Today we have to meet with our friends coming from Switzerland but they are likely to arrive only in the afternoon so we decide to leave the Lyon area and overshoot Annecy, the meeting point, and to drive into the mountains for some hiking before we return to check into our AirBnB. We choose a specific point, Col de la Columbiere, given that it is in the alpine area and we have a better chance of seeing alpine birds. Unfortunately it is also a really popular spot in general so we are quite happy when we find a parking spot close to the Col itself.
The trail starts right next to the full restaurant and goes up into the mountains. It is a large trail here which makes it easy to pass and being passed on by other hikers as we start climbing up and up.
Soon we are above the restaurant and the parking lot and start enjoying the great views of the valleys leading up to the saddle from where we started the hike.
There are some nice views also of the white rocks of this area of the Alps and some cows on the other side of the mountain enjoying the freedom to graze on the meadows.
On the way up we take a short side trail into the meadows to escape the crowds and enjoy the alpine air, here it feels more like the alpine wonderland we expected.
Then it is back to the main trail as we continue climbing higher and higher towards the chalet which is the first point of interest on the trail. On the way we find an interesting pamphlet describing how dangerous the dogs here are and how you shouldn’t be scared of them. Quite contradictory…
As we get close to the chalet the trail levels out and we see our first birds, some Eurasian Crag-Martins while enjoying the great views both down and up. However starting at the chalet the trail becomes much more difficult and we decide to turn around and explore a bit more the lower altitudes and trails.
The chalet itself is not open and we think that it might be a misnomer and maybe it is more of a herding outpost than any type of chalet but who knows. From here we also see a lot of paragliders, given that the saddle has a lot of updrafts this is a popular location and is also the reason why there are so many vultures and eagles around.
Returning to the trail we took previously we decide to explore it more in depth. It is more flat and a lot less popular making it a much better fit for us.
We walk a bit and they stay a bit and then walk a bit while looking for birds all the time on the horizon. And we are rewarded with huge flocks of Yellow-billed choughs and even a griffon, something we really wanted to see.
However the closest a bird comes to us is a Red Kite who is eating on the wing and is distracted and doesn’t notice us for quite some time while we take photos.
The turnaround point is when we intersect another trail that is going up into the mountains, much more difficult than the main one but still quite popular also. The views here are magnificent and after sitting for some time we decide to walk back to the car so we can return to Annecy to check into the AirBnB and hopefully to meet our friends.
As we reach the bottom we decide to search for a geocache that is near a chapel which looks abandoned. And it is except for one tourist who decides to have a, what feels like, one hour call on the step in front of the chapel.
There is no reason for her to have the call there but that is where she decides to have it so while we wait for her to finish we explore the chapel inside and the meadows around and then surreptitiously find the cache just as she finishes. With the cache found we return to the car and start our descend with one more stop on the way to see a waterfall on the way down.
