| |
Day 4 Tuesday, August 26 - Trient Hut to La Fouly
After a good breakfast, we get a reasonably early start down the Trent Valley.
Today is all down hill, but we have a long way to go. We take the trail down the ridge for a few minutes to the point where it splits. Right leads back the way we came yesterday. Left leads east and that's the way we go. Except that the trail soon divides into multiple paths over loose rocks as it approaches the glacier. We decide to stay on the rocks, rather than take the glacier. After all, that family of five had not used the glacier to get to Trent Hut, so we would do the same route in reverse. And it was all down hill. So we picked our way through the boulders for a while until we picked up a stream bed and then a trail.
Further down the valley, the trail revealled some cold-looking lakes and then the Cabin de Orny. We stopped here briefly, but it was too early for lunch. Outside this fine looking hut was a large carving of a mountain goat with long horns. Before we left, the family of five arrived, with the youngest boy on a short safety rope.
We decided not to swim in the lake but to continue along the trail on top of the moraine. The trail passed two more small lakes before it split. The left fork continued down the Orny Valley. We chose the right fork - the one less travelled. We saw only two people on the trail during the rest of the day. The trail took us to a gentle pass. That is to say, our side of the pass was gentle. The other side was not. It went down, down, down.
The views were fabulous. We found a few blueberries and rasberries, but had to rely on our picnic lunch. It took us many hours to get down to treeline. Once in the trees we started looking for the next fork in the trail - the one that would get us across the stream. After a bit of rockclimbing on the trail, we eventually found it and made our way to what seemed to be a closed-for-the-season summer camp. We still had not crossed the stream, but we were near it. We decided to go upstream to cross at a small dam. That turned out to involve some interesting rock climbing with a water line as handholds.
Once we crossed the stream, Reuse de Saleina, we had to go down stream. After a false start, I found the right trail and we made good time down a narrow trail. After another rest stop at another dam, the trail broadened out as it brought us down to the valley and farmland. It was late afternoon. We started looking for the trail that would take us along the hillside to the town of La Foley. At one farm we met an Italian who was looking for a climbing guide. The guide had not shown up, but the climber offerred us a ride to La Foley. We gladly accepted and a few minutes later we were at the Hotel de Glaciers in La Foley. We checked into the hotel and enjoyed hot showers.
There is a small grocery store below the hotel and it sold ice-cream! I found the local tourist information office and learned that we had at least one more day of good weather. Supper that evening included salad and Beouf Bouginion.
Day 5 Wednesday, August 27 - La Fouly to Bourg St. Pierre
We started the day with a breakfast buffee at our hotel - juice, fresh fruit, cheeses, breads, jam, meat, cereal, hot drinks. Today is Klaus's 45th birthday and I've been carrying a birthday card for him, sent to me in advance by a friend of his.
At 8:00am we take the chair lift located directly behind the hotel. This saves us perhaps 500 meters of vertical. From the upper station the route follows a dirt road to a building still higher up the hillside. From this building, the correct route is a trail going directly up hill. But that trail was full of sheep and I succumed to the temptation to traverse south.
Some steep grass-wacking (as opposed to bush-wacking) later, we regained the steep trail to the pass at 2765 meters. A sign indicated that we had arrived at Basset. The old building at the pass was no more, but it was an excellent spot for our picnic lunch.
Behind us was the steep hillside down to La Foley, 1100 meters below us. Beyond that were the eastern peaks of the Mount Blanc massive. Ahead of us was a gentle valley with several small lakes and lots of cows. We considered going through this valley, up and over another pass, and down into the valley behind it. But we had lost quite a bit of time looking for the trail. So we decided to keep things simple and just follow this valley. Down into the valley we went, pausing briefly at Vouasse, an old stone building that had partially collapsed. The trail turned north and we made good progress down the broad, open valley. It looked like it would be an excellent ski run, if the sides did not avalanch. We passed several people who were hiking up the valley. At La Tsissette (two buildings) we stopped for some cool apple juice. We were considering walking to Bourg St. Pierre, but were told that it was considerably more than an hour more than going to Liddes.
We continued down the seemingly endless valley, crossed the stream, reached treeline and then contoured to the ridge on the east side of the valley. The map shows the trail continuing down the ridge and then turning east to the community of Drance. This is indeed what it does. But the trail becomes poorly marked. There are numerous trails and roads on both sides, often in better condition than the 'main trail'. After I made several wrong turns we finally reached Durance, crossed the river and hiked up to the bus stop across from the church in Liddes, arriving there with 10 minutes to spare to catch the last bus of the day to Bourg St. Pierre. So, for a couple of francs each, we got to spend a few minutes riding a luxury coach from Liddes to Motel Napoleon on the northern outskirts of Bourg St. Pierre (about 5km.).
