On the way from Italy to London.
Back into 2004 now. Upon arrival in Geneva, I caught the mountain train from Montreux to Rochers de Naye, a little over 2,000 m high. It was a cog train, pulling itself up steep inclines via a toothed-cog in its base. It took an hour to climb to the top.
Geneva was two hours away, but the lake seemed to go for about 100 miles.
The train went under avalanche roofs and, sometime, through tunnels.
Rochers de Naye boasted a restaurant cut into the cliff face above a 2,000 m drop to Lake Geneva (the 100 m tunnel to it went under this photo), and what looked like about the world’s coolest Marmot education center. There was even an outdoor enclosure for these small alpine mammals, with cameras inserted into their burrows so you could watch. They were all out when I looked. Vaguely resembling a squirrel the size of a cat, these hibernating mammals inhabit the alpine regions of the Northern Hemisphere; even the US and Canada.
In the distance towards the middle-left is the fearsome Eiger, one of the world’s scariest mountains. The North Face of the Eiger is the stuff of legend.
Off behind those peaks on the middle left is Mt. Blanc, Europe’s highest mountain at somewhere around 5,000 m.
For the very, very brave …
After watching someone else sink one meter into that snow and take about 10 minutes to extract themselves, I abandoned my heavy pack and tiptoed across the snow and, where possible, the grass at the edge (ignoring the steep drop to the right), to photograph the hidden lake behind. All just for you!
That was the lake. Inaccessible to those unwilling to risk all out on the edge!
But my balance is good, and I survived to summit other peaks. This was the top, a bit over 2,000 m. It took some more serious trekking off up a snowy slope to reach. Lucky I was wearing boots!
