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Via Alpina Thru-Hike

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Part 2: Switzerland, France (around Chamonix/Mont Blanc), back to Switzerland, and onto Lichtenstein

It was an enjoyable climb up the Colle Di Gran San Bernardo. Partly because progress seemed so swift as everything that we had been craning our necks to look at slipped away beneath our feet. The path was very good, the pilgrim trail route. We climbed with the road and had to cross it a few times towards the top. Suddenly, we were there, and so were all the people! As we came over the top we were greeted by the man himself, a massive statue of San Bernardo, showing the way to Switzerland. Then a hotel and a few souvenir stores, right there on the top of the col! Now we have walked over the tops of a few col's by now, most higher than this one and there have been zero souvenir stores until now. Just goes to show what happens when you build a road over one! Many people, motorbikers, cyclists and their dogs. There is a lovely lake on top too, also a bench with charging station! I went into one of the stores and they sold cheese, so I bought some fontina, a local cheese. We strolled into Switzerland and after another hotel and a restaurant, started the downhill walk. It was steep to begin with and we followed the road again. We had a rest in the shade of a stone shed and quite a big frog jumped on Mike as he sat on the grass. We had about 2 km further to walk, as far as the next lake, but found a really nice campspot we could not go passed, it was off the trail, near the river, flat grass and sheltered by some bushes. We decided to end the day short. We lay in the shade and had a sleep, keeping an eye on the weather which had turned quite blustery. In the end we only had time to pitch the tent and have a quick dip in the river before the rain came! Good timing! Nice to have a short day.


The lake, or rather dam, had a large installation of floating solar panels and the restaurant at the lake also had rooftop solar panels, and an information board explaining the technological features of the dam. The walking today was totally different from any other walking we have had so far on this trip. It was an easy grade downhill and passed some pretty features and villages. We saw two Jerusalem donkeys, complete with bells around their necks who were looking after a flock of sheep. They obviously loved the sheep and were very affectionate. This section of the Via Alpina shares a route with the pilgrim trail to Rome and we met many walkers who were on that walk. Much of the route is on wide, grassy paths.

We stopped in Liddes to buy bread, cheese, tomatoes etc and went to sit by the church to have lunch. We made great progress today, covering 11 km by 11:00, which just goes to show the difference an easy route makes. After Liddes we dropped again and continued to follow the raging river, which often ran through deep canyons. We stopped at a bench and watched some goats. We were now nearby Ors`eries and it looked like rain. We walked down a little path towards the river and found a small area to camp in. It was only about 14:30, so an early finish, but we did not like our chances of finding a bush camp easily on the climb out of Ors`eries. We were happy with the camp spot, had a wash in the river (you had to be careful not to be washed away, so we just stayed by the bank) and filtered some drinking water. It is lovely being in Switzerland, it feels immediately more affluent and land is farmed almost vertically, it seems as if it is all under pasture.


So, bad night in our little forest tent site. I started feeling pretty unwell during the night, coughing badly, difficult to sleep. It was horrible. Mike couldn't sleep either, he was also not feeling too good. We had both been coughing for a week, me maybe longer. The hotel stay had helped us recover, but obviously we had had a setback. It seemed too difficult to stay motivated. We have done hard things over the years and the level of motivation never waivers from as "high as you can go", but this is the first trip that we have battled ill health, and it feels as if we have been ill, or in recovery phase, for a large proportion of it. Anyway, Mike had already found a medical centre online and we greeted the day at 06:15. You just have to be realistic, as much as a doctor's visit is a major inconvenience, you have to seek help when you need it. As far as why the illness, well the walking is hard. We push our bodies hard and this is not wilderness, you can't always camp just where you want. Water is also an issue with overnight camping as you can't always rely on it and you can't carry enough. So whereas we have often done hard things on bicycles, they do give you a bit more scope. We feel our diets have been pretty good. So we don't know is the answer. But we have never coughed like this before!

We packed up quickly and walked to Ors`eries train station, a short distance away. We stopped at the supermarket first to buy breakfast and lunch. We tried to buy tickets at the machine but our credit cards were declined, so we bought them online. We needed to go just one stop to Sembranche. The train station and bus depot were quite busy with many buses arriving with hikers and there were also many school kids around. One spied our box of cornflakes and grabbed it with excitement. We got to Sembranche, which is a tiny place and the medical centre was open but the receptionist seemed a bit alarmed that we had just appeared off the street, took detailed information (even about our reason for needing a doctor, which was a bit weird), and stressed that we would have to wait, sending us to the third floor. We had to wait for about three minutes, which might be the Swiss for "a wait" and were called by a lovely doctor who examined us both thoroughly and did not seem surprised by the cough. She just said that even in Switzerland after covid many people were being exposed to new and virulent viral infections and this is probably what was happening to us. She said after a virus, the cough can hang around for 6 -8 weeks. WHATTTT? She prescribed a regime of nasal aerosol and anti--allergy nasal sprays, and antibiotics for me for a sinus infection, ibuprofen for inflammation and cough syrup to take at night. Oh boy. Next stop pharmacy. If you are wondering what all this cost, let's just say that in Switzerland they don't just shrug like the Italian doctor we saw in Cuneo and say, "Welcome to Switzerland!". Then we went back to Orsi`eres and sat at the train station wondering what to do next. Initially our plan had been to take the bus up to Champex-Lac where we would start the variant which closely follows the Tour de Mont Blanc. Now I had such a headache/face ache I could not think straight. In one way I hoped that starting the medication would be a miracle cure and I would happily trip up the mountain. Realistically it was not to be. There was a hotel in town, Mike informed me, but honestly I did not need a hotel, I just needed to lie down. So we went back to our forest tent spot by the river and pitched the tent again, climbed inside and I spent the rest of the day popping pills and hoping my headache would go.