We checked into our room and then walked through a small tunnel and into town, looking for a restaurant. We found one and had steaks for supper in honour of Klaus's 45th birthday. Over supper we decide that we will do this trek again, 45 years from now. Then back to our room and showers. We are all stiff, but doing well. This is our last planned town before we get to Zermatt. But life would be so dull if everything went precisely according to plan.
Day 6 Thursday, August 28 - Bourg St.Pierre to Valsorey Hut
We were up, dark and early. We headed over to the main building associated with the Motel Napoleon, where breakfast (included in the price of the room) was waiting for us. Then we were off, heading back through the tunnel and into town. Today was the first day that we set out without a 'picnic' lunch. We always carried extra food in case we were unable to reach our planned destination and had to bivouac. But on other days we carried our noon meal with us. But not today. Today we had a special plan for lunch.
Bourg St. Pierre is a small town and we were soon at the far edge of it, stopping only long enough for Mike to buy some extra sun screen. Then we followed the signs to Valsorey. Pavement gave way to dirt road.
The original plan had been to hike across the high pass above the Valsorey hut, descend the glacier and hike up to Chanrion hut - the Classic Haute Route. But word had reached us that the unusually warm weather had made that route too treacherous. I decided that instead of passing south of Grand Combin, we would hike around the north side of it. We could have headed there, directly from Bourg St. Pierre. Or we could have stayed at Liddes, avoiding even the detour to Bourg St. Pierre. It would have been shorter and easier. But this trek was not about short and it was not about easy. It was about seeing and experiencing as much of the high Alps as we could - safely.
So, when pavement gave way to dirt, we made note of the place, because we planned to be at that same spot the next day and to take a different path. The dirt road became a dirt trail as we headed up the valley. There was sunshine, but we could see the clouds starting to move in. The trail climbed the valley, well above the valley floor. We could clearly see where the hillside had been terraced, presumably for agriculture.
Wild flowers were not particularly plentiful this late in the season, but there were some. Most notable were the bright pink ones on tall stalks. At one point we came across a particularly large patch of them and stopped to photograph, not only the flowers, but also a hummingbird.
The valley steepened and the trail met the stream.
Here the sign indicated it was time for us to cross, since we were headed to Cabin Velan for lunch. Across the bridge, up through a gentle pass, and we were in the broad, upper valley of the Valsory.
The trail climbed gently up the hillside. We passed a large boulder that contained a memorial to some climbers who had died here in an avalanch some years earlier. Up we went, through the high pasture and above it. Eventually, the trail started to cross the face of a huge morain and we were able to look down onto some small lakes across the valley. The traverse of the morain face turned into switchbacks that took us higher before we eventually gained the ridge of the morain. Another place to note. We would be back here later today. It was getting noticably cooler and more cloudy. But we could see our objective. Cabin Velan was of modern design, mostly glass and steel. Yet it blended in remarkably well until you reached the point where it stood out against the sky.
We had seen few people since leaving Bourg St. Pierre, so it was not a total surprise to find only two two people, plus the caretakers, at Velan.
Supper at the huts is always a matter of eating whatever is served - everyone gets the same thing. But lunch is a-la-carte. There's a limited menu, but you can choose. So we all started with soup. Then Klaus and I have rosti (this traditional Swiss dish is made from boiled potatoes that are grated, fried and cooked with cheese). Mike opted for spagetti with meat sauce.
We were told that no one had been at Valsory Hut the previous night. But we had reservations there for tonight. A quick phone call confirmed that there was a custodian at Valsory and that we were expected. So off we went. Down the ridge of the morain, past the trail junction.
The ridgetop became narrower and more interesting. We followed it down and around as it curved, looking for where the trail descended the north side of the ridge.
A couple of carns marked the junction and down we went. Once we were our of the wind, it was actually quite mild. The trail led to a bridge across the stream.
From there we had been told to go directly towards Valsory Hut until we reached the trail. But we saw no path going in that direction. So I decided instead to follow a faint path northeast.
It climbed slowly, but I was quite sure of where it met the main path to Valsory. Actually, there were two 'main paths'. We met the shorter, southern one. We followed it and soon the longer, northern one joined us on our left. We continued up the valley, angling up the hillside. Eventually we spotted a path leading down into the valley on our right. If we had been able to locate the other end of this trail, we would have saved a few minutes. But we also might have spent half an hour (or more) looking for it. Our trail continued. There was a short, exposed section, follwed by a bit of easy scrambling. Then we were into an upper valley where we met a group of people who had gone up to Valsory for the day.
The weather was deteriorating and it looked as if they would be hiking out in the dark and the rain...
We crossed this upper valley and saw Valsory hut, still high above us. The trail turned and twisted through a boulder field and then up a steep ridge. We lost sight of the hut, but a carn marked it's approximate location. Up, stop to breath, up, stop to breath, up some more. We arrived at Valsory shortly before the rain.
