March 12, 2022

Hike to Crêts du Semnoz: Crêt de l'Aigle, Crêt de la Grande Danne, Crêt de Tertère & Crêt de Châtillon

At the end of the spring of 2021, I went on a hike on Semnoz. I walked through 4 bumps at the top of the mountain: Crêt de l’Aigle, Crêt de la Grande Danne, Crêt de Tertère & Crêt de Châtillon.

Here is a map of the path I walked:

In the morning, I took the SIBRA summer shuttle (which runs on the week-ends in June and September as well) to the top of Semnoz. The fog there was very thick. I started on my loop: First, I went down to “Versant Bauges”, part of the Semnoz ski resort. I then followed a chairlift (Téléski de l’Aigle) on the way up in order to get back to Plateau du Semnnoz and reach Crêt de l’Aigle. I then walked on the Plateau and went down to “Versant Annecy”, the main part of the Semnoz ski resort. I found some nordic skiing tracks and followed them until I was below Crêt de la Grande Danne. I walked off-trail to the summit. There was no view there. After that, I walked to Crêt de Tertère: It seems like the highest point of Semnoz when looking at it from Annecy. Again, there was no trail to the actual summit but here was a great view on Lake Annecy at the top. I went around Crêt de Tertère off-trail then found the GR Tour du Lac d’Annecy and followed it to the summit of Crêt de Châtillon. Finally, I walked down on the other side to get back to my starting point.

While I was writing this, I felt an odd jolt, like an earthquake. And indeed, there was an earthquake, magnitude 4.5, near Faverges!

▲ Fog near the summit of Semnoz.

▲ Cattle in the mist.

▲ The trail to Versant Bauges passed through their pasture so I waited for a while for them to move away.

▲ This is where I will go next.

▲ Veratrum Album. It is a poisonous plant.

▲ Pink mushrooms.

▲ Once at the Versant Bauges, I walked up along Téléski de l’Aigle. There was no trail but it was not very steep.

▲ Equisetum.

▲ There is a cave called Grotte de l’Ours in that area.

▲ Chalets des Vernettes. Crêt de Châtillon is in the background.

▲ Below Crêt de l’Aigle in the fog.

▲ View towards the Plateau from the summit.

▲ When there is no fog, there is a great view towards the Bauges.

▲ On the way down.

▲ Crêt de l’Aigle.

▲ Dog at Chalets Dagand.

▲ Limited visibility.

▲ This is the usual view, on Pays de l’Albanais. Lac du Bourget is in the background.

▲ I took a trail through the pasture towards the main alpine ski resort.

▲ Versant Annecy of the resort.

$Télémix \$

▲ Crêt de Châtillon above.

▲ Le Vuache.

▲ Crêt de Châtillon.

▲ Crossing the road.

▲ Following along what is a nordic skiing track during winter.

▲ Off-trail towards the summit of Crêt de la Grande Danne.

▲ Summit.

▲ I made a detour to Sentier du Planay. I wanted to walk the path until the viewpoint, but in the end, because I thought there would be a lot of fog, I stopped there and went back on the way to Crêt de Tertère.