BY Simone van Velzen | Dec 28, 2019
There are many crystal hunting secrets. When I meet crystal hunter Jean-Franck Charlet in his house in the Chamonix Valley, my biggest question, of course, is where, in the immeasurable amount of granite, you can …
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BY Simone van Velzen | Dec 21, 2019
Signs of a Black Grouse This beautiful grouse snow angel was made by a black grouse (Tetrao tetrix). It’s a snow hole with wing marks where the grouse has left its shelter. Black grouse dig …
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BY Simone van Velzen | Dec 14, 2019
You don’t get to see owls very often while trekking through our mountains (the Alps), and definitely not up close. However, I’ve spent the month of November volunteering at a Wildlife Hospital, Centre régional de …
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BY Simone van Velzen | Nov 30, 2019
The most prestigious find is the rare, pink fluorite, but there is a wide variety of valuable crystals to be found in the immeasurable amount of granite in the Mont Blanc area. The search for …
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BY Simone van Velzen | Nov 18, 2019
Today I’m meeting crystal hunter Jean-Franck Charlet. Like many other crystal hunters, Jean-Franck is a mountain guide, born and raised in Chamonix, at the foot of Mont Blanc. The Frenchman has been “picking” crystals for …
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BY Simone van Velzen | Nov 09, 2019
An unimaginable amount of crystals is hidden in the Mont Blanc Massif. The treasures are normally not easy to find. However, the beautiful, clear gem that I’m holding in the lead photo was just laying …
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BY Simone van Velzen | Nov 02, 2019
There is an unreasonable joy to be found in seeing birds going about with their daily activities. I find incredible pleasure in watching common birds like magpies and sparrows scavenging for food in our villages …
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BY Simone van Velzen | Oct 26, 2019
The Italian Val Ferret is one of the wildest and most beautiful parts of the Tour du Mont Blanc and around this time of year larch trees in the valley show their beautiful autumnal colours. …
Continue reading “Flora in the Alps – Junipers and Dwarfism”
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