The guardian met us at the door. I said we had been told that Valsory hut had the best food in all of Switzerland. He responded by saying that he was on vacation. Unlike some of the huts, Valsory had running water. So we did some laundry and set it to dry a little in the few minutes of sunshine that remained. We were the only overnight guests, something that had not happenned previously and would not happen again on our trek.
But at 3030 meters, Valsory was at a 'dead end' of the trail due to the weather. I could see that much of the snow route above us had a plentiful coverage of rock that presumably had fallen recently.
The guardian made sure to convince us not to go up and over. We were expecting one day of rain and our original timetable had included a rest day at Valsory. Our reservation at Valsory was for two nights. The guardian assured us that there would be four days of rain and snow, that temperatures would drop to -10 C.
The soup and pasta that evening were very good. Perhaps due to the cloud cover, it did not drop below freezing that night.
Day 7 Friday, August 29 - Valsorey Hut to Col des Mille Hut
We were up early, had breakfast, got our 'picnic' and started down the valley. The clouds were blowing in from the south, coming through the passes.
We hurried down, with just a few quick stops for pictures. My objective was to get below the exposed part of the trail before the rain started. We succeeded in this, though it started to drizzle as we continued. The guardian at Valsory had indicated that the southern route was shorter and faster than the northern route. He had also told us that it had ladders. So we took the south fork and proceeded to the tip-off. The trail got steeper and then we found the ladders and the chains.
The chains were there for use as handholds on the steep, slippery sections between the ladders. At the bottom of the ladders the drizzle intensified.
We crossed the meadow and reached a couple of buildings that were being rennovated just as the drizzle turned into heavy rain. So we sought shelter in one of the buildings. It was only 10am, but we decided to have lunch while waiting for the rain to deminish.
The rain turned to drizzle and we headed down the trail, leaving the renovation site as we found it. We soon passed the fork to Velan and made excellent time on our way towards Bourg St. Pierre. It took about half an hour to reach the road heading up hill. A series of roads and trails took us north and up the long traverse to Col du Mille. There's lots of interesting scenery on this route that we did not see because we were in the clouds.
At one point the clouds became so thick and the trail so faint that we had to stop walking together. Instead, Klaus and Mike waited at the last trail marker while I went exploring for the next one and called them to me when I found it. The drizzle was intermittent and the density of the cloud varied for the next few hours. Indeed, by late afternoon we actually had some sunshine.
We crossed the col just below La Vardette, descended a short way and slowly climbed the hillside. This section of trail was a barnyard. There was so much manure, both on the trail and on both sides of it, that you could not avoid stepping on it. If you've ever hiked the Bright Angel trail in the Grand Canyon, this was considerably worse. Another characteristic of today's trail was the prevelance of electric fences. I suppose electric fences and manure do go together.
By late afternoon the weather started to clear and we were able to spot the hut at Col du Mille.
Note that, approached from this direction, there are two trail junctions just before the hut. The first is about 200 meters before the hut, the second is about 100 meters before the hut. The hut is located in a gentle pass. In clear weather the view is probably quite spectacular.
Because of its location, there's usually no water at this hut for washing.
We arrived at the hut and met Roger and Theresa from Grenoble. They were on the first day of their walk around Grand Combin. There was a fire going in the wood stove and we hung up our wet clothes to dry. This was our first private hut; all the prior ones had been owned and operated by the Alpine Clubs. Other than it's relatively small size, we noted no difference. A group of people from the valley soon joined us. They were so loud that it became difficult for us to hear each other.
It kept raining, on and off, all night.
Day 8 Saturday, August 30 - Col des Mille Hut to Pannossiere Hut
After a noisy night, we started out, along with Theresa and Roger.
We went to the second signpost and proceeded northeast. It drizzled much of the day and we missed most of the great scenery, though we did get to see the town of Verbier, way below us in the distance.
We had seen many sheep and cattle on previous days, but they generally were some distance away. Even when we were close to them, we did not see anyone taking care of them. Today was different. As we descended along an old morain we heard cow bells. The trail turned right and contoured, into a valley and out the othere side. Here we saw the cows.
Lots of cows. Big cows. All together. In one big herd. In the middle of the trail. And attended by two shepherds. We stopped and waved. The shepherd closest to us waved us forward. So we proceeded, slowly, gingerly into the herd. Some cows stepped aside. Others didn't. I tapped my walking sticks together and that was usually enough to convince the cow to leave the path. But some were stubborn. There were a couple of cases were I led us on short detours around a cow.
So, there was no Steak Tartar for brunch and no gored hikers.
At the junction to Lourtier we took the right fork and soon turned east. A little further the path met a paved road, which we followed to Cabin Brunet. Roger and Therese continued on, considering it too early to eat lunch. Mike, Klaus and I decided to stop at this private hut for bowls of their mushroom soup.
I had planned to take the high route from here to Cabin de Pannossier. But the low cloud, the drizzle, the threat of lightening and the poor visibility convinced me to take the middle route past La Maye and along the morain on the west side of Glacier de Corbassiere.
