Le Chemin Des Moulins

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Yesterday I went for a hike from Le Day down to the Saut du Day before going up towards the Aiguilles de Baume and beyond. In the process I saw six or more wind mills.

The hike is 21.71km long, took about 6hr41 1178m of ascent and 895m of descent.Moving time was around 4hr55min.

To simplify the route, it follows the Chemin Des Crêtes du Jura most of the time. To be more specific it was stage 12 There is a detour to explore a little cave which is not as spectacular as other caves I have been through. I was glad to take a beanie with me to protect my head from impacts with the ceiling. I had considered taking climbing helmets with me.

The Aiguilles de Baulmes part is an Alpine trail with challenging terrain for the climb and exposure when you get to the top.

To get there you take the train from Renens to Le Day and start the hike, and to get back you take the train from Ste Croix to Yverdon-les-bains and beyond. The train to Le Day is every half hour but the train from Ste Croix is once an hour.

The hike is nice with good views of the Jura, the Dent de Vaulion and the Alps, although we had humidity in the morning. This made visibility mediocre. It burned off in the afternoon and by the time we were on the train we had a better view.

The track that I drew ahead of the hike was not what we hiked. This is the route we actually walked. I drew it out of curiousity, I did not anticipate the route well.

On a clear day this hike would present some great views of the Jura and the Alps. Although there are 1200 meters of climbing it is at a more forgiving angle. I didn’t feel the same burn as I did on other hikes. You’re climbing over a distance of 16 kilometres so endurance is useful to have.

I would consider doing this hike again, and I might consider doing it in the opposite direction. By doing it in the reverse direction the wait for a train would be half an hour rather than an hour. The wait doesn’t matter, but due to the one hour wait the group split in two in the last hour of the hike, with some rushing for the train, and others taking the time it took for the final descent. It’s steep, and with tired legs, it can be excruciating especially at speed.

Rather than rush for a train at the end of a hike I’d rather take fewer breaks during such long hikes.