Last summer, a few weeks after riding my bike from La Féclaz to Albens, I came back to the Bauges mountains. This time, I rode from the Semnoz plateau to Saint-Pierre-d’Albigny in Savoie.
The Fort de Tamié is a military fortress built by France starting in 1872 with the goal of defending the Albertville valley. It is located on Col de Tamié, in the Bauges mountains between Albertville and Faverges. Beyond its historical interest, it offers a great view on Albertville and the surrounding mountains.
Last summer, I went on a hike to Croix du Nivolet, where I had already gone a few years ago. I took my bike on the bus from Aix-les-Bains to La Féclaz on the Mont Revard plateau, where the start of the trail is located. After the hike, instead of going down to Aix-les-Bains, I went in the other direction, towards the Vallée du Chéran and Vallée de Bange, at the center of the Bauges mountains. When I reached there, it had started to rain so I rushed to the nearest train station, in Albens.
The Cave & Waterfall of Seythenex (Grotte & Cascade de Seythenex) are natural sites at the foot of the Bauges mountains, down from Col de Tamié and Pointe de la Sambuy. The waterfall is formed by the Saint-Ruph torrent which pours from 45 meters high into large pools, on the way to Lake Annecy. A footbridge and staircases enable visitors to walk up to the top of the waterfall. As to the cave, it is the only one open to the general public in Haute Savoie. It has 1km of galeries and passages, with 250m accessible as part of a guided tour.
I spent last summer (and more) in Annecy, in Haute-Savoie. I went back on a hike to Pointe de la Sambuy, in the Bauges mountains near Faverges (south of Annecy). This time, I took the standard trail to the summit.
This is part 2 of the day-hike to Pointe d’Arcalod, Pointe de Chaurionde & Pointe de la Sambuy. After Col d’Orgeval, I basically followed this itinerary. Check the previous post for a map of the actual path I walked.
After getting down to Col d’Orgeval from Pointe d’Arcalod, I went up again on the other side to Pointe de Chaurionde, just as the sun was reappearing. From the summit, I could see up to Albertville and the Beaufortain. Still no Mont Blanc unfortunately… I then followed the ridge trail to Pointe de la Sambuy. Slightly before reaching the base of the Pointe, I left the ridge looking for the way up to the summit, a path that would involve rock-climbing the face of the Sambuy to the top. I saw some pink markers but I kept looking since the path they indicated was looking more difficult than what I had read. It was the correct way however… It turned out it was not that hard even though the rocks were not very solid, so I just had to be extra-careful. Finally, I arrived at the summit! I was the only one there. I then made my way down and, after a detour through the Petite Sambuy (Small Sambuy) below, I took the ski lift to the base of the Seythenex-Sambuy ski resort. There was a summer luge track so I spent a bit of time there. The next step was pretty tedious since I had to walk back to Faverges using the paved road. It took much longer than I had estimated and when I arrived at the village of Seythenex, I realized I would not make it in time for the last bus to Annecy. At that point, I started running, cutting through the woods at some point and then on the road that leads to Tamié. I arrived at the bus stop 15min late but, fortunately, so did the bus.
At 2217m, Pointe d’Arcalod is the highest peak in the Bauges Massif. The nearby Pointe de la Sambuy and Pointe de Chaurionde are respectively the 2nd and 5th highest. It is possible to climb them all on a single day-hike, in a loop starting and ending in Faverges. It makes for quite a long day though…
During the summer, I took my bike on the SIBRA summer shuttle to the top of the Semnoz. My goal was go down to Lake Annecy using the paved road (there are tracks for downhill mountain bikes as well): It is an almost uninterrupted downward slope until the lake with relatively little car traffic. Before going down, I spent some time on the plateau, which serves as cross country skiing tracks during winter. I also went to the summit (Crêt de Châtillon). There was a good view on the Mont Blanc from up there. Finally, I took the road to Leschaux, then went down the Route du Col de Leschaux until I reached the lake at Sévrier.
The Croix du Nivolet is a giant christian cross (22 meters high) at the summit of the Dent du Nivolet, in the Bauges Massif. Its size and location make it highly visible from Chambéry and the surrounding towns. It offers a great view on the valley below, as well as the Lac du Bourget. The path to get there is pretty easy (although sometimes muddy) and is therefore very popular. This itinerary was the inspiration for the path I followed.
The Chalets de l’Eau Froide are huts in the Bauges mountains. They are rumoured to have one of the best views on the Lac d’Annecy from the southern direction. However, there was a thick fog when I arrived there so I could not verify it… I basically followed these directions, with the map here (except at the end, where I continued a bit further).