We had a few minutes of sunshine and got to see some of the glacier and the mountains around it. We reached the trail coming down from a higher pass on our right. It looked as if, in clearer weather, it would offer some great views. Then the weather started to deteriorate again. The trail followed the ridge of the morain a little further, then started down to the glacier.
At this point the trail dissappeared in a very recent mud slide and we had to carefully pick our own way down to the glacier. The slide was presumably due to the extremely warm weather which was melting the ice under much of the dirt.
The glacier was flat and had no snow on it; just ice and rock. The route across the glacier was marked by wooden tripods. Some of these had fallen down and we stopped to stand them upright. Presumably they had been disturbed by the movement of the glacier. The clouds closed in and the last few hundred meters were in the clouds.
Therese and Roger got to Pannossour some time before us. This modern hut had indoor plumbing and a supply of old newspapers for drying our boots! There was also a drying rack in the main room for drying clothes. Supper that evening included soup, spagetti and meat.
Day 9 Sunday, August 31 - Pannassiere Hut to Mauvoisin
We awoke to low cloud and rain. After a typical breakfast of bread and jam, plus hot chocolate and cheese, we packed for a wet day. As we hit the trail at 8:15am, the rain turned to snow.
After walking a couple of hundred meters southeast along a morain, we came to a small stone building and a trail junction to the left.
We took the left turn and followed the zigzag trail north, up towards the col des Otanes. Soon the snow started to accumulate, covering the paint on the rocks that indicated where the trail went.
It took five pairs of eyes, and considerable time spent wiping snow off of rocks, to find the route.
Once we reached the col, the route became more appearant, even though the snow was several cm deep. Still, the pace was far from fast. At 1pm we passed the junction to Mauvoisin and started to climb steeply towards the trail that parallelled Lake Mauvoisin and would eventually take us to Chanrion Hut. After about 15 minutes of this ascent, I called a halt and suggested going down to Mauvoisin instead. Mike, Klaus and I had been walking every day for a week and we were facing an estimated five or six hours of strenuous hiking in cold, wet, windy weather. Klaus and Mike agreed, while Roger and Theresa decided to continue. So we said goodbye and descended.
We retraced our steps to the junction and turned right. What a difference! It stopped raining and we were able to see the town and the dam below us. Another few minutes and we reached a small shrine on a low hill below the dam.
We stopped here for lunch and briefly considered taking the east side trail to Chanrion. Instead, we got a room at Hotel Mauvoisin. A hot bath, dry clothes and a few hours of rest while things dried out!
Wonderful. Not many guests at the hotel. That could have been due to the weather, or it being Sunday, or it being the end of August. I changed our Chanrion reservations yet again. We had another excellent supper that included soup, beef stew, mashed potatoes, green beans and an apple & prune pie. And the weather forecast promises better weather tomorrow.
Day 10 Monday, September 1 - Mauvoisin to Chanrion Hut
Another good breakfast of bread and jam. Packed and on our way at the late hour of 9:00am in anticipation of a relatively short day. We decide to take the trail on the east side of the lake. It's a little longer than the road on the west side, but we expect the view to be better.
First we walk to the dam. A tunnel brings us to the west side of the dam, where we walk across the top.
There's lots of cloud covering the peaks, but we catch the occasional glimse. At the east side of the dam the trail goes through a series of short tunnels as it slowly rises above the lake. Several waterfalls of various sizes cascade into the lake.
The trail is wide and easy. After a while it switches back and then continues south. Certainly much more pleasant than yesterday, though we only meet one couple hiking the other way. The sky is cloudy with sunny breaks.
We choose one of the sunny periods to stop for lunch. The trail passes two small, shallow lakes and rises to a pass. Then it drops precipitously. After the steep descent, the trail crosses a steep dirt hillside to the Brenay Valley, which, at this point, is a boulder field. Five minutes after we crossed that steep hillside, a solitary rock, perhaps 30 cm in diameter, came tumbling down from above. Timing is everything.
Then the trail continues up and out of the valley. The trail joins the road coming up from the valley on the right. Then suddenly Chanrion hut is right there.
We arrived about 3:00pm, got the note that Therese and Roger left for us, and spent a few lazy hours before supper.
Quite a few people arrived, particularly from the south. Certainly, more people than we had seen in quite some time. I requested a 6:00am breakfast, but when the hut custondian found out that we were going to Vigniettes, he firmly said that we should have breakfast at 5:00am.
Day 11 Tuesday, September 2 - Chanrion Hut to Vignettes Hut
We were up early. We had breakfast at 5:00am and were on our way before dawn. We used flashlights to see the trail down into the Otemma Valley. The trail started brading and we looked for paint on the rocks to identify the correct route.
