The Lure of a Walk to a Walk

The Lure of a Walk to a Walk

Byrichard

There is a good chance that tomorrow I will go for a walk along the Toblerones from Prangins to the lake side and on to Nyon. For this walk I have the luxury that I can walk to the starting point before doing the group walk.

The issue is that the walk to the starting point is about 8km which will take at least an hour and a half or more so I need to set off at least an hour and a half early if not more. Due to the activity starting at 1300 that’s quite easy to do, with a relaxed morning.

The train ride takes three minutes, once I have walked 20 minutes to the train station, so really it takes 23 minutes, every half hour. In contrast the walk takes one hour and 20 minutes. The train will cost about 4CHF whereas walking costs time.

The loop, if I walk the entire thing, will be about 14-20km, so a good day of walking. Due to the walk being linear, starting in Gland and heading to Nyon it doesn’t make sense to drive to Gland because I would then have to walk back to get the car. I could take the train but it seems absurd to spend so much on such a small journey. Having said this, if I drove there and back I would spend 4 CHF in petrol. 😉

There are two things to consider. The first is that this is a tame walk. For the most part walking from Nyon to Gland, and Gland to Nyon is relatively flat. The second consideration is that i like to walk loops rather than linear walks. By walking the loop I get to experience new portions of road that I have previously cycled rather than walked along.

From Nyon to Gland I would walk along the top of Nyon, and then head down towards the road that runs from Prangins to the aerodrome, and from there either to the left through the industrial zone or to the right down to the bowling, climbing gym and then up to the train station where I would wait for people. I would then walk the “toblerone” walk back to Nyon and from there home.

And Finally

If the experiment is a success then I will have a new, ambitious walking route that I could enjoy on Sunday, without the need for a car. I have walked from Nyon to Coppet and up towards Crassier but I have barely done any walking beyond the East of Nyon. This is a good opporunity to range.

Exploration on Foot

Exploration on Foot

Byrichard

Walking is an easy activity. You put your shoes on, and you go for a walk. Sometimes you walk from home. Other times you walk from a car park. Sometimes you walk along rivers that are full, and others you walk along streams that are almost dry.

A few years ago I did the same Via Ferrata by a waterfall two or three times within a few weeks because I liked it so much. The beauty of waterfalls is that sometimes they’re erupting with power. They’re roaring and sending a mist of water outwards. Other times they’re running dry and you can really get a good look at the underlying rock beneath.

Yeesterday I walked in a different region than usual so we explored. We walked a little bit, and then to decide to go a little further, and then a little further again. In the end it was an 8km loop.

For the most part the walk was about walking along the indications from L’I’sle to Le Puits and then on to Montrichet, and then back. For the outward journey we followed the paths, but for the return I wanted to explore if there was a secondary path.

The secondary path led along a path, until you hit some woods. You could head down, back towards a road, or you could head upwards and then across a field. At this field there was a lot of water flowing so it required finding clumps of grass not to submerge shoes and soak socks. This time my feet stayed dry.

The reason for exploring a secondary route is simple. I like my walks to be loops, rather than a bounce. I like to walk in a circle so that my outward and homeward legs are different. Yesterday’s walk could have been a loop but it would have required walking along either of two main roads, and main roads are not designed for people to walk alongside them, which I think is a shame.

When you walk three to five kilometres it is easy to find loops that do not expose you to cars, but once you walk across several villages you have to walk along roads, and deal with traffic. It’s because I like long walks that I encounter so much traffic. With short walks I would encounter dog walkers and normal people, with normal lives.

I have cycled around where I walked yesterday. On foot you more. You can look through windows. You can stop to read signs. You can go to look at the collection of books that are available in lending libraries. You also get a feel for the ondulations of the landscape.

And Finally

I tracked this walk with my old Apple Watch and a casio. The casio tracked the entire walk, via the phone, without issues. The Apple Watch ran out of power without saving the walk, so I lost the track with that device. I am frustrated by this. If I wear a watch, I don’t want it to lose my track.

Day Twenty-seven of ORCA in Switzerland – River Walking
| | |

Day Twenty-seven of ORCA in Switzerland – River Walking

Byrichard

My shoes are wet and my socks are wet because today I tried river walking. If a child was to do the same it would be called immature and irrational but when an adult does it then it’s adventure, and trying something new.


My motivation to river walk came from the pandemic, or more precisely from how people behave during a pandemic. When I walked yesterday I had a runner pass right by me and then spit on the ground a few meters ahead of where I would have been going. When I walked through the woods yesterday I could hear groups of people so I avoided walking along the same routes.


That’s why I placed both feet, and the shoes they were in, into the river and walked. I didn’t get that far. In fact I was only able to walk a few dozen meters before finding that the river would have required wading. I wasn’t prepared to do that. We’re not in a heatwave yet.


Channels are dug into the rocks


Although you can’t really see it in the image above grooves have been worn into the rock strata. As a result you shouldn’t spend all of your time looking forward because you’ll be caught out. River walking requires you to look at where you’re placing your feet. In the image below you can see these erosion patterns more clearly.


Grooves in the rock
Grooves in the rock


I’ve walked along the routes so much that now I’m starting to get to know the details. Now I know that the river is beautiful and that if you’re willing to get wet you can see some nice features. There are a few places I need to return to, and document through photography.


This morning I was looking through to see if Thru-hiking had started and to see whether people would still try to thru hike any of the main trails in the US and from what I see most people have not started and those that did have postponed their hikes for now.


As a follow up to this I listened to this episode of the Hiking Thru podcast. It’s about Chris Smead going for a lesser known Thru hike with eleven lenses, seventy five batteries and a monopod to document a hike with a group of people. The hike sounds like an interesting experience. It also makes a nice change from listening to so many news and current affairs programs. A moment to dream.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=161&v=dbkE6UbIiAU


I will keep exploring. To a large degree I treated today as if there was no pandemic and that was refreshing. I still washed my hands as soon as I got home. I just didn’t stay cooped up indoors without treating myself. Exploration is a treat.