The Creux du Van is a natural cirque in the Swiss Jura Mountains. Approximately 200-meter-high rocks drop vertically and form a horseshoe-shaped vessel of more than one kilometer in diameter and 500 meters in depth. The impressive amphitheater is located at a height of 1’400 m in the Val de Travers district of the Canton of Neuchâtel.
Because my wife and I live without car, I travel to my hiking & photo destinations by public transportation. The train ride from Basel to Noiraigue, the closest train station to the Creux du Van, takes 2 hours and 3 transfers. An early start of the hike, often before sunrise, means a very early train departure tantamount a very short night. That’s fine for me.
I hiked up to the Creux du Van two days ago, after a short early-morning coffee break in Noiraigue (700 m). From the café it was all uphill, the first hour fairly gentle on forest roads covered with leaves. They rustled and smelled of fall. The photo was taken there.