There is a fork in the trail a few hundred meters beyond Chanrion hut. We could (and probably should) have taken the left fork. However, in the dark I did not notice the fork and continued south down the easy trail. (In the Alps, always double check when the trail is easy.) Daylight soon made flashlights unnecessary and we quickly arrived at a point where the trail seemed to end at a road. Down was to the right. But we were supposed to go down and to the left. Brief recognizance walks in both directions failed to turn up any trail signs. So we turned left and a few minutes later reached the small lake at La Paunie, where we took the right fork around the head of the Chanrion Valley. The dirt road continued into the entrance to the Otemma Valley, where we passed the water control.
From here the trail climbed northeast through a boulder field and across a relatively flat area below the Glacier d'Otemma. It was obvious that the glacier has been receeding. It was covered in rocks and there was quite a stream flowing out from under it.
We proceeded along the morain on the north of the glacier for a while until we found a good place to get onto the glacier. We walked up the rocks on the glacier for perhaps 500 meters before getting onto 'bare' ice. The steep sides of the valley provided wonderful scenery and kept us out of direct sunshine for quite a while. I called a halt to change clothing when we did cross the sun line. The temperature change really was that dramatic.
The walk up the Glacier d'Otemma was long and gentle. We found a large, flat boulder perched on the glacier and used it as an early lunch stop.
Further up the glacier we came across the remains of what appeared to have been a weather balloon. We followed a line that basically took us up the centre of the glacier until we were near the Col de Chermotane.
The precise location of the col is neither easy nor necessary to determine, since the col is so flat. We headed north up a snow slope to a rock outcrop. After taking off our crampons we made our way up this loose rock to the top, where we had yet another great view and a stop for a snack.
Then we put our crapons back on for the relatively short crossing of the Col des Vignettes. It had by far the largest crevasses we had seen all day. This took us to a rock ridge where we again removed our crampons, but remained roped together, for the scramble along the ridge to Cabin des Vignettes.
The view from Cabin des Vignettes is spectacular. The trail from the hut to the outhouse crosses a metal grate because there's nothing else underfoot. And it has a fence because the drop goes straight down for what seems to be a thousand meters.
Today was a day of lots of sunshine and great views everywhere. The night was clear and we saw both a first quarter moon and a very bright Mars.
That evening we met a local guide who had hiked up from Arolla. He was taking pictures for a photo book of the Haute Route and is trying to establish a national park to protect the wilderness characteristic of the area.
Day 12 Wednesday, September 3 - Vignettes Hut to Arolla
We started early today, intending to follow the several groups that were going to Cabin Bertol.
We made good time retracing yesterday's route onto Col des Chermotane. From there we continued following tracks around the northeast side of Petit M. Collon and onto the Glacier du M. Collon.
Here the tracks seemed to diverge, with most of them appearing to go left. I knew we were supposed to keep somewhat to the right. But there appeared to be some large crevasses on the right and I figured that people were avoiding them, cutting right higher up.
So we took the left fork, which actually went straight ahead. The scenery was great. The glacier got steeper and we threaded our way around several crevasses. Unfortunately, there did not appear to be a turning to the right. Rather, we appeared to be heading up an ever-steepening slope on the west side of L'Eveque. The higher we got, the less inviting it was to choose our own route through the snow-covered crevass fields of the upper Glacier du M. Collon. So we continued up this unnamed valley until our way was blocked by a short icefall. The tracks went left, along a very exposed ice ridge. I started up an easier alternative. But we were neither equiped nor experienced enough to proceed far in such an ice environment. So we turned around and headed back down.
We could have tried to find and follow the other tracks. It was still relatively early in the morning. But the snow was melting in the sunshine and tracks would be even harder to find as they melted. Also, snow bridges that had been solid in the early morning might not be so as the day progressed. And the route went through several more passes before getting to Cabin Bertol. So I led us back to Cabin des Vignettes, where we had lunch.
From there we headed north, down Glacier de Piece towards the town of Arolla. The 'trail' started at the base of the hut's helicopter platform. I belayed Klaus and Mike down the steep ladder, across the wooden plank at it's bottom, and onto the glacier. Then we set up a belay so they could protect me on that slippery plank. Then down the glacier. We zig-zagger through some crevass fields and then continued down the center of the glacier.
Some of the crevasses had to be jumped, but the jumps were not long. There were a few short steep sections, but people had cut steps and so these were easily negotiated. While this glacier faced north, it was at a lower elevation than the one we had been on in the morning. It had no snow cover except near the very top, so the crevasses were obvious and easy to avoid. The map shows the route leaving the glacier quite high up the valley and proceeding down along side the glacier. We could see a clear track going down the glacier to a boulder field where people were hiking up. So we took this appearantly easier and faster route. We made good time to the end of the ice, took off our crampons and followed the red & white paint across the boulder field to a saddle.
At this point the route became a dirt path that led down and down. It zig-zagged down a ridge, traversed north across a gentle hillside past a small lake and then descended an old medial morain that seemed to go down forever.
