Hiking Jura Mountains – Paradise Outside My Window

Paradise lies outside my window and yet when you see beauty everyday you take it for granted especially when caught up in the frenzy of working and raising a family. Retirement allows one to slow down and appreciate the view. Limited by bad feet, bad knees, and a bad back I minimized movement when teaching, so that I could make it through the day. I stopped doing things that I loved because it hurt too much and I needed to save energy. Now if I need to rest half a day to recover, that still leaves me a half a day to play. So I set a new goal – conquering the Jura Mountains outside my window.

The sub alpine mountains, which follow the French Swiss border, separate the Rhone and Rhine river basins. The name Jura with its dense forestation was derived from the Celtic term for forest. Within a 20-minute drive, we can be up in the Jura where hiking, biking, snow shoeing and skiing trails crisscross the centuries old mountain range that lent their name to the Jurassic Period of geology.

Like a race-car driver, Gerald maneuvers our car around hairpin curves of route de Nyon, a favorite of motorcyclist that leads to St. Cergue, a small mountain village. On the outskirts of town, we park alongside the route de France next to hilly pastureland. Cows graze while giant bells around their neck jangle with their languid movements. Though the placid scene looked inviting, a sign warned beware of cows with calves. Perhaps, it was an omen when our ill-fated hike started with a detour around the cows.

A few hundred feet away from the livestock, we climbed the stone fence and cut across the lumpy terrain toward the forests. The evergreen tree lines and boulder filled fields remind me of the hilly parts of America’s Wisconsin dairy land. The difference lies in the dimension. Once you leave the pasture, sheer mountaintops open to sumptuous views of the valley. Wild flowers dot the fields; sycamore trees turn hues of red, yellow and orange in the distance.

I struggle to keep up with Gerald who sets such a fast pace I never have time to savor the majestic sights overlooking the Geneva basin.

The higher you go, the more rugged the terrain. The dirt cow path gives way to needle covered trails that intersect oak groves, beech and pine trees. Some stretches of trail go straight up. Fortunately rocks, chipped pieces of the eroded mountains, offer footholds at regular intervals.

Above the tree line at 5,300 feet, hardy Alpine grasses grow in the chalky soil. The Jura’s highest peaks lie in the south near us in the Geneva area. A yellow pedestrian sign points toward the Dole at 5,500 feet altitude, but after an hour of steady climbing my legs feel rubbery and my lungs burn. Instead we opt to turn to head back down, but which path takes us back?

Too many signs point too many directions towards too many paths. Though I trust my fearless Frenchman, who has an uncanny sense of direction, we hike for hours with no civilization in sight. I fear his “short cut” will turn this 2-mile walk into another one of his famous all day treks. (I am not exaggerating family members can attest this.)

At long last, we spot a chalet where we ask for directions and realize we missed a turn and ended up at the lower end of the village. Our car is 2 km away uphill. By that point, my knees twinge each step I take.

I hobble along ready to hitchhike home while Gerald jogs ahead back alongside to interstate to pick up the car.

Unable to move my limbs for the rest of the day, I treasure the luxury of retirement. I laze about with ice packs on my knees enjoying a good read while feeling chuffed. My Fitbit recorded a personal best 18,352 steps (7 miles). Every single cell of my body screams with inflammation from over exertion, but sometimes the pain is worth the gain. It is not everyday that you conquer a mountain.

Saint Bernard National Dog and Symbol of Switzerland

In Switzerland to hear someone say, « he is a real Saint Bernard, » is not an insulting reference to a dog face, but rather the highest compliment. It means that person is a generous do gooder who dedicates his life to saving other people.

