The peaks of the Petit Bargy and Grand Bargy dominate the view from the patio of our chalet. Both have adventurous long rock climbs on them, but both peaks are also accessible by foot, so day of exploration above our new local neighbourhood seemed to be in order. The ascent started in the peaceful village just around the hillside called Mont Saxonay. It was only a few minutes drive away, incredibly peaceful and utterly beautiful in the still air of the morning.
On a Wednesday and Sunday a tiny chairlift operates from the meadow on the edge of the village. At only five euros for a return trip it seemed positively remis not to take advantage of the scenic ride and save myself nearly an hour and a half up uphill walking.
After descending from the chairlift in the direction of the lake, in the cool north face shade of a warm summer alpine morning, I made my way up the loose screes to above the picturesque Lac Benit. Getting to the Col d'E via this route involves some steep rock slabs that felt a little exposed to rockfall from higher up. Picking the safest line, I hurried through and soon emerged into the sunlight at the col.
I stopped for a while at the col to take in the view and have some water. In front of me, the glistening white peaks of Europe's highest summit seemed so close.
Ten minutes from the col, saw me up at my first summit of the day - Petit Bargy, where I just sat a stared and the jagged vista.
So many peaks in all directions. I took a while identifying those which I knew (a good deal of which I have ascended over the years) and those which still remain objects of desire.
From the summit, I walked towards the cliff tops which we look up to from home and could identify chalet at the top of the village (near where the woodlands meet the populated area below).
After returning to the col, I continued up and along the skyline ridge over some interesting limestone geology
The final section of ridge line was superbly positioned and fabulously exposed and ensured a renewed sense of concentration.
A sneaky false summit put a brief halt to motivations, but one final small col finally led to the summit cross and the highest point.
The views were in all directions - from Lake Geneva, the distant Jura mountains and the snowy peaks of Mt Blanc.
I stayed alone on the summit for over half an hour, chomping my way through a stale cheese baguette and working out various landmarks and the lay of the land.
Eventually, I decided to get going and repeated the route in reverse to get back to the col. The temperatures were still very warm and I was glad of my sunhat and glasses.
The descent from the col seemed even sketchier than on the way up, so I packed up my walking poles and made a dash for it across the loose screes to make a safer descent down the far ridge, via a vague zig-zagging path.
Soon enough, I was back down by the lake. This time, I thought I might go and dip my toes in the water and cool off, but on arrival found a sign asking people to stay out of the water.
Instead, I climbed the final 100m or so back up to the chairlift, taking my total ascent for the day to just over 1000m. The path gave great views of the slabs that we'll come back and climb at some point.
The slow ride down on the chairlift was a real joy for tired legs!
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