Hiking - Walking - Le Bois to the Chalet de l’ Aulp via the Col

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Forces-of-Nature » Personal Diaries » Hiking - Walking - Le Bois to the Chalet de l’ Aulp via the Col

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Owner: squiz
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Registered: 27-05-2007
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6th March 2020
Hiking - Walking: Le Bois to the Chalet de l’ Aulp via the Col
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Distance Covered: 4 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)

Friday 6th March -Snow shoe ***** Le Bois to the Chalet de l’ Aulp via the Col at 1426m – mainly sunny :)

Our fourth and last night at St Jorioz, don’t want to over stay our welcome and the Gary boys arrived again for the second night running but didn’t stay long as still raining. In fact, it rained for 30 hours non-stop!!!! We woke to a still, sunny day so Mag again did her exercises at the lake side and I followed suit after breakfast entertaining the locals on my yoga mat:) We then had a walk along the Lac side. We just can’t get enough of the scenery here it is very special. Our original plan was to head up to Semnoz to ski but after all the rain we thought the snow might be poor, also it is the last day of the French half term so it would have been very busy. To be honest we now much prefer to snow shoe and get away from the crowds and bad snow we seem to have encountered this trip. So, we decided to head back to somewhere we discovered on yesterday’s great rainy explore. So, with the van packed and a picnic in the rucksack we drove down the Lac and took the Montmin road up into the mountains. Just as lovely as yesterday but now accompanied by a blue sky:) We park at the hamlet of Le Bois and load up for our trek but don’t put our snow shoes on straight away as we are walking up the road which is a little short of snow to start with. We soon reach the snow and put the SS on and it’s a long climb up the road but lovely none the less with a wood and mountain stream to the left and impressive snowy high mountains to the right. We reach the Les Pres Ronds which is the parking spot in the summer when you can drive up here. There is even a handy compost toilet and the Refuge du Pre Verel which is at the end of a very impressive zip wire. You have to do some serious climbing to get to the start of that!!!! Our destination is now clearly in sight - the Col de l’ Aulp at 1426m but we miss the start of the walk and start going off-piste on a steep climb past a lovely old chalet with a thunder box outside toilet. We soon discover the mountain road which the three walkers and two ski tourers used to get to the top. The only trouble was this was a very long way as it zig zagged left and right with the snow ten inches deep! It was another pinch yourself day as we slowly progressed up with just stunning views all around. There were cracking noises all around from avalanches in the mountains over the back!! The two ski tourers skied past us on their way down and if Ernie comes up trumps I would definitely treat us to some ski touring gear as it is a fantastic way to get away from it all with the advantage that once you have walked up you can then ski down:) The Col just didn’t seem to get any closer but we made it in the end and it was worth every aching muscle in our bodies to get there! We climbed up a slope away from the road to get our first views of Lac Annecy far far below with high peaks everywhere. After the usual photos to be taken we settled down to enjoy our picnic watching the many paragliders flying overhead. This is, after all, the Paragliding capital of the world and what a fantastic place it is to do it. It was where I first saw paragliding in 1995 and it inspired me to take up the hobby but I haven’t done it for many years. It makes me want to get my canopy out again but it’s getting on a bit now, like me, so couldn’t trust my life to it now! Two lady snow shoers arrived but continued a little further to the Chalet de l’ Aulp which is a restaurant and cheese maker in the summer. With the picnic eaten we continued to the Chalet and up another short slope to get more great views of the Lac and the French ladies took our pics before we started the return trip. Back at the Col we ignore the road and head straight down offpiste all the way, really steep making tracks in the deep snow all the way. It’s just the most fun you could have in the snow:) Then instead of the snowy road down to the van we head over to the stream where another walk takes you back but much higher up the valley. Again, we were making fresh tracks as we followed the path past several information boards. The only trouble was at the end, when we reached a thick wood, we had to head down a steep slope where the snow was not deep enough to get a good grip. We made it down in the end only falling on our backsides a few times. We then had to climb over a farmer’s fence but were back on the road and soon back to the van. Another 5-star snow shoe being out for 4hrs 30mins covering 4 miles and are again absolutely knackered!!! Apparently snow shoeing uses 1000 calories an hour!! We then drive down the mountain past the Ermitage St Germain and park in a small lay-by near a tunnel high above Talloires where we have stopped before. Never has a cuppa and cake been more welcome and we were treated to a nice sunset as the sun sunk behind Semnoz. We have no plans for the next few days, a day of rest would be good and are hoping to get to Margeriaz around next Tuesday when hopefully we can get the skies out once more with all the kids back at school:)

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