Swiss perimeter

June 15th

Start:  La Petite Echelle (a small border crossing); finish (on the border): above Bois d’Amont, about 1245 m
Total distance: 32,0 km
Walking time:  8 hours 15 minutes
Vertical distance: 750 m uphill, 630 downhill

A very rainy day.  Well protected against rain and wet vegetation, I walked many hours without seeing anybody.  Near the end, my GPS became erratic and I was soon completely lost.   I followed signs in France and after having taken a wrong forest road, I emerged from the forest at a place I did not recognise and had to ask another hiker where I was.   What a disgrace!  A few extra kilometres (not included in the statistics above).  Fortunately, Sally was able to collect me later.

Night:  Hôtel-Restaurant, La Givrine

June 14th

Start: above Ballaigues, finish: “La Petite Echelle”
Distance covered: 10,2 km
Walking time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Vertical height:  780 m uphill, 900 m downhill

Sunny at first, but black clouds building up.  I started by descending to the Vallorbe customs post from where I left off yesterday.  Wet grass, no paths, footsore from yesterday.  Then the steep climb up the Mont d’Or (nearly 1400 m high on the Swiss side) along a very “erratic” boundary.  Thunder, then heavy rain.  I soon had enough and was able to reach the main road between Vallorbe and Le Pont.

Night: Hôtel-Restaurant, La Givrine

Photos:  (1) boundary stone 65 in the middle of nowhere on the slopes of the Mont d’Or;  (2) boundary stone 67

Itinerary:  La Petite Ronde (1126 m, above Les Verrières) – customs post Les Verrières – triple point France-Neuchâtel-Vaud – point at ca. 1180 m near the La Tiole farm above Ballaigues

Distance covered: 32,2 km
Walking time:  9 hours 30 minutes
Vertical distance:  1390 m uphill, 1340 m downhill

A long, somewhat frustrating day, but one I enjoyed.  It had rained last night, so there was more mud and puddles on the few paths I took.  But mainly there were no paths.  The fields were mainly long, wet grass, so shoes and trousers were soon soaked.  In the forests, wet shrubs and bushes made sure the rest of me was wet, at least until the sun came out.  Several steep descents and climbs.

Hôtel-Restaurant du Cygne, Les Charbonnières

Photos:  two typical obstacles, and a unique boundary marker (behind Le Suchet)

June 12th – the eighth day

Distance covered: 30,7 km
Walking time: 7 hours 20 minutes
Vertical height: 1160 m uphill; 950 m downhill

I climbed up from the Col des Roches with Neil and found myself suddenly in another world – the real Jura with its pine-covered ridges and long green shallow valleys with farms and cows.  And many of these walls made of limestone blocks without mortar along the edges of fields and along the frontier. It was also the first time we went over 1200 m in height notably at Meix Musy with its 1280 m.  There were lots of small climbs and descents and many paths that were muddy or covered with debris left by forest workers. In addition, the blisters on my feet, though well cared for, made themselves felt.  Our progress was therefore not too fast and in the end I asked Sally to pick us up at the farm La Petite Ronde, a few km before the customs post of Les Verrières.

Night: Hôtel de Ville, les Verrières

June 11th – seventh day –

Start: Biaufond; finish: Col des Roches
Distance: 33,4 km, of which 6 by kayak
Time: 6 hours 10 minutes
Vertical distance:  810 m uphill, 500 m downhill

What a contrast to yesterday!  It was fairly sunny but the whole morning’s walk was on beautiful paths in the shade of trees, next to the river, with many bucolic spots, later next to towering limestone cliffs, quite wild.  Neil had brilliantly doctored my blisters from the day before, I had slept well – overslept in fact – and for the first time since June 5th did I feel 100% fit.

After about 4 hours I reached the famous Saut du Doubs waterfall and the restaurant at the end of the Lac des Brenets.  The noise level was deafening as I emerged into “civilisation”.  I had earlier overtaken a group of 35 chattering children aged 8 – 11 or so but this was nothing compared to yet more school outings (it’s the end of the school year here) and boatloads of retirees crowding out all available restaurant tables.

Sally and Neil had found their way through France to bring me the kayak and I once again had complete peace paddling the 6 km to the other end of the lake.  From there Neil and I walked up the Rançonnière valley.  The path decided to climb high over a cliff before coming down again, which I thought tedious, so we went up the stream in a gorge for some 500 m.  This turned out quite an adventure:  very little water, but polluted and smelly, with very slippery stones, boulders, tree trunks and branches.  Finally we reached the interesting border at Col des Roches, with long queues of French commuter cars going back home.

