Let's Go Hiking at Les Paccots (Lay Packo)

We think the extreme cold weather has finally broken. We woke Saturday morning, the 18th and the sky was clear and the temperature was above freezing. We decided to go snowshoeing. We took the bus from Vevey to Chatel St. Denis, which was about 8 miles, in order to catch another bus to go to an area in Les Paccots called Dent-de-Lys (Don duh lease), which was about another 2 miles. According to one of Paula's colleagues (the Angel of the Coffee Cart, Natalia) it is suppose to be a good area for snowshoeing. More about Chatel St. Denis later.

Our intention was to rent the equipment when we arrived at Les Paccots, Dent-de-Lys. However, upon arriving, the line to the only rental shop in town was extremely long and wasn't budging. So we decided to have some beer and pizza. The long line for rental equipment was relentless so we stubbornly decided to just go hiking along the trails that the snowshoers had made. It was a calamitous choice...if that is not a word it clearly should be.

Following are pictures from that adventure.

The spring walk from the apartment to the bus station via Lake Geneva. Seems like rowers in shirtsleeves should mean something. It does not-witness small icebergs.

We have arrived at the famous winter sports village of Les Paccots

Spirits dampened by the line...let's have a beer/pizza and wait it out. Relentlessly cheerful.

Everywhere you turn the views are stunning

Jim is asking me to surrender the camera

Let's just walk this. We don't need no stinking raquetts on our feet.

The beginning of the trail (if you could call it that with snow up to your ankles) is lined with local animal carvings. We brushed the snow off this turkey (the real turkeys were not to be found and are probably cozy and warm in Spain).

This is an early sign of bad things to come. Early only if you are as dense as we apparently are. Others may have gotten an inkling sooner.

This is nothing. I can do it. Let's take the shortcut to get to the snowshoe trail.

Now in trouble but not soaked.

Officially in full calamity

After we joined the "real" snowshoe trail it was actually OK to follow with just snow boots and we enjoyed our hike. In fact, I thought the people with the raquetts looks very distracted by their equipment. No one was laughing as much as us.

The trails are easy to follow. These signs are pretty far up in the air and these trails are for summer use as well.
We completed our hike and went back to meet the bus. Waiting for over an hour, we noticed other people looking at the bus schedule sign, harumphing and walking away. When it was getting dusky and people were leaving in their cars, we decided to walk down this NARROW winding road against the traffic . It was terrifying, seeing the headlights and quickly jumping into a snowbank along the road before being hit. It was over 2 miles to get to the nearest town, Chatel St Denis.

There are no pictures of the interlude from Les Paccots to this happy scene. We rounded out last treacherous curve and there ahead of us is civilization in the form of the tiny village of Chatel St Denis.