Pel pont del primer de Maig, en Jaume va venir a Suissa. La setmana havia sigut molt fred i plujosa. A finals del mes d'Abril i en vàrem trobar fins a 80cm de neu. 

La idea original era anar a fer la via ferrata que puja fins al cim del Moleson, però amb aquesta neu ens vàrem conformar a fer un bon passeig per la neu, estirar les cames i fer una raclette a Gruyere.

Today I needed to go out for a walk, ... for some time, I had a fixation to climb the summit close the Faucille. Checking the maps, I've learned that it's called Petit-Montrond, and decided to continue the crest and climb the Montrond, and the Grand Montrond. Just after the Grand Montrond there is a geodesic point that is where is finished my hike the day I've climb the Reculet. So challenge will be to have hiked from "Col de la Faucille" to the Reculet.

After an intense week with the Honeywell connected homes team, working on documenting architecture, I had an almost free Saturday, my plane was at 19:00, and I didn't want to spend my day at the Long Island beaches. At about 2h from New York city, there is the Catskill Mountains, it's a typical place for the newyorkers to go and breath some fresh air. A friend recomended to visit the Kaaterskill Waterfall and so I did. It's an easy walk, provably in 15 mins from where you park the car.

Everyday, while driving from back from the school, I can’t avoid looking at the magnificent Jura mountains that surrounds Geneva. For a while I wanted to go to the top of those cliffs. The day is a bit sunny with cloud patches, the snow is almost over in the Jura and the family is busy studding … all perfect excuses to plan a solo hike to the mountains.

L’excursió l’hem feta un dia clar d’octubre amb tots els colors de la tardor... Comencem amb una trobada Sant Bernat del Montseny, on deixarem un cotxe, ja que aquest serà el nostre punt d’arribada. Amb cotxe anirem a coll Formic.  D’allà farem el cim del Matagalls, baixarem cap a Sant Marçal i tornarem cap a Sant Bernat. 

Des de que vàrem fer l’excursió al llac de Tanay que teníem ganes de pujar a "Les Jumelles". Son unes muntanyes en forma d'enforcadura, recorden els encantats o el Pedraforca. Aquest cap de setmana ens hem decidit a fer-ho. La preparació va ser una mica mes difícil del previst, va costar força trobar la ruta. El camí no esta marcat, i els camins i rutes dels voltants expliquen com pujar al Gramont, però no a les Jumelles. Tot i això es fàcil de trobar "posts" que parlen de que l'han fet, però a cap d'ells hi ha el fitxer GPX o cap ressenya. Tots en parlem com si ja sabéssim per on anar-hi. Al final vàrem tenir un cop de sort i després de molt buscar, vàrem trobar un parell de fitxers GPX.
L'excursió es puja molt be al principi, la part final una mica vertical i acaba amb una grimpada molt senzilla. 
El dia va ser esplèndid, una mica núvol per començar, el que ens va fer pujar frescor, sol al cim amb un mar de núvols impressionant al fons de la vall
I per acabar un rösti.

At the highs of Gryon ski slopes, there is a small mountain village called Taveyanne. You can only get to Taveyanne by car in summer; in winter the road is fully covered by snow and you will have to access with snowshoes or skies. It’s a typical high altitude Swiss cluster of home in the pastures.
 
The hike starts at the “les Chaux” cable-car exit; first you walk the ski slope to get to the Chaux-Ronde summit. The summit is signaled with a huge wooden cross. From there a narrow trail traces the crest of the mountains, the trail will then go down trough the pastures, forest and finally to Taveyanne, where we will take the 4x4 track to get back to the cable car.

 

Miroire d'Argentine is an impressive group of mountains located in Bex municipality, in Canton Vaud, Switzerland. The formation majestically rises above Solalex pastures. 

Aquest estiu hem fet una petita estada a la Vall de Núria, ens hem refrescat als rius, hem muntat a cavall, hem descansat, i també hem fet el cim del Puigmal (2.910m) des de el Santuari de Núria. Per començar vàrem fer una petita parada per dinar al costat del Freser, però no a ribes, sinó que a la part alta del riu, a Queralbs. Després de dinar, agafem el cremallera i cap a Núria. L'endemà ens llevem d'hora per sortir d'hora a fer el cim, no volem que el sol ens no ens deixi arribar... de baixada, una refrescada al riu, activitats, sopar, dormir i qui vulgui dormir en tenda, i l'endemà a fer una passejada en cavall, baixar amb el cremallera, i per acabar aquestes mini-vacances en refrescant se al salt del grill.

This weekend, we hiked the Puigpedros with the people from Gels.

The mythical mountain that can be seen in the background of the photos of the castle of Gruyères is the Moleson. An important elevation of 2.002m in the middle of nowhere. The excursion begins at the parking of the ski station of the Moléson-Village. From the summit, there are impressive views of plains, pastures and meadows to the west, and magestic glaciers of the Alps to the east. Bored of seeing so many people, and seeing that there was another summit close by to the col, we decided to take a short trip towards it. 

Above Montreux, there are the Rochers de Naye. The initial idea was to go from the col de Jaman to the summit, but in the end we decided to take a shortcut by taking the train that leaves from Montreaxu. The route taken by the train has some very impressive views. The excursion is rather vertical - it climbs about 500 metres in about two hours of walking. The most annoying part is that at the beginning, you constantly climb and descend, only to be at the same level. Once you arrive at the canal, the path climbs towards the col with impressive viewes of the Leman lake.

At the Vall de Travers, in the canton of Neuchâtel, we find a singular circ formation named the 'Creux de Van'. We were lucky enough to find a family of mountain goats - they were calmly grazing at our side as we were gaining altitude. The sights from the superior part of the circ are scary and it is rather annoying to see someone on a mountain bike or a stroller for children right next to you, right after your exhausing walk... but of course, they took the road to get here...

We start at the camping place of Vallorbe, with a strong vertical slope untin we cross the col. From there, we descend through a minor road until Vailion. After crossing the village we enter once more at the forest, where we cross a defensive system (the toblerones) where we start once more to descend, following the river. In the last part, we walk next to the river and cross wooden bridges several times.

My work brings me to many places around the world. Lately, one of these frequent destinations is India. The city I visit is very close to New Delhi, and the large Himalayan mountains are not too far, only around 400 Km away. But in India, this means 10 hours of driving. Last time I went, I had a monday free, which gave me a three-day-long weekend and the perfect excursion for me to escape to the mountains.

Via ferrata at the foot of Pedraforca. There are three tracks, one for children, and two more serious ones. The first is a bit difficult, the second one has quite a bit of overhang, as well as overhang at the descent - it is only recommended to those with experience and arm strength.