Getting ready for the season 2: Montagne de Moutier and Tour de Moron

Another "getting ready for the season" tour in the Jura.

The weather forecast for the Alps was somewhat dodgy, so we decided to do another Jura trip. We started in Moutier again since it seems to be have the few remaining hikes we haven't already done where we can get >1000m of height difference without spending a super-long time on the train.

We start under a wonderfully blue sky and head through town to the path heading up towards the Montagne de Moutier. We're initially spoiled by trail marking (nature trail, hiking trail, parcours trail) but after a bit we still manage to miss a marker and spend a few minutes heading off the wrong way. A quick correction and some backtracking and then we're again on the path, heading up, up the mountain. nice hiking under trees and across fields (not too wet!), past the (closed) restaurant at Aux Arsattes, then further up to the top of the broad ridge with its nice Jura views. Onward past the restaurant at Haute Montagne and then along the road along the ridge. Eventually the trail diverges again and we had further along the narrowing ridge. Somewhere along the way we stop for a lunch break with views out towards the first Jura chain and bits of Alps sticking out above it. At the end of the ridge it's down to the valley and Les Ecorcheresses. 

A quick rest/nap in the sun and then we head up, up the path towards the Tour de Moron. Up, mostly through the woods past the farm at Combioz, up, up until we make the ridge where we are richly rewarded with a really nice Alp panorama:

Alp Panorama

Onwards the last bit to the tower, which is pretty new and architecturally interesting:

Tour de Moron

From the top we have a really great Alp panorama. We can see from Mont Blanc to the Tödi in the main Alp chain. It's a bit hazy in the East otherwise, theoretically, we could also see Schesaplana and Säntis. Very, very nice. We enjoy the view for a bit before being driven out of the tower by screaming children and heading on our way. The hike down, which involves far too much road (a real risk in the French-speaking part of the Jura) takes us along the ridge and then down through Champoz before we end in Sorvilier.

Another nice day of Jura hiking. :-)

22.5 km, 1192m up, 1036m down.