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Abstract

TIV9i0rRmOcpItOm2w.jpeg"><figcaption>Flowers, insects, and a colony of yellow mushrooms in this lower, warmer stage of the hike. Photos by the author.</figcaption></figure>One last attraction before leaving the forestStill on the left margin, the hiking trail slowly gains altitude and begins to expose a series of caves. I found here some <a href="http://www.speleo-lausanne.ch/myblog/index.php/grotte_d_agiez_et_grotte_des_galets_janv_2012">local speleologists </a>who talk about two systems of caves around this region, but I’m not entirely sure whether they are the same I found or not. If positive then it means the caves I visited are either the Grotte d’Agiez and/or the Grotte des Galets.I took photos of only one of the two cave sites along the hike, the bigger one in fact. It gets inwards by around 20 meters, and it had some man-made columns that I guess are there to make all this more stable:<figure id="05f3"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*AAbu-2NtZSDrRT-JdvZjgg.jpeg"><figcaption>Caves around 40 minute walk from the town of Orbe. Photo by the author.</figcaption></figure>End of the hike at the town of OrbeA further 20 min walk from these caves gets you to the calmer section of the Orbe river, where it gets wider and is limited by artificial constructions, and the forest looks more like a park. We are approaching the town of Orbe, small but very important as it houses several key industries including Nestle’s Product Technology Center.<figure id="8a0e"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*hxp9zQrOgab7pqdrla02_Q.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="724a"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*Dao5ETgpojDPjHXbLoWJrQ.jpeg"><figcaption>The Orbe river gets calmer as it enters the homonymous town. Photos by the author.</figcaption></figure>The town is quite nice, built around very old buildings (I recall once entering the city from another side to find it was a medieval gathering) including quite old, fully functional bridges as in many other bigger cities of the country and of Europe. Plus, some of the gateways leading to the small center look quite colorful, even reminding me of

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certain Italian towns.<figure id="4345"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*D4WGn3qGYm5LLkW_hHC7jg.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="2915"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*pvOvTmn--N2GtfG7iRNfcQ.jpeg"><figcaption>Left: an emblematic bridge of Orbe, the “Grand Pont”. Right: past the Grand Pont, you can climb one of the beautiful streets up to the center of the town. Photos by the author.</figcaption></figure>Easy hiking, even doable by mountain bikeAll this hike I described here follows a quite easy path, except perhaps for the first 20 minutes which has some slopes and loose terrain -especially after so much rain! But overall the surface is quite easy to walk on, the slope is quite mild and overall going down, very well delimited and with very good shade provided by the trees especially in the first stage, hence doable even on hot sunny days. The hike is actually easy enough that I have done it a few times on my mountain bike without major problems -but being careful and respectful of hikers!Note on closing. Summer of 2021 was one of the coldest and most humid summers in the last 3–4 decades in Switzerland. The end of June and the beginning of July blasted part of Europe with very intense rains (at the same time as Canada was reaching around 40 degrees Celsius… global warming anyone?). Many rivers and lakes were overflooded at least in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, probably in other countries too. Switzerland had it relatively easy, except for some evacuations, but in some areas of other countries, the amount of rain was quite devastating.I am a nature, science, technology, programming, and DIY enthusiast. Biotechnologist and chemist, in the wet lab and in computers. I write about everything that lies within my broad sphere of interests. Check out my <a href="https://lucianosphere.medium.com/lists">lists</a> for more stories. <a href="https://lucianosphere.medium.com/membership">Become a Medium member</a> to access all stories by me and other writers, and <a href="https://lucianosphere.medium.com/subscribe">subscribe to get my new stories</a> by email (original affiliate links of the platform).</article></body>

The “big bridge” over the Orbe river, as you reach the town of Orbe. Photo by author.

The Gorges de l’Orbe after weeks of intense rainfall. Part 3.

LEAVING THE FOREST BEHIND TO REACH THE TOWN OF ORBE + SOME PRACTICAL HINTS FOR THIS HIKE

PART OF MY SERIES Natural wonders of Switzerland’s canton Vaud

See part 1 and part 2 of this story.

Moving forward along on the left margin, which is exposed to the south and has lower trees, has the problem that it has much more sun. And on a clear day like this, it meant it got quite hot. On the good side, this gave place to a quite good number of flowers (not as much as I show in my Rochers de Naye story but enough to make this stage of the hike quite different from the first) that attracted many interesting insects.

One of my favorite water crossings, moving laterally under this nice wooden bridge. Photo by author.

As we now walk on the left margin of the river, which is on its north and quite exposed to the south, the sun strikes stronger and it is very warm and humid. This habitat is perfect for several colorful insects that wander around and sit on top of the many flowers to feed themselves.

Flowers, insects, and a colony of yellow mushrooms in this lower, warmer stage of the hike. Photos by the author.

One last attraction before leaving the forest

Still on the left margin, the hiking trail slowly gains altitude and begins to expose a series of caves. I found here some local speleologists who talk about two systems of caves around this region, but I’m not entirely sure whether they are the same I found or not. If positive then it means the caves I visited are either the Grotte d’Agiez and/or the Grotte des Galets.

I took photos of only one of the two cave sites along the hike, the bigger one in fact. It gets inwards by around 20 meters, and it had some man-made columns that I guess are there to make all this more stable:

Caves around 40 minute walk from the town of Orbe. Photo by the author.

End of the hike at the town of Orbe

A further 20 min walk from these caves gets you to the calmer section of the Orbe river, where it gets wider and is limited by artificial constructions, and the forest looks more like a park. We are approaching the town of Orbe, small but very important as it houses several key industries including Nestle’s Product Technology Center.

The Orbe river gets calmer as it enters the homonymous town. Photos by the author.

The town is quite nice, built around very old buildings (I recall once entering the city from another side to find it was a medieval gathering) including quite old, fully functional bridges as in many other bigger cities of the country and of Europe. Plus, some of the gateways leading to the small center look quite colorful, even reminding me of certain Italian towns.

Left: an emblematic bridge of Orbe, the “Grand Pont”. Right: past the Grand Pont, you can climb one of the beautiful streets up to the center of the town. Photos by the author.

Easy hiking, even doable by mountain bike

All this hike I described here follows a quite easy path, except perhaps for the first 20 minutes which has some slopes and loose terrain -especially after so much rain! But overall the surface is quite easy to walk on, the slope is quite mild and overall going down, very well delimited and with very good shade provided by the trees especially in the first stage, hence doable even on hot sunny days. The hike is actually easy enough that I have done it a few times on my mountain bike without major problems -but being careful and respectful of hikers!

Note on closing. Summer of 2021 was one of the coldest and most humid summers in the last 3–4 decades in Switzerland. The end of June and the beginning of July blasted part of Europe with very intense rains (at the same time as Canada was reaching around 40 degrees Celsius… global warming anyone?). Many rivers and lakes were overflooded at least in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, probably in other countries too. Switzerland had it relatively easy, except for some evacuations, but in some areas of other countries, the amount of rain was quite devastating.

I am a nature, science, technology, programming, and DIY enthusiast. Biotechnologist and chemist, in the wet lab and in computers. I write about everything that lies within my broad sphere of interests. Check out my lists for more stories. Become a Medium member to access all stories by me and other writers, and subscribe to get my new stories by email (original affiliate links of the platform).