Walking in the Haute Savoie: North. Janette Norton

SALEVE AND VUACHE

       Walk 1 Gorges du Salève

       Walk 2 Balcon du Salève

       Walk 3 Grand Piton

       Walk 4 Pointe du Plan

       Walk 5 Boucle de l’Iselet

       Walk 6 Le Vuache

       VALLEE VERTE

       Walk 7 Signal des Voirons

       Walk 8 Mont de Vouan

       Walk 9 Pointe de Miribel

       Walk 10 Montagne d’Hirmentaz

       Walk 11 Mont Forchat

       VALLEE DU BREVON

       Walk 12 Mont d’Hermone

       Walk 13 Rocher de Nifflon

       Walk 14 Pointe de la Gay

       Walk 15 Pointe de Chalune

       Walk 16 Haute Pointe

       Walk 17 Pointe d’Uble

       PRE-ALPES DU LEMAN

       Walk 18 Pic des Mémises

       Walk 19 Pic Boré

       Walk 20 Dent d’Oche

       VAL D’ABONDANCE

       Walk 21 Cornettes de Bise

       Walk 22 Lac d’Arvouin

       Walk 23 Autour du Mont Chauffé

       Walk 24 Roc de Tavaneuse

       Walk 25 Mont de Grange

       Walk 26 Pointe des Mattes

       Walk 27 Le Morclan

       VAL DE MORZINE

       Walk 28 Col de Chésery

       Walk 29 Pointe de Ressachaux

       Walk 30 Col de Cou

       Appendix A Route summary table

       Appendix B Useful information

       Appendix C Glossary of useful French words

      

      Lac de Montriond from the Col de Chésery (Walk 28)

      PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

      Since moving to the Geneva area about 50 years ago, the mountains of the Haute Savoie have been part of our lives. In good weather the Môle and the Salève are always visible across the lake, with the peaks of the Chablais behind and the glistening snows of Mont Blanc towering over all. It is a view we will never tire of, and the walks in this guide lead visitors into the spectacular beauty of what has become our home.

      As revisers, we have had great pleasure in preparing this new edition and in re-discovering the delights of the walks we did in our younger days. In the past two years all the walks have been re-done by ourselves and helpers, relying on a few younger – and faster – friends in the case of the more challenging ones.

      Although the walking takes longer as the years pass, route finding has become easier, for new signposts and information boards have sprung up almost everywhere. As a result all the route descriptions needed updating, and an increase in building has necessitated the re-routing of some walks or finding a more suitable parking place at the start. Two walks have been suppressed and even lovelier new ones added in their place.

      The general introduction has been revised and the walks re-structured into six sections, each with its own introduction. Each walk is accompanied by a new sketch map which overlays a recorded GPS track and key features on a colourful Cicerone base map, and by a profile plot which shows the steepness of the uphill and downhill sections. In addition, the many new photos will illustrate to readers the variety and beauty of this region which we have grown to love so much.

      Alan Norton and Pamela Harris

      Janette Norton descending from the Col de Planchamp (Walk 20)

      INTRODUCTION

      Most people associate the French Alps with the town of Chamonix, dominated by Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe, and the dazzling array of challenging peaks that surround it. Visitors flock to the Chamonix area to walk and explore, but they do not always realise that the Mont Blanc range is only part of the Haute Savoie. Not far away there are dozens of other interesting mountains and villages to discover, less frequented, steeped in history, and crisscrossed with delightful walking trails.

      Mont Blanc and the peaks of Chablais from Mont Forchat (Walk 11): photo Richard Saynor

      The Haute Savoie is located in eastern France, bordering Switzerland and Italy. To the north is Lake Geneva (known to the French as Lac Léman), to the southeast is Chamonix, and to the southwest is Lake Annecy. The area in the northeast, which extends into Switzerland, is known as the Chablais, and was originally a separate province. Running for 100km through the centre of the region is the River Arve, rising in the glaciers of the Mont Blanc range and flowing northwest through the towns of Sallanches, Cluses, Bonneville and Annemasse to join the River Rhône and the lake at Geneva. This is the major artery of the region, with the motorway known as the autoroute blanche running alongside to eventually go through the Mont Blanc Tunnel into Italy, an important link between north and south Europe. To the north of the Arve is another east–west artery, the River Giffre, rising in the snowfields of Mont Ruan and flowing through Sixt and Samoëns to join the Arve above Cluses.

      This is one of the most mountainous regions in France, with the lower mountains of the Chablais in the north rising to the high peaks of the Mont Blanc range in the south. The walks all give spectacular views, and the trails are well marked and easy to follow. Walks around Chamonix are not included as they are covered in Cicerone’s Mont Blanc Walks, by Hilary Sharp.

      Looking up to the Col de Foron (Walk 15)

      The walks in Walking in the Haute Savoie: North are located near to Lake Geneva, beginning with those on the Salève and Vuache in the west. The remainder are all in the Chablais, a large mountainous area stretching south of the lake and eastwards into Switzerland,