The strong, muscular, fawn colored dog with red and black oval spots stands 70cm and weighs between 70 to 100 kilos. Though his chops are so imposing it appears he could tear off a limb in one bite, what makes him appear so non threatening is its soft hazel nut eyes that have an intelligent, affectionate expression.

enjoying it's first trot in the snow

enjoying it’s first trot in the snow

The dogs always pictured wearing a small barrel around their necks are associated with the Swiss Alps and rescue teams. They live up to their legend. For centuries the Saint Bernards have carried provisions including alcohol in casks to help revive stranded and injured travelers crossing the Alps. The dogs ability to find tracks buried in snow, helped lead the marroniers (guides) through fog and snow storms to locate lost travelers.

peaking up from up high !

peaking up from up high !

The Hospice founded around 1045-50 by Saint Bernard sits up on a cragged, forlorn peek and the dogs arrived approximately in 1650.  However, the Saint Bernard race can be traced as back thirty centuries to Asia and then through trade and war made their way to Greece, Rome and finally the Alps. They were first used in the Middle Ages as guard dogs in the regions of Valais, Vaud and Bernese Alps.

The most famous dog, Barry (1800-1814)  saved the lives of forty travelers. Barry’s birth coincided with the passage through the Pass of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Army.

« Whenever Barry smelled someone in danger, he ran to the rescue ; if he couldn’t do anything, he went back to the convent and asked for help by his attitude and barking. Once he licked a little boy to wake him up, then Barry incited the child by clever gestures to climb on his back so he could take him to the Hospice. » Meissner recounts in the Alpenrosen 1816.

The legends  of Barry are documented in writings, drawings and painting of the time period. In his honor, the strongest male dog is always named Barry. The exploits of Barry II and Barry III are also widely acclaimed.

St Bernards going out for their daily walk

St Bernards going out for their daily walk

Henri Schumaker, (1831-1903) a Bernese, founded the first kennel for breeding purebred Saint Bernards apart from the Hospice. He is also attributed with starting the first Swiss Saint Bernard Club in 1884.

The dogs symbolize gentleness, devotion and humanitarian aid. Though the dogs must be behind glass enclosures for their own safety, they are walked daily and well cared for.

Visitors to the museum including tough, athletic young men, like my son,  can be seen bending low to make faces, regressing to childhood, and talking to the animals through the window panes.

«Bonjour  puppy, aw you are so cute. Mommy I want a dog ! »

How to Beat the January Blues

Down & out?  Feeling tired & fat?  Frumpy & dumpy?  What is it about January?  When the snow piles up, the temperature plunges and the sun goes into hibernation, the mood starts to plummet.

The holiday hype has died down, Bowl games  are over, the Packers stunk up the play offs, we ate one too many cookies or tipped back one too many hot toddies and now it is back to reality with nothing to look forward to.

Above the clouds in the Alps

Above the clouds in the Alps

To brighten my spirits in the spring, all I need to do is fling open windows to feel inspired by the Swiss Alps and French Jura, but in winter those same mountain tops lock in fine particles and pollutants in a fog so thick I can’t see my hand if front of my face. The locals recommend heading to the peaks to beat the blues…rise above the smog where the air is clean and clear, but not everybody lives near a mountain, nor has agility to ski or the money to afford the sport.

Check out my inexpensive quick pick-me-ups to brighten your bleak winter days especially if you live Up North on an empty pocketbook with a bad case of lumbago!

 

1. Read a good book.

2. Watch an old sit-com, back in the day when the special effects were so poor, the lines had to be great

3. Surprise a friend you haven’t talked to for years with a phone call

4. Write an old fashioned letter, you know, by hand with pen and paper.

5. Take a bubble bath by candle light

6. Listen to smooth jazz

7. Teach a child to do something new and watch their eyes light up

8. Lie on a yoga mat with your legs at a right angle against the wall and arms reaching overhead, then breath deeply in a full body stretch

9. Open a good bottle of wine and savor one glass

10. Turn off the computer, TV, iPhone, iPod, iPad.  Stop text messaging, facebooking, linking –in, emailing and Tweeting on line and connect in person (ie. hug someone you love, speak face to face!)

How do you kick back the January blues ?