At the beginning of summer, I went to Le Bouchet-Mont-Charvin, on a hike to Mont des Dunes: On an old map (Carte d’État-major 1820-1866), it is the name given to the small range between Col de l’Épine and Col du Fer, above Marlens. I had already been there in winter, but looking at the aerial photos, I saw what looked like a grass patch above the cliff that maybe had a good view on the valley, so I came back to check it out. I was right!
Last fall, I went on a hike to Mont Bisanne, in the Beaufortain mountains. I went there by car with my father, but in summer, it is also possible to get there with the Navettes natures Beaufortain.
Recently, I have been busy with making PiqoPiqo, a replacement for Adobe Bridge, which I used for triaging my JPEG photos (I used only a very small part of the features so it was not that hard to make a replacement that focused only on what I needed). Essentially, it is a lazy photogrid, where I can easily go fullscreen with a photo + enter metadata (title and keywords).
Rainbow in the fog at Station du Semnoz.
Lac de Roselend and Mont Blanc seen from near Roche Parstire.
I submitted that photo as my shot for this year’s “Your Best Shot 2025” on Flickr. It is nothing special technically but it was one of the best views I had this year. Here are more photos of the hike to Roche Parstire (starting from Lac de Saint-Guérin). That hike was quite easy and offered great views.
Last summer, I went on a hike to Chalet d’Aigue Faru, walking a path from Serraval to Saint-Ferréol. The chalet is in Saint-Ferréol high in the forest below the cliff of Crêt des Mouches. It is marked on the IGN map and I saw a photo album on Flickr by Chalet de l’Arclosan, a local lodge. However, apart from those photos, I couldn’t find a report or hiking directions, including if the IGN map was accurate. Even refuges.info didn’t have any information (I later asked about it and a marker was added but with no further info yet). So I went to have a look.
In the spring of 2024, I went on a hike to Pointe de Puvat, above Plateau des Glières. I started in Les Villards-sur-Thônes and ended up in Morette (Thônes).
In the summer of 2023, I went on a hike to Pointe Noire de Pormenaz. I had tried a few times before to reach the summit, but the paths I chose were not quick enough so I gave up. That summer, there was an early bus from Saint-Gervais so I made another attempt. On the way up, I took an alternate trail that I had scoped out during a previous attempt. On the way down, I walked to the Servoz train station.
Last year, I went on a hike to Pointe des Aravis and Aiguille de Borderan, on the north side of Col des Aravis. I had already been to Pointe des Aravis, starting from the village of La Clusaz. This time, I continued to Aiguille de Borderan.
Some stray cats playing in Montmélian.
I submitted that photo as my shot for “Your Best Shot 2024” on Flickr. It became my most popular photo of 2024!