The Confident Hiker

October 2024

To me moorland landscapes always represented something very mythical, full of legends and fairy creatures. Maybe even a bit scary but also very archaic. When I was a girl, they were often an integral part of the stories or plays I wrote and the drawings I made. They were part of the ghost stories my mother would tell me before bed and somehow something I associated with being somewhere else, somewhere magical. The raised moor at Les Ponts-de-Martel was one of the reasons for choice in destination for my hike back in 2019. But during my last visit when passing through Les Ponts-de-Martel I sadly had very little time and energy to explore the area, so it was the perfect choice for my last hike before the surgery and subsequent break from hiking.

It is not the first time that I chose a hike with a specific attraction in mind. I like the idea to come and visit a place as a part of hike: a building, even if it is just a lone tree – it makes me feel like I am on a pilgrimage or at least how I imagine a pilgrimage to feel.

Day 1: La Sagne to Les Ponts-de-Martel

We drove our car to the little village of La Sagne, a place that has been destination and starting point of various hikes before this one. It was a sunny clear day and getting out and breathing in the fresh autumn air felt almost like an essential part of the hiking ritual ahead of us. After locking the car and tossing the trash from our sandwiches, we headed towards the forest over the Vallée des ponts. And so our very own pilgrimage began.

The light shone through the barren trees, the floor covered in an ocean of wet brown autumn leaves covered in dew, not yet touched by sunlight some of them almost seemed to have a golden glimmer on them depending on how the light hit them. We passed the Combe des Quignets and started to head up to La petite charbonnière, which is an equally familiar area to me. We relished in the peaceful silence and the open views, enjoyed he satisfying feeling of walking straight and on even ground after a climb.

We passed the mountain hut at La grande Racine and started to head up towards the Mont Racine.

It was an at times steep but yet comfortable climb over typical vast Jura meadows; with the beloved fir trees standing tall reaching their tops into the lush clear blue sky.

We reached the top of Mont Racine still slightly out of breath and with multiple layers of our warm hiking clothes removed and were given a fascinating view over an ocean of white clouds the occasional mountain range breaking through the fluffy whiteness. One could have a view over the Lac de Neuchâtel which I am sure would have been breathtaking, but this was just as amazing. It almost made it seem, as if we stood on the summit of the highest mountain on earth.

We took our lunch in the warm autumn sun and continued to enjoy the breathtaking view. For it being such a beautiful warm day on a weekend I was surprised how few people we encountered while on the peak of the mountain.

When being on places like this, that just have a very unique feeling to them, both energetically and “aesthetically”, I alway like to imagine myself building a home there. A little house with a garden, a terrace facing the best view. This has (not always) something to do with actually intending to put roots at those places, but to me it just identifies the places that feel like home, even if only for a short picnic lunch along the way. I talked about this before – how places become temporary homes and how we should also treat them accordingly. And how it is sometimes not so easy to leave them behind. It feels like you could always enjoy them more, appreciate them more. But I guess the only way to do that, is to just come back. And keep them as a warm inspiring memory.

As much as I long to stay in the beautiful places, I am just as much eager to find out, what is still to come along the trail. And so after packing our stuff up, we continued our path downwards direction Métairie de la grande Sagneule. And here we found out where all the weekend hikers were: the tables outside the restaurant were packed; cheerful chatter and laughter and lots of happy content faces is something I always like to pass by when in “civilization” on a hike.

After a short walk on the asphalt road, we took a right up through the forest. I am time and time again fascinated at the different light conditions depending on the season and how much earlier in autumn and winter the sun is starting to set. The sunlight breaking through the tall barren trees created long shadows on the leaves covered ground and our steps created a rustling sound – almost like white noise. While walking over open Jura pastures, we enjoyed absolute quiet and the feeling as if we had the trail all to ourselves. The sky changed from partly cloudy to deep blue and sunny within seconds and we enjoyed the effortless march towards La Tourne.

We reached La Tourne through a deciduous forest. The clouds in the sky created a pattern against the blue sky hidden behind and made it look almost like a painting. The air was fresh, as you’d expect from a late autumn weekend but the sun warmed our faces gently, whenever it broke through the artistic cloud formations.

From the peaceful solitary trail, arriving in La Tourne was a surprisingly intense contrast. Bikers and other hikers seemed to meet in this little hamlet, where several hiking trails as well as a carroad crossed. Loud chatter and laughter and the blaring motorcycles roar reminded us, that we were not far away from civilization. We quickly moved on, following the very busy main road for a couple of meters before branching off onto a gravel road.

Our path lead us through a sparse forest upwards towards the meadow of Prés derriere la tourne. Gently rolling pastures spread out before us and we followed the soft grassy trail towards Cernil de la fontaine and the Combe de Fontaines.

