Hiking Paradise Lake Annecy
Jun 22nd, 2009 by lakeannecyexpert
Let me tell you about a spectacular hike I have done yesterday late afternoon. Got my mobile broadband connection going and I have been working all day from my house. True the views down to the lake and up the mountains nearby is still better than the ones from my office in London. However it is still work. Luckily June days have long day light and around 5pm I headed off for some late afternoon hiking. I wanted something spectacular, with lake views, some peaks and some challenging terrain. Climbing the Tournette would give me all that but even I can’t do the full tour in the remaining 4 hours of daylight. I had to look for some alternatives
Here is what I got. A challenging hike, spectacular views over lake Annecy, 4 passes and one peak. 15km in 4.5 hours.
Lake Annecy view from tournette
I left my house just before 5pm and headed up to the Clo De Forclaz. It was warm but very windy when I left my house. Luckily when i arrived at the car park above le Bois (Montmin) there was hardly any wind. Looked like an inversion of some sort. I headed straight up to Cal. de l’Aulp, signposted 40 min. but I was in a rush so I did it in a lot less. There is catered chalet Cal. de l’Aulp with great views across the Tournette. The trail from the car park uphill but easily doable even if you more into a gentle Sunday afternoon walk. Worthwhile investing the 40 min of effort.
From Cal. de l’Aulp I enjoyed my first views over lake Annecy, keenly aware that my destination peak was still another one and a half hours away I continued hiking without a prolonged stop. After all hiking is a sport and I can enjoy the lake views later from the peak or tomorrow from my house.
The trail headed into the woods, down and up the valley to the Col des Nantets, where the views trruly opened up. My target peaks ahead of me, the light blue of lake Annecy to my left, the ever present Tournette behind me and the Aravis mountains and Thones to my right. This view takes a beating. I have been hiking and climbing all over the Alps, the Rockies, Asia and Central America. Few of the hikes I have done anywhere compare and even fewer are so easily accessible.
Onwards and upwards towards Roc Lancrenaz and Cal. de Aulp Riant where I climbed up the top of the peak just under 1700m. It sound low but the drops down to the valley and lake Annecy are steep and breathtaking. From here you can see the nearby Dents de Lanfon, Lanfonnet and the spectacular Les Grandes Lanches.
7.30pm on the peak enjoying every minute of the views (and the rst of the water in my bottle). Acutely aware that I needed to be back at the car park for 9.30pm I headed off. To add a little extra challenge I decented the west face of the Roc Lancrenaz. It is not a climb, more like a challenging hike but it gave me a different route back, altough a little longer. My reward: some dear grassing along my path. My punishment: a dark cloud came in and it started to drissle. I uped the tempo and made it back in time to the car park.
Just enough time for a pizza take-away on my drive home and a couple of hours on the Internet before I fell asleep thinking about how much you can enoy life when you organise yourself.
