Rochers de Naye | schwingeninswitzerland

I listed the top viewed posts of 2012, but thought I would post a list of my favorite posts of 2012 too.

Duomo’s Rooftop, A Sculpture Garden In The Sky – I just like the pictures.
Dubai’s River, It’s Other Waterfront – I liked how different Dubai was from Geneva and loved its mix of cultures. While you can see cool skyscrapers lots of places, there aren’t many where you can see the old wood dhows and the people from all over the world who trade on Dubai’s waterfront.
Millennium Trilogy Walking Tour Of Stieg Larsson’s Stockholm – Part Two – I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Men Who Hate Women in Swedish). When we went to Stockholm, I toured the sites mentioned in the books. Most of them were in the super-cool Sodermalm neighborhood.
Mohawks Welcome But Not Required At The Groezrock Festival– We love live music and a European Music Festival is something to experience. This one had a great lineup and was well worth the resulting fatigue (better described as exhaustion).
The Toblerone Line, One Sweet Barrier– We looked all over Switzerland for this puppy. Once we found it, we couldn’t stop seeing it places (Reichenbach Falls, near Thun, etc.).
Why I Love Running– One of my favorite things.
Weingut Otto Laubsenstein – Fantastic people + fantastic wine = unforgettable time.
It Wasn’t Premeditated, Our Hike Up Rochers-de-Naye – A reader suggestion and one of the best views in Switzerland. If you’re not up for hours of hiking straight uphill, you can always take the train there.
The Shock Of Your Life – Culture Shock – I tried to keep it real.
Les Contamines – Although we’ve done a lot of skiing, this was one of our favorite days because we spent it with wonderful fr

Rochers-de-Naye is the mountain with the rock top on the left, not the bump, but the one with the snow below the rock.

We woke up to a beautiful day. Since it was so clear, we decided to do one of the things that we’d been saving for a clear day so we could enjoy the view. Our choices were take cable cars to the top of Mont Blanc or hike from the lake in Montreaux to Rochers-de-Naye. I checked with him to make sure he know the hike meant climbing the mountain behind Montreaux. Please note the full disclosure (on my part) and assumption of risk (on his part).

We weren’t the only ones who thought it was hot. This guy jumped into the water fountain.

A reader suggested this hike and I wanted to do it because the views at the top are spectacular. Yeah, we could have taken a cog wheel train up, but where’s the fun in that? Especially on a hot day?

We spent about five hours…walking up, and up, and up.

On the way, we saw these brave fellows heading down. In this photo, you can’t see what is beyond the edge. In fact, it’s almost impossible to see from this vantage point. That’s because it drops off sharply and precipitously. If you look on the right of the photo below, you will see a small railing that prevents people falling from the steep rock face. Yep, that’s where we ran into them. Impressive.

I’ve always wanted to do a ridge hike in Switzerland. I thought it would be cool to look down on both sides. This trail had a bit of one. Cool huh?

At the end of the ridge, we finally caught sight of the summit. Although it looks pretty close, it took us at least another 45 minutes to reach it. I may have slowed us down by stopping every 10 feet to take pictures of the incredible scenery.

When we finally reached the top, we found snow! I know, I know. After several hours of hiking, the bandage on my paw looked about as dirty as the snow.

Yep. The finger is still bandaged.

He was exhausted at the end of the day (and very, very hungry). I thought it was worth it. He joked that I tried to kill him. I’m happy to report that he’s forgiven me. Either that or he is lulling me into a false sense of security while he plans his revenge.

It was a long, sweaty (especially on his part), but enjoyable hike from Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) in Montreux to Rochers-de-Naye at 2041m (6,709 feet). At the top, there was snow and unforgettable, jaw dropping views.

They also have Marmot Paradise. Who doesn’t love these beaver-like animals? I also enjoyed the Alpine garden with lots of special species of Swiss Alpine plants and flowers. I even saw Edelweiss!