Some pleasant physiotherapeutic walks in the Jura

Dwight Peck's personal website

Winter 2008-2009

The best snow we've had in the Jura in a decade, and we've been in danger of missing it.

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.

Some pleasant physiotherapeutic walks in the Jura

Recovering very nicely, thanks, and today it's a not too strenuous plod, 15 March 2009, to rebuild our strength incrementally. This is the broad meadows of Sapin à Siméon, starting from about 1320m on the main road to the Col du Marchairuz, breathing deeply and enjoying the sunshine.

A shed overlooking Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) in the background. No one's around today, but there are lots of snowshoe and ski tracks on these very accessible meadows.

Tracks like this one on the right, where snowshoers 8, 10, 20 to a party virtually pave a little roadway in the snow. Our track, on the left, looks anemic by comparison.

As desuetude begins to catch up with us, we succumb and climb out onto the paved track for a while.

We're strolling in a very leisurely manner -- a very, very leisurely manner -- northeastwards, at about 1450m now and sorting through ideas for a more interesting return route.

We'll spice our afternoon up a bit with a little time spent in the somewhat complicated forest above the cliffs called La Roche, which beetle over the main road below us.

First, down off the meadows and into the woods we go. Then we try to get our bearings a little.

From time to time, we pass discreet entrances down into the infernal realms.

This is too easy, not even breathing hard: soon we'll come down to the top of the cliffs, where we expect to find a summertime path that will escort us directly back towards the car.

Out of the forest now, and an expansive view of the lake and the villages below

Most of the trees may be dead or dying, but it's still better than concrete buildings all around us.

Mont Blanc on the far side of Lake Geneva.

Joining now another track of another snowshoeing herd in single file.

A bird's eye view of the city of Lausanne

And the villages below. That's little Saubraz in the centre.

Lovely afternoon views

And the semi-paved highway back towards the carpark, where Dieter the VW is presumed to be waiting for us.

A little more physio, 19 March

This is the main intersection on the main road to the Col du Marchairuz, called Grand Fuey (1180m), but the road down to Bière has still got a meter of snow on it. The road down to St George is kept open, ever since about 1993. We're going to take a little walk up into the forest for a while and see how things go.

Dieter will stay here and chill our beer for us until we return at sunset.

After a not too strenuous exploration up through the forests around Pré à l'Ane (which I think means 'the donkey's meadow', except that it's a forest), we emerge onto a meadow in the Bois de la Sauge and begin circling round towards a downward route.

A commemorative self-timer to prove we're up and about again

This cisterne used to be called Eparçillon on topographic maps of 30 years ago, but nowadays it's unnamed and just subsumed in the general name for the whole kilometre's worth of pastures called La Foirausaz.

The cisterne, as we circle around and start back

The southwestern end of the long Foirausaz meadows, and snowshoe tracks all along the Route des Montagnes that goes back down the mountain.

We've been bushwhacking down the forest instead, and here are some foresters' piles of firewood along the side of one of their forestry tracks.

OOoops. Stuff happens.

A few days later, we're retracing the same route backwards. This is an extension of the Chemin à Marc through the woods to the Foirausaz meadows. This is all part of the physiotherapy.

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