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Aslowhand and I drove for several hours into the French part of Switzerland to paddle on Lac de Joux.
The paddle in to this favorite camp, turned out to be idyllic and eventful. Here are the stony put-in, you can see the French influence in the change in architecture, Swiss Chalets have been replaced with French maisons.
Erica
This bay is guarded by a artwork that appears to be an eagle from some angles, but turns out to be Pegasus leaping into the sky. You would think with a large landmark such as this, it would be easy for Erica to pick out the take-out, but that turned out not to be the case.
Erica
As we started out, we were followed by a gentle wind. On RR, a large limestone cliff grows and then looms over the lac. On RL, agriculture and dairy farms dot the road. This is not wilderness, but it is a wild place where the others are separated from us by a large lac.
Heading out onto Lac de Joux
Aslowhand
The cliffs along RR.
Aslowhand
Aslowhand turned to explain to me that this spit of land with its limestone cliffs is home to a rare kind of antelope; he did not know the English name. He said we should be quiet and look up in case we could see some. So we were quiet and looked up and just around the very next clump of pines was one chamois. Then we saw a baby with it. Suddenly two more materialized from the background. Then, as we are watching, sort of in disbelief, another three came down the trail and one more showed up halfway down the cliff. Their coloring perfectly blends in with the shades of the cliff.
Aslowhand
We'd been drifting past the cliff and I noticed the boat was slowly advancing without any effort on our part. The sun was warm, the breeze very mild, so I put my heels on the gunnels and laid back onto the deck and relaxed while Aslowhand watched the boat. I should point out that Aslowhand is accomplished at either end of the boat, but chose the bow because this boat is outfitted to be used as a solo and the bow seat is kanted the wrong way to paddle tandem. Every now and then I lifted my head to make sure he was all right and we were drifting fine. I felt the rate of speed increase, looked up and he was holding a bit of knee padding stuff into the wind. Even that small bit was moving us along faster. The rate of speed again increased. I saw he was paddling and decided that might be a hint that I was to start paddling again. I did and in another minute, he said, "Here it is!" The campsite has a well established fire pit and some rather level spots under the trees for the tents.
Aslowhand
Lac de Joux from the campsite.
Aslowhand
We wandered around the site. Behind the site the terrain rises steeply. It looks inviting, but I'm not sure I could walk up it. We unloaded the canoe and Aslowhand starts fiddling around with the fire ring. Someone has been fiddling around with it since he was last here. Even though I think all this effort for a fire, which not exactly lunatic, is more than I would do. I believe he enjoys this moving of stones and preparing fire wood. It is his process and his mindfulness. He may disagree in another post, of course. He did say it reminds him of Canada.
Eventually I get involved in the discussion offering suggestions that are mostly dismissed out of hand. This does not bother me in the least. But eventually we talk about wood stoves, which we both have heated with, and the build up of ash. I initiate digging up the ashes with a large stick and after a while Aslowhand shows up with a board and I pushed ashes onto the board and he dumped them. We did this a number of times at which point Aslowhand declared the fire pit to be at the proper depth, so there would be a chimney effect from the rocks.
And so there was.
Erica
Tents were set up in the beautiful open woods.
Erica
This site is rarely used. The duff of leaves is deep and dry firewood abounds. There are some seasonal cabins nearby and in high season there might be people walking on a trail that runs through the camp. But today there is no one on land, no one on the water, except a solitary sculler.
We had freeze-dried dinners because that was what Aslowhand had on hand. They tasted pretty much like freeze-dried dinners, at least mine was. I also supplemented with dried mangos (even better than mine here in Switzerland!) and Swiss chocolate which is good enough to make me swoon.
Aslowhand likes to sit by the fire and contemplate the fire as the sun goes down. We trade stories of canoe trips and misadventures and laugh a lot.
Erica
I had been uncomfortably cold the night on the Lake of Thune, so from his larder of canoe and camping gear, Aslowhand outfitted me with a heavy goose down sleeping bag and a couple of pads and we hoped I would be more comfortable on this night. I was not as cold as the previous night, but it was still cold. The gear was excellent, so it had to just be my Florida thermoregulation was just not up to it. One's breath did show heavily in the morning at 10 am.
But Aslohand had the fire started and hot water boiling and the sun, when I got down to the beach, was almost warm. Neither of us wanted to leave, but we had to get back to Thun before six pm that evening. So we packed up and left. Not quickly though. There was always time to look at a flower, sit in the sun, laugh at another tale.
The wind picked up as the day wore on. By the time we were leaving, there were the occasional white caps. We would be paddling into the wind on the trip back. We would stay near the shore which might break some of the wind and we could look for more chamois, but we didn't see any. I was quite certain that monstrous statue of Pegasus would make spotting the launch site easy, but it didn't. Luckily Aslowhand has a good sense of humor. He kept telling me exactly where we would need to be going and I would be sure I would see something different. Of course he was correct. It is humorous I could even suggest something other.
Packed up and on our way back to civilization and stores that close at six pm.
Aslowhand
Paddling with Aslowhand has been instructive. I've never had a bow paddler so skilled and so capable of holding a steady cadence. I was able to try out and play with a number of different stern strokes that previously were without effect or even dangerous because I would have to keep correcting odd bow strokes. It probably could have been a disaster to put two dedicated solo paddlers together in a tandem. Originally we were going to paddle tandem, but then Aslowhand realized his car could carry only one canoe. Amazingly we were compatible. He was just happy I didn't bang the gunwhale with every stroke. I was happy to have a quiet, steady bow paddler. We laughed a lot.
Thank you to Aslowhand for his hospitality, sharing his tripping wisdom and stories and doing it all in English which isn't all that easy, folks.
