Aiguillette des Posettes (2201 m)

We hesitated till the last moment with a decision what to do with the day. A quick look at the forecasts... Ok, looks like a fine day for hiking. It was not our first time in mountains with our baby boy, but the most serious outing without a doubt. Technically the route was the easiest one you could have, but it was not that short and moderate when it comes to elevation gain - Aiguillette des Posettes (2201 m).

Yet again, I wa ssurprised by the colours in higher parts. It's summer in plains, but fall in mountains and I love it!
Our road led through a forest up to Col des Posettes. When we reached it we experienced what I call "the WOW effect". Beautiful landscape on the surrounding mountain and La Tour glacier. It's a pity that clouds covered it a bit but still, it was amazing.

From there we continued through more and more colurful surroundings to reach the top. We had the glacier on our right side continuosly so we watched it showing up and disappearing behind the clouds.

Originally we planned to do a loop but because the weather was changing we decided to go back by the route we already covered. Distance-wise it was similar but at least we knew what to expect and there was also a possibility to take the cable car down in case of rain.

I really enjoyed this walk. Autumn... It makes me melancholic!

Col de la Terrasse (2645 m)

It's been a while I did a serious hike so I was looking up to this one. Col de la Terrasse (2645 m) is situated in a beautiful terrain around French-Suisse border. The peaks that are there differ from the ones I know, as they are more harsh, with plain rocks or lunar sand. Really beautiful!

I started my day going through a forest with a group of CERN colleagues. Humid but warm weather is favourable for mushrooms but I'm no picker. I guess the red ones were inedible anyway.
When we left the forest we entered the fields. It's the first time this season that I saw autumn pushing forward. The colours were amazing - yellow, brown and red. Is it really fall time? I haven't had enough of summer yet!

After Chalets de Loriaz we were constantly haunted by the clouds. we somehow managed to get away from them but they limited our view consistently. In the end, I was happy they didn't hide everything from our eyes. For example we were able to spot a pack of chamois grazing somewhere by the snow. Or a groundhog - always a treat to see!

When we sat for a snack break the clouds played hide and seek with us. Sometimes we could see the sky, sometimes we couldn't. It was the same with our destination - every now and then it would show up behind the fog. We were hoping to have at least some view when we reach the pass. Final meters were more difficult but nothing too bad.

And here it is - Col de la Terasse. Although visibility was not perfect, it definitely was good enough to make me marvel. Pointy, rocky tops, red and black stone, and before all - the lakes!

The lakes were really stunning. There were at least a couple of them and they looked differently from each angle. That is why I took tons of photos of them - I just couoldn't resist. I usually make this a tradition to dip my feet in mountain puddles but not this time! The snow there is not without a reason. It was pretty windy and cold!

Ok, enough of the lakes... Let's move on to pink and red rock. I haven't seen such colours in the mountain yet. I wonder what kind of stone is that - painted in unicorn's colours :)

Time to leave the clay valley and move on to pastures of green and waterfalls. That was pretty awesome too. It's a pity we didn't see the top of Buet mountain but Buet is already on my to-do list for some time so I will be back for sure!

The last part of the route led through a valley, along a stream and Buet mountain. Final look on the pastel colours that aren't there yet in the plains and back to summer in lower parts.