From Jaun to Gruyères and around the Aiguilles De Baumes

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This weekend I went on two hikes. The first was from Jaun to Gruyères across fields filled with flowers. The second was a loop around the Aiguilles de Baumes. Both hikes were interesting although I prefered the size and pace of the second group.

This weekend I was reminded of the "Hike Your Own" phrase that American thru-hikers like to remind themselves of. I had to remind myself of this phrase on Saturday, but also on previous group hikes with GoSocial. The concept is great. A group of people follow a chat on Whatsapp and when they see an activity they want to join they join a sub-chat. In this sub chat discussions take place about logistics, photo sharing and more.

Hiking with different leaders, different people, and with people from different hiking cultures can be a challenge. Two or three weeks ago I would have chosen an easier route than the organiser. I didn’t want to contradict the leader so I kept quiet. A key reason for this is that people were not equipped for the conditions so in theory both had their own issues. I wrote about that situation in an earlier post.

On Saturday the issue was another one. I didn’t like the pace of the group. I especially didn’t like that not only were people slower, but we also stopped, more than once, in places with no view. I have no issue with stopping to allow people to catch up. It’s normal to do so. What does bother me is stopping for 5-10 or more minutes in a place that has no stunning view, especially when the next part is downhill.

In the end I got tired of waiting, so I set off and walked solo until I found a place to have lunch. At this point I shared my location, and photos, before sitting, and starting to eat. I then heard the group. They chose to stop 100 meters earlier than I did.

This did bother me. At this point I questioned whether to finish lunch and continue the hike solo, or to go back one hundred meters and rejoin the others. Of course I rejoined the group.

It’s after the ruins of the Castle that I sped up and stopped waiting. it’s at this point that I walked with other people, who were actually ahead for the entire hike. I told them that I was toying with the idea of speeding up to catch the train. I said that I’d decide once I got to the Castle.

In the end I did rush to catch the train. I walked fast, and then eventually ran for a short distance, weighed down by hiking gear before arriving at the train station with 5-6 minutes to spare. I bought the train ticket and headed home.

Like the Tour De France

In cycling, hiking, and other sports, there are those that are fast, that stay at the front and chat. I did talk with these people often. I was fine with this. It’s normal with cycling, and hiking that people go at their own speed, and then wait for others. It’s like the echapée in the Tour de France. One group breaks off, and spends time at the front. The rest cruise as a group in the back.

Yesterday, and the last time I was near Ste Croix, as well as when hiking up to the Dent De Jaman, I do stay at the back, as the voiture balais when I see that people are struggling. Someone worried that she was slowing me down and I said that I chose to be at the back of the group.

In some cases, when I was struggling, or unfamiliar with a via ferrata I found that it was uncomfortable to be at the back. When we enter a difficult or dangerous section, or if knees start to ache, I will slow down so that no one feels abandoned.

In seven hours of real time we spent five and a half hours moving, and I think that’s because I chose to abandon the group after "La Chapelle de La Marche".

Train Schedules and Rest

For a day or two before the hike I questioned whether to take the car, or the train. I believe that if I had taken the car I would have felt differently. I believe that the key factor in me being less patient was knowing that trains are once per hour, and take two hours to get me home.

I caught the 16:58 train, an hour later than was ideal, which meant I was home by 19:00, ate by 20:00 and didn’t have as much time to relax and prepare for the next day’s hike.

As the Sunday hike was 12km I didn’t worry about preparing a lunch. I simply took a few snacks, and planned to be home by 16:00-17:00.

A Smaller group

On Sunday the hike was better. It was a small, fast group with people used to Swiss hiking. The group walked fast, and despite this stayed within eyesight of each other the entire time. It was just eight people. We could easily fit in two cars, and a bike. One person cycled from Fribourg to join the group.

And Finally

Two or three organisers have a black list system. If you sign up for an event and don’t turn up, without a valid reason for not turning up, you are blacklisted. I was thinking of flipping this around on Saturday. I considered blacklisting the organiser. If organisers can blacklist participants then we can avoid them in turn.

Before you accuse me of prejudice, and superficiality there is a simple rationale for this. When a running group admin sent me two audio messages that I never bothered to hear because they made me anxious, I quit that group.

After Saturday’s experience I feel like not participating in any more events organised by the individual. When I hike with a group I want the organiser to be at the front, or near the front. When a break is taken I want it to be for a real reason such as a beautiful landscape, or people really struggling to keep up. I don’t want a break to be taken without justification.

The problem, I suspect, is that hiking with a large group is no longer an intimate experience. With a small group of five to eight people everyone gets to talk with everyone, but with a larger group the extroverts take over, and the social experience becomes less outgoing. Extroverts hog the attention. It happens in bars, which is why I stopped going out at night, years ago.

If anything Saturday encourages me to organise my own events, rather than waiting for others to organise theirs. I have at least three projects that I look forward to.

I have every intention to continue doing one or two group hikes per weekend. On Saturday hikes though, I will be ready to leave the group by a certain time, to be home at a reasonable time to have dinner, sleep properly, and then enjoy the second hike of the weekend.