Hiking to the top of La Dole

This weekend I woke up on Sunday with hope that it would be a nice clear day after several days of cold and rain. I walked out the door in shorts and a t-shirt but quickly put on a fleece by the time I was on the train and my rain jacket once I got to La Givrine, which is just past Saint Cergue and the start of my hike.

I had an espresso and croisant at the restaurant there (it's a mistake to let me go too long without coffee) and then headed off.

I soon began to wonder if I'd underestimated the conditions, since it was by now quite cold and rainy - I seemed to be the only one out walking and even the cows were looking at me like I was crazy.

Regardless, I continued towards Cuvaloup but got a bit lost when I missed the turn-off which would have taken me up the mountain, and I spent a bit of time in the 'wilderness' under the ski lifts before getting back on track.

Then, as I was puffing my way up towards the peak, a woman actually ran past me up the mountain, and a bit further on a guy ran past me going down! I saw more people running up the mountain during my hike, as well as a group of unhappy cyclists carrying their mountain bikes up on their shoulders.

It was really cold and windy at the top and I swear there was flecks of ice amongst the rain.

On the way back down the rain and clouds cleared a bit and I stopped at a mountain restaurant for an assiette de viande seche and to warm up before continuing my hike down the mountain.

As usual when hiking, I took far less photos on the way down. I did take a lot of photos of cows but the clouds meant I couldn't take any panoramic pictures of the mountains.

I did, however, take a few movies with my camera. This was quite fun but the work involved in turning it into something I can put on the web means I probably won't do it too often. It's too big to embed on the blog, but you can find it here.

Tomorrow I plan to have another go at hiking in the Jura and I bought myself some Komperdell hiking sticks today so I can blend in with the Swiss, with whom they seem to be mandatory!