Sentier raquettes : Les Combes en famille

This hike is like a game:
1) Find the elements in the landscape: Ice rink dome, Fare waterfall and Col du Couard.
2) The old dwelling near the Flumet stream was used for:
to the rural guard to monitor the forest and take mountain hut, to mountain hut the field tools, used the power of water and it is an old mill.
3) Try to recognize squirrel tracks during your walk in the forest.
An inhabitant that is very often found in the undergrowth in winter, because it hides under the branches at night or on bad weather days, the roe deer, here is what its track looks like that you can see in the forest.
Two types of hares populate the mountain in winter. One is brown and the other carries the arctic gene: the mountain hare. It is gray-brown in summer and all white in winter. It camouflages itself from predators such as foxes or wolves. It is very discreet and moves at night. The top of its ears remain black.
4) You are surrounded by broadleaf trees, beeches, which in our region are called fayard, our firewood, so the origin of the word comes from fire elsewhere.
The path can be dug in places, these signs of life speak to you... winter is harsh for the different species, it is cold, nature is covered in snow, so you have to go and look for food under the thickness of the snow, scratch down to the ground to find bulbs, seeds, beechnuts... wild boar, deer, roe deer and chamois can do this.
5) Observe the bark of certain shrubs, they are sometimes nibbled. Several species are the perpetrators!
Hares and roe deer, sometimes stags and chamois…not easy to know who is involved…so simply observe the height of the mark, a good indicator…the stag being higher than the roe deer which will be higher than the hare…

All waste must be brought back by hikers. This rule applies along the trail. The forest environment must be preserved, avoid cutting branches or mutilating them.

Tips:
– Make sure snow doesn’t get into your shoes by using gaiters.
•During the snowshoe hike:
– Remember to release the heel of the snowshoe! FYI, we sometimes attach the back of the foot when going downhill when there is a lot of snow.
– Set off with poles, essential for balance.
– Don’t hesitate to tap your snowshoe with your stick from time to time, this will remove some of the accumulated snow and therefore lighten your step.
– Foggy glasses are usually a good indicator of too much body heat or a change in body heat that is too rapid. If this happens, you can reduce your speed, the number of layers of clothing or simply ventilate everything by encouraging fresh air to enter under your windbreaker.

Subject to favorable weather conditions