Not the most efficient way to get from Grandval to Gänsbrunnen

Snow conditions in the higher mountains are still a bit dodgy, so we took advantage of Sunday's nice weather by doing some more Jura hiking.

We started in Grandval underneath the Hochnebel and then headed up, up, up, mostly along a forest road, through the fog (with very cool light as we got towards the top of it) and eventually up to the broad flat top of Mont Raimeaux. We'd thought that the route between the two Combes above the climbing area would be dramatic, but that didn't quite pan out thanks at least partially to the fog. Up top we put on sunscreen and enjoy the stroll to the peak with its tower; we've been here a couple of times before. We enjoy the views, have a snack in the sun at the picnic tables (g: "too bad we don't have cards with us, we could hang out here and enjoy the sun for a while!") before continuing on our way.

The trail takes us easily along the ridge and then we descend a bit to Raimeux de Cremines. Just past that we take take a break to have some lunch at the view point (plenty of people starting to gather at these picnic tables). A bit more along the edge of the cliff and then we head steeply down into the gorge (Le Gore Virat). This isn't particularly long, but it's really nice (and popular, plenty of people coming up the gorge). Amazing that we haven't been here before.

Back down in Corcelles we decide to continue on for at least one more ridge. The forest road takes us out of town towards the Zoo, but we turn off onto another forest road before getting there and start a long, gentle (and very enjoyable) climb up to the next ridge. Up towards the top we see the first other hikers we've seen since the gorge. Along the ridge a bit and then we start the long descent down, down to Gänsbrunnen. As town comes into view we realize that we can theoretically catch the next train (we hadn't thought we'd be able to do that), so we end up jogging for about the last km. We get to the station with a couple of minutes to spare and are back in Basel in time to enjoy cocktails on the balcony. Nothing wrong with that. :-)

This was a nice day of walking. Note for future reference: with the exception of the bit through the gorge this would be a nice run. There's a longer descent from Raimeux to Corcelles that stays on the ridge longer and that could be a good alternative. There's at least one fountain in Corcelles, so refilling water is also easy.

Track:
Stats: 20.5km, 1375m up, 1275m down.