Kristin's Christmas visit in invigorating weather

Dwight Peck's personal website

Winter 2005-2006

Short breaks from poring over the newspapers as the Bushies implode

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.

Kristin's Christmas visit and a couple of walks in invigorating weather

There's no use just sitting round watching the telly through the holidays, as there's nothing much good on anymore anyway, and even the BBC news is sometimes not all that much fun these days.

Bois de la Givrine, 22 December 2005

Kristin is our guide today.

Kristin leads up through a steep bit in the Bois de la Givrine, where everyone who tries to hike in a straight line hikes in circles instead.

But it's a beautiful, cold but sunny day, and hiking in circles is not that bad a way to spend it.

-- Your turn.

Time for lunch

Checking out the photos back in Gimel in the evening

Bois de la Pile, 24 December 2005

Christmas Eve: we're leaving from the Col de la Givrine and passing La Trelasse farm.

The Bois de la Pile is a great lot of foresty rough ground at the northwestern foot of La Dôle, between the Col de la Givrine and the French border. It's all between about 1200 and 1275 metres altitude.

Kristin plumbs with her ski pole the limestone hole in the forest floor that she's just fallen into and fortunately got back out of.

But further challenges lie ahead.

We burst out of the nearly-trackless forest near the farm of La Pile Dessus (1235m), not far from the ski installations leading up to La Dôle. The frontier between France and Switzerland lies between the farm in the foreground and the one on the little knoll behind.

Frankly, we thought we'd hiked much farther by this time, but there it is; this is definitely La Pile Dessus.

Ski-de-fond or crosscountry ski tracks loop through the forest and pass right by here, so La Pile is a popular meeting place for the sportif crowd.

La Pile Dessus (Upper Pile), 24 December 2005 (Lower Pile, La Pile Dessous, is over in France across the road.)

La Dôle from La Pile Dessus, 24 December 2005

Fun in the sun

A sun which is, however, sinking in the west.

Turning back towards Givrine on a chilly afternoon

Trail signs point to even more chilly places

Sundown makes it still a bit chillier. Time for a nice dinner in the auberge in Coinsins.

Grande Rolat, 25 December 2005

Kristin and Joe dashing into the forest of Grande Rolat in order to celebrate Christmas day in the true 'White Christmas' style.

Teny and Kristin lagging behind a bit, discussing personnel issues

Joe and Kristin leading confidently out into what turned out unwittingly to be a giant figure-eight, missing, at every stock-taking and scrutiny of the map, every objective.