Daily Archives: 16 June 2015

June 16th

Start:  on the Risoux, about 1220 m; finish:  La Rippe (VD)

Total distance: 37,5 km
Walking time:  9 hours 10 minutes
Vertical distance: 950 m uphill, 1600 downhill

Going straight to the French side of the border, I passed a team of 4 foresters trimming logs to be pulled out of the forest.  Infernal noise of chain saws.   A carpet of debris was left behind and the track  was ruined by a large vehicle like a tractor.

I climbed to the top of the French “enclave” above Bois d’Amont.  An old woman, driving a 4-wheel drive as if it were a racing car, explained that there are still 2 dairies and some 200 cows up there.  Tedious walking in wet grass (that I finally abandoned for paths and roads) up to La Cure.  From there, a section through the valley of Dappes, a climb up the flanks of La Dôle, a first emotional view of Lake Geneva and a very painful descent of about 850 m to La Rippe.