We passed a side trail leading right, that went to the top of a gondola station. This seems to be a freight gondola, only. The morain gradually veered east and eventually entered the trees at about 2200 meters. So we have come down about 1100 meters from our high point of the day. We continued our walk in the wood, downward, across streams, towards the buildings we could see below us.
We passed under the line of a winter ski lift that was not operating. We passed signs for trails on our left, leading up to Cabin des Dix. So many mountains, so many huts (more than 100 in Switzerland alone), so little time.
We continued down to the first building. It seemed to be a hotel, but it was closed, as was the next one. Down we went, past what appeared to be condominiums with units for sale. Down further until, at about 2000 meters, we reached the 'centre of town'. It had a bus stop, a telephone booth, a corner store, plus several hotels and restaurants. Mike and Klaus went to buy food for tomorrow's lunch while I called to change hut reservations. One of the hotels was even open. We got the 'last available room'. It was a huge suite with a large loft. The suite had hot and cold running water in unlimited quantity and a combination bath and shower! That was the good part. The hotel had a restaurant. After waiting 20 minutes for someone to take our order (we were hungry) we left to find another restaurant. That's when we found out that all the other restaurants were closed. So back we went. And we waited. The restaurant was full. They had a staff of three; one person waited the tables, one worked the bar and one cooked. They were all busy, all the time we were there.
We had started the day high in the mountains, gone higher, tried to climb an icefall, descended about 1500 meters on snow, ice, rock and dirt. The food was OK. We were hungry; we ate it.
Day 13 Thursday, September 4 - Arolla to Hut Bertol
Our hotel room for the night had included breakfast the next morning. Since we were going up to Cabin Bertol, the hotel let us eat breakfast an hour early. Breakfast was not in the restaurant. It was in a private dining room on the second floor, complete with linen table cloths and fancy cutlery. The food was great. Juices of all kinds, milk, various sorts of cereal, breads, roles, butter, several sorts of jam, coffee, tea, hot chocolate. It was hard to believe that supper and breakfast were at the same establishment. If we had arrived in time for demi pension, perhaps our supper would have been similarly lavish.
Then we were off, just after daylight. The air was cold; there was frost on the grass. We had a long, relatively gentle walk south, up the valley. The first kilometer or so was along a road on the west side of the stream. Then we turned left, crossed the stream and started a long, slow climb up the east side of the valley. At several points the trail touched an older trail that we had seen from below. The older trail was washed out in at least a few places and care is necessary to avoid getting lost in bad weather. Fortunately for us, the weather was perfect, as were the views.
After a couple of kilometers, a trail forked right, dropping down into the valley. It led to the Refuge des Bouqetins, which overlooks the upper Haute Glacier d'Arolla. We continued straight ahead and came upon some major construction, including several large cement arches. The focus of this construction was a large, painted statue of Mary, overlooking the valley. We began hearing the sounds of heavy equipment to our right. We looked closely and eventually spotted several pieces of machinery high up on the western side of the valley. They appeared to be doing work related to the water storage system. Then the trail turned left and headed up a small valley. A few minutes and a few switchbacks later, we reached a fine outcrop above the statue, where we rested and had a snack in the glorious sunshine. Then it was up, up, up the switchbacks to the Plans du Bertol. There's an old stone building here with walls that are well over half a meter thick. It's located where the trail splits, the right fork going to the high level route to Cabin Vignettes. Had we taken our intended route the day before, we would have been here yesterday. Shortly after we stopped here to eat lunch, people started arriving from all directions. The view from this location was magnificent.
Unfortunately, people seem to have used the hut as a garbage dump. One of the people whom we met here had some very old photographs with him. His 'mission' was to take new pictures from the same locations and in the same directions as the old ones, so as to document the extent of the glacial retreat. It was appearent that, if this trend continues, we will have a very different trip when we come this way again in 45 years from now.
From here we headed east northeast, up a scree ridge towards the Col de Bertol and were soon able to see the speck that was the Cabin de Bertol, perched on the skyline just north of the Col.
The route got steeper and steeper, marked by short sticks with small flags. Then we were walking on rock-covered glacier for a while. We put on our crampons when the rocks thinned out and continued on up the ever-steepening glacier.
Just below the Col we reached a section with fixed chains. I started up as a large, guided group caught up with us. At this point the steep glacier had numerous loose rocks on it and I had to stop when the guide 'parked' his group in a tight line across the fall line, directly below me where they would have difficulty avoiding loose rock rolling down the glacier. So we all waited while the guide chopped steps for his clients to get up to the place I was standing.
Then we traversed right to the ridge and got our first view of the huge snowfields and the Matterhorn beyond them.
We turned left, up and around the ridge, past more chains and up two ladders to get to Cabin de Bertol.