Overnight: La Maison Monsieur, Biaufond

June 10th – sixth day

Start: Brémoncourt (F), on the Doubs; finish: Biaufond
Total distance: 39,0 km , of which 12 by bicycle
Walking and cycling time: 8 hours 30 minutes
Vertical distance: 1020 m uphill, 930 downhill

In the morning I felt very weak and I started the climb of 450 m in the forest very slowly.  Gradually, I felt better, I passed the remote village of Epiquerez and after four hours I was able to cross the Doubs again on the Clairbief footbridge and meet up with Sally and Neil at the Moulin Jeannotat, whose restaurant unfortunately closed 3 years ago.  A few kilometres by bicycle took me to Goumois, well known to kayakers, for a well appreciated soup, and then on to Le Theusseret.  From there, Neil and I hiked for hours on tedious stony forest roads that climbed much too high above the Doubs.

Overnight: La Maison Monsieur, Biaufond

Photos:

1. The Clairbief footbridge
2. The bridge at Goumois.  The border is at the beginning of the bridge, on the Swiss side – see “Frontier stories”, no. 2

June 9th – fifth day

Start: Es Bouenes (Les Bornes), north of Bure; finish: Brémoncourt (F), on the Doubs
Total distance: 43,1 km
Walking time: 10 hours 30 minutes
Vertical distance: 1420 m uphill, 1560 downhill

It was Sally’s turn to have an upset stomach but she still managed to drive me to the day’s starting point.  Neil was unable to wake up, so I left alone.  And during more than 10 hours walking, I met nobody except one group of noisy French, about 15 elderly people, no doubt an old age pensioners’ outing!  Then the whole countryside seemed to have been emptied of its inhabitants – large farms where one could see farm animals but no humans, deserted villages, customs buildings closed up (yesterday we saw one with a “for sale” sign on it!).  This must be one of the forgotten parts of Switzerland.

Cloudy all day, wind, fog, in fact ideal for walking.  Many obstacles, including countless barbed wire fences (especially on the Swiss side) and again paths marked on the maps but which are no longer there!

Night: Le Chandelier, St-Ursanne

June 8th – fourth day:

Start: in the forest east of Bonfol;  finish: Les Bornes, north of  Bure
Total distance: 33,8 km, of which 4 by bicycle
Walking time: 7 hours 30 minutes
Vertical distance: 820 m uphill, 730 downhill

Taken to the starting point by Sally.  Two Swiss foresters told us that all the fallen trees were due to a thunderstorm last Friday (the same one we had in Hofstetten-Flüh).  Overcast, so not so hot.  Neil and I started slowly as neither was feeling too well.  All day, a lot of beautiful forest paths, but also some cultivated fields that were difficult to cross or go around.  We took 5 hours to reach Boncourt for a drink, then I bicycled across the valley to the motorway frontier crossing, and continued alone the last 2 hours.  Early on, met a friendly French walker, who turned out to have been an experienced skier and alpinist in his time (see photo).

Night:  Le Chandelier, St-Ursanne

June 7th – third day

Total distance: 7,4 km
Total time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Vertical distance: 115 m uphill, 135 downhill

A bad night with little sleep, due to village festival outside our hotel window.  At breakfast, I still couldn’t swallow anything solid.  Neil also ill (he went out to enjoy the fun outside).  Nevertheless I set off slowly.  Many detours needed as the whole frontier area here is marshland.  Many obstacles – trees across the tracks – there must have been a strong storm recently.  See photo – this was the first of many.  Then the crux:  I followed the only possible “path” on the map but it was completely overgrown and impossible to find without a GPS.  For some 600 – 700 m I battled with brambles, giant stinging nettles (that stung your knees through the trousers), boggy areas, shrubs, fallen trees, etc.  By the end I was quite exhausted and soon contacted Sally to be “rescued”.  Difficult, because of weak mobile networks in this area.

Night: Hôtel de la Gare, Porrentruy

June 6th – second day

Total distance: 40,0 km, of which 11 by bicycle
Total time: 11 hours of which 2 hours resting
Vertical distance: 1275 m uphill, 1165 downhill

Christoph Braendle, our Basle host, joined us today, arriving at Bättwil/Flüh by tram just before 8 a.m.  We started off almost immediately.  It was again very hot and some fenced off fields near Rodersdorf and elsewhere forced us to do some tedious detours.  Beautiful paths once in the forest.  Passed a huge beech tree, 40 m tall, almost a national monument, the “largest tree in northwest Switzerland”.  Just inside Swiss territory, it seems the local inhabitants had to defend the tree against the German Wehrmacht who wanted to fell it during World War II.  Finally finished going round the village of Rodersdorf and were forced to go to the nearest inn for a cool drink.

Next, a lovely ridge walk to the summit of Raemelsberg, with its slender concrete observation tower.  Sally was waiting for us at Chlösterle, where I had to pedal the 11 km to Lucelle for another drink – the others went by car.  After much discussion, Christoph and I decided to walk the last few km, while Neil was taken straight to the hotel for a shower!  I was quite exhausted at the end and could not eat anything solid.  Christoph took the train back to Basle.

Night: Hôtel de la Gare, Porrentruy