.

It's looks familiar here, but everything always looks indistinguishably familar around here.

We're close. It's just a feeling.

Bingo.

Dropping a stone down it doesn't yield any quick answers.
The secured logs are intended to support fixed ropes of the spelunkers (so we won't drop any stones down).

So, we continue. Northwest up the side of the Creux d'Enfer.

A beautiful, soft track for a ways

No more track. We'll start up to the right (north) now and do some exploring.

We're several levels up now, probably at about 1560m, but, frankly, sort of micro-lost.

Sun's out!

We're still poking about, mainly uphill, seeing what's on offer . . .

. . . like this Christmas tree.

We'll seize the opportunity of this sunny moment for a selfie . . .

. . . and then continue uphill for a while.

We're coming out of the forest -- we're higher than we thought.

We'll persevere and see where this goes.

A brief glimpse of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman)

A little more uphill

And a little more uphill again. It's getting right windy here out of the forest.

It looks horizony there -- but where are we? There's quite a chilly wind.

Now we know. That's the main ridge of the Mont Tendre on the horizon. We're on the side of the buttressy sort of outcrop above the Bois des Fayes, the high point of which is at 1630m.

We'll just get over this thing and take stock.
In fact, if we are where we think we are, we could be at the summit pylon in half an hour.

So . . . change of plans. But . . . where now?

A path. A veritable path!

So we need to go this way.

That, in a moment of meteorological lucidity, is the buttress at 1630m we've just accidentally come over.

We continue (with the wind at our back. Which means . . . later . . . coming back . . . well. . . ).

The top of Mont Tendre (1679m)

The wind's going to blow us right up there with no effort on our part.

Whoa! Where'd those guys come from?

The top of Mont Tendre (touch it and get down off of here)

Our predecessors scarcely paused and are hurrying on towards Mollendruz (they must be in some sort of competition)

It's time to go, already.

Woof, we've scarcely left the place and a hardy young couple have popped up over the France-facing side.

The poignant plaque to the old friend of Mont Tendre who died in 1935

A last look

Like Hansel with his bread crumbs, we can retrace our steps for a while.

There'll be a welcome break from the wind down in the combe.

Down we go

Slushy, slippery old path

Mont Tendre is one of our favorite leisure destinations.

No views of Lake Geneva at the moment

We're approaching the southwestern end of the Mont Tendre ridge.

As we've still got some daylight, we'll try a short-cut back to the car.

. . . Errrmmm.

This confirms our general opinion of short-cuts.

We'll pause for reassessment.

We mustn't ever be ashamed to admit that we were wrong, and bag it.

That's much better.

It's only a guess, but this pasture should get us down a good ways.

Bingo: the cabin we passed on the way in.

Back on the farm road, at 1461m, it's just unwelcome rain again.

Dieter's been waiting for us.

More photos of Mont Tendre
First snowy hike of 2013/2014 (3 November)
Through fog and snow to Mont Tendre, June 2013
Sun and fun on Mont Tendre on skis, March 2005
More photos of Mont Tendre in the winter of 2003-2004
More photos of Mont Tendre, 2001-2002
Snowshoeing on Mont Tendre, January 2000
Introductory photos of Mont Tendre in 1997
Some summer photos of Mont Tendre for a change, July 2002
Trees of Mont Tendre

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