This cabin is built right to the edge of the cliff on three sides. In the back there's a small cement patio where the custodians were sunbathing when we arrived. "Nothing but sunshine," one of them 'complained'. At 3311 meters above sea level, this was our highest hut. The curved dining room has windows on three sides, all with fabulous views. Most of the other huts have the dining room on the ground floor and the dormitories on the floor above. Bertol has it's dormitories down below. Space is at such a premium that the stairs down to the dormatories are very steep half steps. Unstead of being rectangular, the steps are triangular; one to the right, then one to the left, then one to the right, etc. You better 'get in step' in this eagle's nest. But the views from here are awesome.
Day 14 Friday, September 5 - Hut Bertol to Schonbiel Hut
We are up before dawn. But as usual, we are slow getting going. We are the second-to-last to leave the hut. But after we get down the ladders and traverse the chained ridge to the col, we have to stop to rope up and put on crampons. So we become the last of five groups going east from Cabin Bertol this cool morning.
The bergshrund at the col is easy to cross and we are on our way (with brief photo stops, of course). We traverse right, then descend a long, gentle snow-covered glacier slope. This is followed by a long uphill on a moderate grade at a fast pace. The sky is overcast and I want to close the gap between us and the other groups. The track is clear and I know approximately where it goes. But there is a safety factor in having other groups close by on a snow -covered glacier. And while the track is good, I expect it to split as groups go different ways. At least one group is going south to Italy and at least one group is planning to return to Cabin Bertol after climbing Tete Blanc.
We overtake one group that stopped to rest below the pass to the north of Tete Blanc. The route to the summit is clear and easy. But I expect today will be a long day and so we save time by bypassing the summit. We are here to enjoy the mountains. We are not peakbagging. We stop briefly at the pass and get a good view of the Matterhorn, as well as the glaciers we will have to cross later today. We are at about 3600 meters, probably the highest point on our trek.
We make good time down the gentle north slope of Tete Blanc and then go east, onto the Stokji Glacier. Descending the Stokji Glacier involves zig-zagging between large crevasses.
We each have to adjust our paces continuously so as to keep slack from developing in the rope. This descent would not be fun in poor weather with limited visibility. Fortunately for us, the sky is clear except for some clouds near the summit of the Matterhorn. Low down on the Stokji Glacier we meet a group that is heading up. They are on their way to Cabin Bertol. They will have a very long day.
We stopped for lunch on a rock ridge just above the Stokji. This piece of rock is really a small mountain sticking up through the ice. After lunch we looked for a way down to the Stokji, but saw no obvious route to it. There was a steep gorge between us and the rock we wanted to reach. We had followed the track to this ridge and I started to wonder if the route had been changed due to the warm weather. A little exploration convinced me it was unlikely that the route descended from this excellent lunch spot. So we headed back up the glacier a short distance and traversed northwest to the middle of it, in order to bypass the crevasses and descend to where it met the northwest tip of the Stokji at 3041 meters.
There we unroped and took off our crampons for the trail onto the Stokji. The guide book says to follow the zig-zag trail around the southwest, south and then southeast sides of the Stokji. So this we set out to do.
Parts of that trail are very narrow, steep and exposed. We had to stop several times to avoid getting too close to a group of 9 who were ahead of us. The fact that people were ahead of us reasured us that the trail did not cease to exist around the next corner.
Then the trail dropped down a gully for about 20 meters. At this point a lone climber in a big hurry caught up to us. He spent a moment trying to decide between the gully and the rock face. He chose the gully and was gone. I set up a belay and down we went, leaving a sling and a descending ring behind.
More narrow, exposed, steep trail led us to the base of the Stokji.
From here we could see this evening's destination - Schonbeil Hut. It's up on a morain, northeast of us, on the other side of the valley. We work our way down and then across a large boulder field on a glacier. Then we hiked up a narrow, winding trail, getting to the Schonbeil Hut just before it started to rain. Here we caught up with the lone climber and the group-of-nine.
Supper was excellent. Soup, salad, curried chicken and rice; followed by chocolate pudding for dessert.
Day 15 Saturday, September 6 - Schonbiel Hut to Hotel du Trift
Our original plans were to go from Schonbeil Hut to Hornli Hut, high on the east ridge of the Matterhorn. But our detour north of Grand Combin left us short of time, so we had to bypass Hornli Hut. The weather was poor, with low clouds covering much of the Matterhorn. so we would have seen little, even if we had been there.
We are tired from a long day yesterday and from the accumulated fatigue associated with a trip such as this. Since we only have a short hike today, we opted for a late breakfast. The late start was fortuitous, because the early morning drizzle stopped just before we left the hut.
The trail traversed east for perhaps half a kilometer before switchbacking down to the morain on the north side of the Zmutt Glacier.
Down and down we went. Sometimes we were on the ridge of the morain; at other times the trail was just below the ridge. The views along this trail should be rather spectacular and at times we had hits of what might be. But, for the most part, the mountains were hidden in cloud today.