While the sunlight did still keep us warm, a light fresh breeze reminded me, that Summer was indeed over and the weather was slowly about to change. It is kind of like that gentle bell right before a concert is about to start that lets the audience know to make their way to their seats. Not intrusive but ever so politely. And while I struggle every year with the imagination of shorter days and colder weather, it is out in nature where I am actually able to look forward to it. Because you first hand see, that this is how it is meant to be. Seasons have to change, plants have to loose their leaves to be able to grow them again, come next spring. It just makes sense. And that to me is proof that we start to unite with nature, when we are roaming through it.

From Les Petits-Ponts we had to walk next to the main road towards Les Ponts-de-Martel. It was not the most comfortable part of the hike – road walking can be a bit of a challenge – both mentally and physically. But it didn’t take us too long and even still introduced us to the restaurant where we would end up having dinner later on.

The Vallé des Ponts was as breathtaking as I remembered it – vast, seemingly endless. And together with the sky in its gray and bluish hue created a scenery worthy of a painting.

There are various ways to reach the moor; we found an entry, also marked with a sign right across from the football field. Once you reach the nature trail, you are free as to how and in which order you want to explore.

In 2022 the nature trail was newly created and revised in content. Signs along the way tell the story of the moor, the village and the history of the population of the region and peat extraction. Already at the beginning of the 18th century the peat mining began and the peat was mostly used to heat. In the 20th century however the peat extraction intensified and was during the Second World War, when foreign fuels became scarce, industrially operated. It is because of this, that today almost 90 percent of the peat bogs have disappeared. The peat extraction stopped in 1987 and in 2008, the government placed the “Tourbière des Ponts-de-Martel” under protection. Today, thanks to the careful curation of the area and its nature trail, the remaining moor area can be used as an object of demonstration for natural science education and serves as an example how fragile nature can be, when humans take too much advantage of it and how we can hopefully learn to question and reshape our relationship with our precious surroundings.

The atmosphere was as magical as the last time I was there and I was grateful to have more time and energy to explore every corner of it, walk over every wooden footbridge and look closely at the multitude of different plants growing in extraordinary colors and shapes. To me this place almost felt like the union of a museum and a cathedral and after a day of active hiking, this was auch a tranquil place to let todays hiking section fade out.

We decided to still head to the Source sulfureuse before making our way to our BnB, which ended us up right in the middle of a cow herd on their way back to their farm; and while it slowed us down a bit, it was such a beautiful experience to quietly walk amongst those calm creatures. All of us making our way to our resting place for tonight.

Our BnB “Les Prises” was situated up the hill at the edge of the village. And while it is a bit out of the way, the room, the hosts Eveline and Claude-Eric as well as the spectacular view of the Creux-du-Van more than make up for it! There is a hotel in the city center, the “Maison de la Tourbière”, belonging to the nature trail which looks very appealing to. We were very happy with our choice however and took the bus to the restaurant “La Taverne des Petits-Ponts” for a delicious dinner, before falling into a deep sleep.

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Day 2: Les Ponts-de-Martel to La Sagne

Our day started with rays of sunshine making their way into our room and the sight that I will probably never grow tired of: the spectacular rock face of the Creux du Van. Breakfast was served in the BnB hosts living area and we got to talk to Eveline and a fellow traveler over plaited bread, homemade jam and coffee. Eveline had lots to tell us about the village and it’s watchmaker history: Les Ponts-de-Martel has been a watchmaking village since the end of the 18th century, which is evident from the architecture of the houses; they are tall and have large windows, as the attic rooms provide plenty of light, which is necessary for the detailed craftsmanship of watchmaking.

After finishing up and packing our backpacks, we headed out and made our way back to the hiking trail. The air was still crisp but it promised to be a sunny day. We started strong with an ascent towards the Combe des Sagnettes, where we intended to pass by another small raised bog.

The bog was small and if we wouldn’t have known that it is there, we might have well missed it hidden behind the trees. Compared to yesterdays moor experience one might call this a much more modest sight; no multitude of colors and special plants, no beautiful wooden footbridges. But it somehow brought a lot of peace to my mind. No one besides us was there and it was such a serene and quiet atmosphere, almost as if time stopped moving for a moment. And sometimes there is not much more to do at a place like this than to just sit down ad gratefully enjoy the complete silence.

The father of a dear friend of my mother and me used to say, that his church is not the buildings some people visit regularly to worship or pray, have weddings and funerals in but rather outside in nature. And that while he deeply admires the capability of humans and their architectural abilities, he admires those natural structures even more for their deep serenity and uniqueness. And I agree with this wholeheartedly. Places like the moors of Les Ponts-de-Martel and this smaller high moor are sanctuaries, that humans had little to no influence in creating but get to visit to be at peace.

Our trail lead us all the way up through the Combe des Sagnettes, below the leaf canopy of the quiet deciduous forest path.

At La Petite-Joux we reached the end of forest which made way for the typical vast hilly Jura landscapes overlooking the Vallée des Ponts. The towering spruce trees spread over the green pastures, horses grazing peacefully below them in the distance.