All my interpretations of what Aslowhand may have thought or done are mine alone and he is free to post corrections as necessary.
The paddle in to this favorite camp, turned out to be idyllic and eventful. Here are the stony put-in, you can see the French influence in the change in architecture, Swiss Chalets have been replaced with French maisons.
EricaThis bay is guarded by a artwork that appears to be an eagle from some angles, but turns out to be Pegasus leaping into the sky. You would think with a large landmark such as this, it would be easy for Erica to pick out the take-out, but that turned out not to be the case.
EricaAs we started out, we were followed by a gentle wind. On RR, a large limestone cliff grows and then looms over the lac. On RL, agriculture and dairy farms dot the road. This is not wilderness, but it is a wild place where the others are separated from us by a large lac.
Heading out onto Lac de Joux
AslowhandThe cliffs along RR.
AslowhandAslowhand turned to explain to me that this spit of land with its limestone cliffs is home to a rare kind of antelope; he did not know the English name. He said we should be quiet and look up in case we could see some. So we were quiet and looked up and just around the very next clump of pines was one chamois. Then we saw a baby with it. Suddenly two more materialized from the background. Then, as we are watching, sort of in disbelief, another three came down the trail and one more showed up halfway down the cliff. Their coloring perfectly blends in with the shades of the cliff.
AslowhandWe'd been drifting past the cliff and I noticed the boat was slowly advancing without any effort on our part. The sun was warm, the breeze very mild, so I put my heels on the gunnels and laid back onto the deck and relaxed while Aslowhand watched the boat. I should point out that Aslowhand is accomplished at either end of the boat, but chose the bow because this boat is outfitted to be used as a solo and the bow seat is kanted the wrong way to paddle tandem. Every now and then I lifted my head to make sure he was all right and we were drifting fine. I felt the rate of speed increase, looked up and he was holding a bit of knee padding stuff into the wind. Even that small bit was moving us along faster. The rate of speed again increased. I saw he was paddling and decided that might be a hint that I was to start paddling again. I did and in another minute, he said, "Here it is!" The campsite has a well established fire pit and some rather level spots under the trees for the tents.
AslowhandLac de Joux from the campsite.
AslowhandWe wandered around the site. Behind the site the terrain rises steeply. It looks inviting, but I'm not sure I could walk up it. We unloaded the canoe and Aslowhand starts fiddling around with the fire ring. Someone has been fiddling around with it since he was last here. Even though I think all this effort for a fire, which not exactly lunatic, is more than I would do. I believe he enjoys this moving of stones and preparing fire wood. It is his process and his mindfulness. He may disagree in another post, of course. He did say it reminds him of Canada.
Eventually I get involved in the discussion offering suggestions that are mostly dismissed out of hand. This does not bother me in the least. But eventually we talk about wood stoves, which we both have heated with, and the build up of ash. I initiate digging up the ashes with a large stick and after a while Aslowhand shows up with a board and I pushed ashes onto the board and he dumped them. We did this a number of times at which point Aslowhand declared the fire pit to be at the proper depth, so there would be a chimney effect from the rocks.
And so there was.
EricaTents were set up in the beautiful open woods.
EricaThis site is rarely used. The duff of leaves is deep and dry firewood abounds. There are some seasonal cabins nearby and in high season there might be people walking on a trail that runs through the camp. But today there is no one on land, no one on the water, except a solitary sculler.
We had freeze-dried dinners because that was what Aslowhand had on hand. They tasted pretty much like freeze-dried dinners, at least mine was. I also supplemented with dried mangos (even better than mine here in Switzerland!) and Swiss chocolate which is good enough to make me swoon.
Aslowhand likes to sit by the fire and contemplate the fire as the sun goes down. We trade stories of canoe trips and misadventures and laugh a lot.
EricaI had been uncomfortably cold the night on the Lake of Thune, so from his larder of canoe and camping gear, Aslowhand outfitted me with a heavy goose down sleeping bag and a couple of pads and we hoped I would be more comfortable on this night. I was not as cold as the previous night, but it was still cold. The gear was excellent, so it had to just be my Florida thermoregulation was just not up to it. One's breath did show heavily in the morning at 10 am.
But Aslohand had the fire started and hot water boiling and the sun, when I got down to the beach, was almost warm. Neither of us wanted to leave, but we had to get back to Thun before six pm that evening. So we packed up and left. Not quickly though. There was always time to look at a flower, sit in the sun, laugh at another tale.
The wind picked up as the day wore on. By the time we were leaving, there were the occasional white caps. We would be paddling into the wind on the trip back. We would stay near the shore which might break some of the wind and we could look for more chamois, but we didn't see any. I was quite certain that monstrous statue of Pegasus would make spotting the launch site easy, but it didn't. Luckily Aslowhand has a good sense of humor. He kept telling me exactly where we would need to be going and I would be sure I would see something different. Of course he was correct. It is humorous I could even suggest something other.
Packed up and on our way back to civilization and stores that close at six pm.
AslowhandPaddling with Aslowhand has been instructive. I've never had a bow paddler so skilled and so capable of holding a steady cadence. I was able to try out and play with a number of different stern strokes that previously were without effect or even dangerous because I would have to keep correcting odd bow strokes. It probably could have been a disaster to put two dedicated solo paddlers together in a tandem. Originally we were going to paddle tandem, but then Aslowhand realized his car could carry only one canoe. Amazingly we were compatible. He was just happy I didn't bang the gunwhale with every stroke. I was happy to have a quiet, steady bow paddler. We laughed a lot.
Thank you to Aslowhand for his hospitality, sharing his tripping wisdom and stories and doing it all in English which isn't all that easy, folks.
All my interpretations of what Aslowhand may have thought or done are mine alone and he is free to post corrections as necessary.
