In late summer, I went on a hike to Lacs Noirs in Chamonix. I had already been there many times but that day, I wanted to go up to the ridge north of the lakes, walk around the hill next to it, then reach Col des Lacs Noirs and finally go back to the lakes. I couldn’t find much info about that area: Only that hike report which describes a climb to Aiguilles de la Glière passing that way. In the end, I accomplished my goal and walked a loop around both lakes.
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.