Hiking Dent d'Oche / Day Trip Report October 2017

Soon after the start of the trip, we spotted a Golden Eagle soaring above us. What a beautiful raptor! Going through a beautiful forest, we heard and saw several passerine species, as well as a small flock of Yellow-billed Choughs, a common resident of the Alps.

After a nice hike up to the Chalet d'Oche, we sat down with our guest for a nice pique-nique ni the sun. We tried to spot some Alpine Ibex but no horns on the horizon. We headed to the Lac de la Case where we shot some images of the landscape, the vegetation and the Yellow-billed Choughs. Then we decided to hike the Col de la Casse d'Oche, in order to enjoy an even better view and overlook down to the whole area hoping to see something. It took some time but 2 herds of Alpine Ibex showed up in two different locations. There was a herd with females, young males and youngs, and another herd with adult males further. With the time we had left we had to make a choice, knowing that we could not climb to both spots before sunset.

We went for the herd with the young Alpine Ibex and on our way up to them, we noticed that they were slowly coming down hill. So instead of trying to get closer and closer, we stopped, sat, and let them come down towards us. At some point, soon before sunset, when the light was the most beautiful, the entire herd literally passed by us. It was incredible!

Deeply moved by this memorable encounter, we started to walk down and ended the day in the dark, with our headlamps showing us the path.

Salva Fauna