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The Alps are one place you definitely shouldn't miss while staying in Geneva. I got a chance to join some German guys going to Chamonix, and this is a story about our trip. (Click on the pictures to see larger versions.)
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We had decided to leave early, the meeting was at 5.50 on Saturday morning at the CERN hostel. As usual, some people were late, perhaps the Hadronics festival on the previous evening had it's own effect. From the left: Dominik (Germany), Martin (Germany), ?, Fabian (Germany), Jan (Germany), Bernardo (Portugal), Carlos (Spain) and Bruno (Germany). |
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After about an hour of driving we arrived at Houches, a small village in the Chamonix area. I and Carlos took some extra weight in our backpacks from Martin and Bruno, as they were carrying the tents. The other guys had planned not to stay overnight. The sun was already shining when we started our climb at about 1100 meters. |
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Chamonix glowing in the morning mist. |
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A few hundred meters in the beginning were ordinary road, after which we quickly got to a more pleasant little path. Far away in the background is Aiguille de Goûter, 3863 m. |
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After a relatively short walk through a forest we reached the altitude of grass and bushes, about 1700 meters. The scenery was very nice, morning mist beginning to fade off. |
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Mont Lachat, a small top of 2113 meters was totally covered with grass. Here green was really green, not polluted with some brown or gray dust like in cities. |
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At about the same altitude there was a railway station. Yes, a small railway has been constructed to carry tourists to see the scenery. Well, at least we didn't cheat like that. :) |
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It was about 11 o'clock, so a good moment to grab a little snack. The sun was already shining rather intensely and Martin decided to find some shadow, others are in the picture. |
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Above 2000 meters the grass started changing to rocks little by little. If you look closely, you can see the train going up the mountain. |
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The view over the valley to the west was fascinating. |
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Copyright Arto Teräs <ajt@iki.fi> 1999. Redistribution of this document as a whole or any of the pictures individually is permitted in any medium as long as this copyright notice is preserved. Last update 21.7.1999 |
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