Shortly after crossing a stream, we came to a trail junction. Here we went left and regained all the altitude we had lost so far today as we switchbacked up onto the hillside. For a while it looked as if we might reach the cloud base, but we levelled off just below the clouds. When the sun came out for a few minutes, we stopped for an early lunch on a large rock.
We traversed, ever eastward. The views were good, but the peaks were often obscured by clouds.
We passed a trail leading off to the right that went down to Zermatt. Our trail continued northeast until it rounded a sharp corner and went northwest. It traversed a steep hillside and we passed a plaque where an American woman had fallen to her death a couple of years earlier.
The trail turned north and started to descend. Down and down we went. But we could see our destination. At the corner of the trail was Hotel Trift.
We got there as it was threatening to rain. So, even though the Hotel had outdoor tables, we opted for a hot lunch in their diningroom, followed by a relaxing afternoon and a good supper.
Day 16 Sunday, September 7 - Hotel du Trift to Zermatt, Geneva and across the Atlantic
We were up early for breakfast and at 7:00am we started down the steep trail to Zermatt.
The weather was good and the trail was much better than any we had seen in many days. There were a couple of benches along the way where one could sit and look down on the town. We passed a small restauant, built on a rock outcrop with a great view of Zermatt. Lower down we passed some rock climbing cliffs. Then suddenly we were no longer on a trail. We were on a path leading through the upper sections of town. There were buildings, lots of them, close together. We were in Zermatt.
We found the train station and washed up as best we could. Then we wandered through town for a while, mostly just looking at people, buildings, shop-windows and scenery.
I bought some baked goods for the trip back. I then caught the 11:10am train to Visp and transfered on to Geneva. The ride was good, the scenery fine. It was a different world. Klaus and Mike explored Zermatt for a few more hours before taking the train. Their flights did not leave until early Monday morning.
The Geneva airport was almost empty when I arrived at 14:42. The Air France ticket counter did not have the equipment to shrink-wrap my pack, but they did have heavy plastic bags; one for my pack and a second one for my mountain axe, walking sticks and the rope. I checked them through to Canada and they actually arrived the same time as I did. The line at Canadian customs & immigration seemed to take forever. Then I took the shuttle bus to the train station and had an uneventful train ride to Toronto.
The trip was great. But when and where will the next one go? I don't know, yet.
Haute Route Notes
Index of Mountain Huts.
Dynamic Map of the Zermatt Area.
Haute Route on Skiis.
European Railway Fares and Schedules.
From Geneva to Chamonix.
Home page for Chamonix.
| Albert Premier Hut (Fr) | (0)450 54 06 20 |
| Cabin du Trient | 0041 (0)27 783 14 38 |
| Town of La Fouly - Hotel des Glaciers | 027 783 11 71 |
| Cabane de Valsorey | 0041 (0)27 787 11 22 |
| Cabane de Chanrion | 0041 (0)27 778 12 09 |
| Cabane des Vignettes | 0041 (0)27 83 13 22 |
| Cabane de Bertol | 0041 (0)27 283 19 29 |
| Schönbielhütte | 0041 (0) 27 967 13 54 |
| Hörnlihütte | 0041 (0)28 67 27 69 |
| Hotel du Trift | 0041 (0)79 408 70 20 |
Individual Equipment List
- Large Daypack
- Clothing (includes items being worn)
- Three shirts (at least 1 with long sleeves).
- Three pairs inner socks (woolen)
- Two pairs outer socks (woolen)
- One pair warm trousers
- One pair shorts or trousers with zip-off legs.
- Three sets of underwear
- Two light sweaters / woolen shirts / fleece (at least 1 must NOT be synthetic)
- One wind jacket / shell
- One sun hat
- One warm hat
- One pair warm mitts (wool or other)
- One pair shell mitts (to fit over the wollen mitts)
- One pair sturdy hiking boots
- One pair slippers or lightweight sneakers
- Two bandannas
- Mountain Equipment
- Crampons
- Mountain axe
- Two walking sticks (optional)
- One locking carabineer
- Two prussick loops (I will supply these for anyone who is unfamiliar with them)
- One harness
- Other Equipment
- Sun block, SPF 45 suggested
- Sheet, sewn on bottom and side
- Flashlight / headlamp (it gets dark at night)
- Two waterbottles (one quart each)
- Good quality sun glasses / goggles
- One nylon or cotton stuff sack (daypacks & plastic bags are not allowed in bunkrooms)
- Eight plastic bags with no holes, large enough to cover foot and ankle (packed in two groups of four)
- Three large plastic garbage bags (for rain protection and for sliding down some snow slopes)
- One compass
- Camera equipment
- One sit-upon
Group Equipment List
- First aid kit
- Ropes
- GPS (optional)
- Altimeter (optional)
- Two ice screws
- Two regular carabiners
- Two pairs of leather gloves / mitts
- One thermarest
|
