Bouquetin encounters

We had the most amazing Bouquetin encounters today near the Salanfe hut. I’ve never been as close to these incredible creatures and it was fantastic. See extras.

We set off this morning with a group of friends from Les Granges and hiked up the spectacular Dailley Gorge. The waterfalls were in full flow and the walkways and ladders added to the drama.

Mid afternoon we the route flattened out and we came across a herd of Bouquetin, all males, scratching away at their winter coats, rubbing antlers through bushes and even attempting to climb a tree. I’ve never seen bouquetin so active before. Eventually, we dragged ourselves away and headed up to the mountain hut: Salanfe, overlooking the lake. There was a lot of snow around as well as landslides.

We headed to a spot above the lake and enjoyed an aperitif in the sun. Very welcome after all the rain we’d had.

About an hour after arriving at the hut the bouquetin that we’d seen below arrived just above the hut. In total we counted 22 males as well as some juveniles. Some approached a salt lick and started to lick it and suddenly there was a lot of horn bashing, but very gently. We spent a lot of time watching them and ended up late for dinner!

What an incredible day and we went to bed still talking non stop about our close encounters with the bouquetin. Almost impossible to choose a blip tonight as I couldn’t decide which was my favourite.