We headed out this morning to Rochers de Naye, a mountain just inland from the lakeside town of Montreux. The easiest way up is a steep cog train ride up from Montreux station. We did a little bit of hiking before coming back down and taking a boat ride and a long walk along the lake shore.
The cog train started climbing steeply not long after it left Montreux with many switchbacks on the way. We got a nice view of the lakeside portion of Veytaux and Château de Chillon as well as the mountains in the distance.
About forty minutes later, we were very high up above Lake Geneva! The weather was great with only a few thin clouds high up in the sky.
Another 10 minutes later, we were at the top! The Rochers de Naye station is just a little bit below the mountain peak. The inside station area seemed to be a place where they were stashing maintenance equipment. We saw some work going on along the tracks and a bit at the top as well.
After stepping outside, we took a look around to see where to go first. Looking uphill, we saw some pens of some unknown purpose.
Looking downhill, we saw the curving track that we took to get to the station as well as the train returning to Montreux. And lots of mountains!
We decided to head upwards beyond the pens to the small cross that is visible on the ridge. It is common for crosses to be placed at or near the peaks of mountains in Switzerland. We saw and heard many birds on the way. We managed to photograph two different species though we haven’t identified them yet. We’re definitely not familiar with European birds.
It didn’t take too long to make it to the cross! There was a small observation area and a bench.
We were able to see the peak of Rochers de Naye to our left, the railroad below us, and Lake Geneva filling the scene to the horizon.
We also had a great view of the train station and curving railroad leading to it.
We backtracked to heard towards the peak. Part of the trail, right by the pens, was a bit muddy but the rest was nice and dry.
These pens are marmot pens for the local marmot species, marmota marmota, or Alpine Marmot! They protect their homes potential dangers. For example, people and pets as indicated by the sign.
After passing the marmot dens, we took a fork in the path to continue onward towards the peak rather than heading back down the way we came. Just beyond, we passed under some ski lifts. These appear to be surface lifts.
Soon, we were past and above the station. The fence is more or less at the edge of a cliff.
Luckily, there were switchbacks to avoid having too steep of a trail.
Looking down, we’re definitely a bit higher up than we were before.
Almost there!
There was a nice viewing platform at the top with a long bench. We took a look downhill to see where we hiked up from.
A fantastic view of Lake Geneva, Montreux below us, and more!
The mountain descends steeply to the south.
We switched to our telephoto lens to take a look at some of the distant mountain peaks. According to a sign, Mont Blanc is visible from this point. It should appear as a rounded peak. There is one at the center of the frame though there is another that seems higher to the left. But it is really hard to tell what is actually higher as things that are closer will appear taller.
We noticed this one red tree below us. It was the only one we saw today!
Down below, we were able to locate Montreux Station where we started our cog train journey. One of the historic paddle steamers is also visible at the dock. It doesn’t stay for long in Montreux so we were lucky to catch it.
Looking further away, we found Evian-les-Bains, the town that we visited in France two days ago. There is a big facility of some sort further in the distance. It could be the Evian bottling plant.
On the opposite shore, near Lausanne, we could see the vineyards for the wine region.
And we could see Lausanne just below the clouds.
Speaking of clouds, they started to form below us. We could see them slowly billowing upwards.
The clouds also started to obscure our view of Lake Geneva.
We found another marmot pen behind the station.
We saw someone hiking on the trail below us! We were planning on doing some more hiking as well, though not where this person is. But due to the clouds starting to obstruct the view, we decided to take the train that just happened to arrive back down the mountain.
We sat on the opposite side of the train to get different views as we descended. This side was definitely better to photograph from!
We got off the train at the Glion stop to have lunch. The station has a great view of Lake Geneva! We also were able to spot Château de Chillon down below.
We decided to take the funicular down to Territet rather than waiting for the train.
After arriving at Territet, we took the bus back to Montreux and got off in front of the Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic.
We walked over to the nearby ferry pier to catch the next boat, scheduled to arrive soon.
A few minutes after boarding, the boat departed. We were on the Italie, one of the historic paddle steamers.
It looked like a stage was being constructed for an
Château de Chillon came into view as we headed towards the next stop at Territet, the same town where we descended from Glion earlier.
Looking back, we got a great view of lakeside Montreux.
It looked pretty cloudy further inland. Rochers de Naye is somewhere in those clouds. We probably made the right decision by descending when we did.
We tried to find the funicular that we took as well as the Glion train station but could not find either!
We noticed a vineyard between Territet and Château de Chillon.
Soon, we focused our attention on Château de Chillon as we moved past it. The pier is on the far side.
After disembarking, we walked away from the castle and got a great view of the Italie with Château de Chillon behind it.
Bye, Italie!
We were able to get a good look at the castle after the boat left.
We started to walk back towards Montreux. There is a paved path that runs along the shore. We were able to get a closer look at the small vineyard that we saw from the boat.
Montreux appeared to be pretty far in the distance.
We were able to locate the funicular! The train station is right above it.
Montreux looked a bit closer after reaching the pier at Territet.
There were some sculptures that appeared every once in awhile next to the walkway.
The path was lined with flowers, most of which were in bloom. This spot was particularly nice.
It is a bit hard to tell but there is a duck sculpture spitting out water at the bottom center of the photo.
As we got closer to Montreux, we saw two of the historic paddle steamers! The Italie is further away and the larger La Suisse is moving in the opposite direction towards Montreux.
We saw La Suisse departing the Montreux pier in front of us. Almost there!
We finished our trip shortly after seeing this sculpture which reminded me of the Lufthansa logo.
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