We continued our gentle ascent towards Grand Sommartel, a 1’337 meter high mountain. The name comes from the words “som” which is old French and means something like peak and the word “martel”, the patois expression of the Franco-Provençal for marais, which translates to “moor”. Both the aforementioned Combe des Sagnettes as well as the northeastern valley basin Entre deux monts (Between two mountains) were formed by erosion which removed the vault. The fact that nature over time “re-designs” itself again and again is another thing that continues to impresses me.

From the Auberge du Grand Sommartel the trail slowly lead downwards, through forest, over meadows and surprisingly over a small gentle ridge, from where we had a stunning view over the basin of Entre deux monts. It was quiet, the buzzards call echoing through the forests and pastures, the soothing sound of the wind blowing through the last leaves on the trees; it made for a serene last view before descending back into the valley and the village of La Sagne.

The path now turned into one of those typical forest 4x4s. Not the most interesting trails to follow but always a welcome easy finish to a hike. Autumn seemed to be even closer than the day before with big colorful mushrooms along the way, leaf-lined paths and the low lying sun.

When I was a kid, in Autumn I always had a harder time accepting that a weekend on the countryside was coming to its end. I never quite knew why. Maybe it just felt as if there was less time in general, with the sun setting so much earlier but unlike in Winter, where huddling up on the couch with a book and a hot chocolate would be a welcome activity, outside in nature still seemed like the place to be in the autumn months. With a warm afternoon sun, countless bugs crawling through the grass and colorful differently shaped leaves to collect it just always so loudly called me to stay and I was at times utterly heartbroken to get in the car and drive home to the city, where the world just often seemed a little less colorful. I think today Autumn still sometimes gives me a certain sentimentality, as it every so often feels the last time, I get to see nature in all its colors and light, before Winter comes; a season I have always struggled a bit with mentally – very much like both my maternal and paternal grandmothers with whom I proudly share many more similarities. But these last years Autumn also started to evoke anticipation. Anticipation for change, for progression, for evolving. And this time around this felt even more true. Here I was, wrapping up my last hike, before I would change something pretty big in my life by undergoing a surgery to remove my uterus. A part of my body, that had brought me a lot of physical pain, doubt and heartache. But a part of my body that I valued as an important part of me nonetheless. I love the vastness of the Jura. I don’t find it anywhere else like this – not in the mountains nor at the ocean. This gentle, inviting open land that brings comfort and reassurance and always feels like home. A region I identify myself with since childhood and therefore a wonderful spot to start saying goodbye to a chapter of my live and preparing myself for the next one.

After strolling though the quiet village of La Sagne, we reached the car and with our windows down we started the drive back over the small country roads towards home and I felt like, I did what I needed to do before putting my hiking gear away for a little while.

After this hike and this full month of adventurous hikes I started to reflect closer about what a pilgrimage is. Pilgrims often seek inner reflection, sanctification and a deeper connection to their faith on their journey. Certain paths and certain places lead to believing people feeling strong divine powers. In religion pilgrimage has a long and a lot of history and from what I read, not all of it is good. I don’t want to further get into that here.

The face of pilgrimage has certainly changed over time however; everyone can do a pilgrimage, even without a religious background or religious beliefs. A pilgrimage to me is a journey to myself and a reconnecting to my surrounding all at once. It is always a spiritual experience in the sense that we might head out onto the path with a question in mind that we hope to get answers to. A desire to reconnect, understand better, feel deeper, see clearer. And in times of hurdles and in the face of challenges or changes the simple act of walking can bring such comfort and ease while also evoking tremendous inspiration and newfound trust within ourselves. The excitement I feel on a multi day hike of getting up again the next morning to continue my journey and visit more places that promise to be magical and give me a sense of divine power translates to life I think. And maybe sometimes we would do good, to see our life more as a pilgrimage. Something we do mindfully, so that we can be fully present when we reach those (figurative) places, those moments where the magic happens. Be that while roaming the moors of Ponts-de-Martel, climbing a peak, standing in a cathedral, right when the light breaks through the colored glass windows, finding the courage to give a stranger a compliment, reading a text for the fifth time and finally understanding what it actually means, finishing a painting or finally achieving a handstand. I learn time and again, that I connect and understand the most, when I pay attention to the little things.

And maybe that was the divine power I felt in those nature sanctuaries. The divine power of love, trust, joy and the ever so sparkling feeling of excitement for what’s next.

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Details

Day 1: La Sagne to Les Ponts de Martel	Difficulty: T1 (Hiking Trail) Length: 19:24 km Duration: 5:22 h Ascent/Descent: 654m/611m
Day 2: Les Ponts de Martel to La Sagne	Difficulty: T1 (Hiking Trail) Length: 10.59 km Duration: 3:00 h Ascent/Descent: 410m/387m

Some more useful facts about this hike

• There is a free parking spot in La Sagne right at the trainstation.
• The connection to La Sagne by train is also very good, with a little train leaving from and to La Chaux-de-Fonds every hour.
• There are various nice Inns along the way for both days and an even bigger amount of beautiful picnic places 🙂
• I highly recommend a visit to the museum ​Maison de la Tourbière
  in Les Ponts de Martel