Mike spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to resurrect this trip! We spoke about it in the late afternoon. Initially we had not planned to do this loop passed Mont Blanc and Chamonix, the Via Alpina proper goes from here to Martigny and then Vernayaz, the loop adds on about 100 km. But it is very beautiful and the Tour de Mont Blanc which is slightly different but overlapping is one of the most popular hikes in the world. People travel from all over just to do it. So then we had decided to do the loop which meant either walking or bussing up to Champex-Lac and then the major climb to Trient before you even start it. I couldn't face that. So we decided to revert to plan "A" with a difference, that we would take the train from here to Vernayaz, we would end up with too much time on our hands by the time we got to our final end point of Buchs, Switzerland, but we could then continue for longer on the route or whatever. So we bought the tickets online. Around midnight Mike asked if I was awake as now he was worried that we would regret cutting out the loop. "We've already bought the tickets," I said. Next morning we spoke about it as we walked to the train station again. I felt much better having slept most of the night without coughing. It felt like Groundhog Day as we passed a woman walking her dog like yesterday, a bloke on his way to work and even saw some of the school kids we were on the train with. We bought cornflakes and milk again and sat on a bench along the railway to have brekky and make tea. Many schoolkids passed us on the way, they are very polite and most will greet you. Then we took the train to Vernayaz. Changing at Martigny, I saw the advert for the Mont Blanc Express but did not think much about it. We walked from the station at Vernayaz to the supermarket. We needed to resupply for about 75 km. As we walked we could see the Mont Blanc Express train making it's way up a seriously crazy incline on the mountainside. We started talking about it and worked out that we could take it from Martigny to Vallorcine which would cut off maybe 30 km or even less at the start of the Mont Blanc loop and somehow make the whole thing more manageable. So we just did it! Booked the tickets online and reverted back to Plan.....whatever. This way we could compromise and get a bit of help but still do the route we really wanted to do. We were really happy! We picked up some supplies at the supermarket, went back to the train station and then got a train back to Martigny and then the Mont Blanc Express, which is the only train or bus we have heard any English spoken on at all, due to it being a tourist thing to do! We are so pleased we took this train, it took an hour and it was just an amazing experience. That train took us up 800 m and the scenery was as spectacular as the engineering! It was a trip highlight made all the sweeter for it's serendipity. We had something to eat in Vallorcine, which is a pretty village and then set off.

It was a gentle stroll until we reached the Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserve and then we had a long haul up the mountainside. It was very beautiful though, views of the glaciers on the opposite mountains. The road disappeared quickly beneath us. I felt pretty tired and took regular breaks, but went okay. The nature reserve is beautiful, alpine vegetation. We met a girl from Rovaniemi, Finland who was also hiking! It rained a bit and and grew very misty as we walked in the clouds. We had hoped to pick up water at a lake, however, the park had closed off the access as they seem to do to reduce erosion on pathways. So we kept going to a river, getting close we heard sheep and so knew that water would be closeby. The herd of sheep was big, with many guard dogs and also some goats. Just after seeing the sheep Mike heard the river, which was great as we had not had any water on the trail yet. It was pretty misty, but right near the river was a flat expanse where we could camp. Massive waterfall forming the river. We picked out a campsite and filtered water, had a swim in the river. The sheep and goats were high on the mountainside but dropped down in the dark to below where our tent is, we can hear the sheep and their bells. We are happy with how the day went, especially being able to make the decision about the train on the spur of the moment. Everything worked our perfectly. We started the day at about 450 m at Vernayaz and ended it at 2000 m!


Those sheep had lots of guard dogs and would you believe it, they barked all night long. It was like being back in surburbia only with better pedigree. The sheep were quite close to where we were camped and at one point it sounded like one of the dogs ventured towards our tent, barking at us. The shepherd called it off. It rained overnight and was raining when we woke up. The weather forecast was for heavy rain pretty much all over Europe. For us it would mean walking in wet conditions all day. The rain was supposed to get lighter during the afternoon. We took our time getting ready and Mike cooked breakfast in the vestibule, which was perfect for doing so, given the high clearance space. We eventually got going around 08:15. There was a lot of water lying around the camping area. We hit the trail, boy was it wet! The path was a stream. We wore longs for the first time to walk in, and rain jackets and rain skirts. My hiking boots have developed a squeak when walking on bitumen and Mike had a look at them the day we went to the doctor. Both the soles are starting to detach. We knew that we would have to get them repaired or buy shoe glue to do it ourselves, but within the first hour walking in the rain my feet were wet and by the end of the day my boots were waterlogged and I could wring out my socks. The weather forecast is for fine weather tomorrow so let's hope that's the case. I will have to look at Samoens, small town in two day's time for shoe repair/new boots.

By 09:30 we were at Refuge de la Fl`egere which was a welcoming place and we had a coffee and charged our battery and phones. It was quiet when we arrived but by the time we left at 12:00, many hikers had arrived, all looking like drowned rats. It is a very popular refuge due to its proximity to the gondola to Chamonix. I met a couple from Gwelup, about 10 km from where we live! We had had zero view all morning and by 12 it was still a whiteout outside but the rain was lessening so we decided to get walking. We had a climb as usual and the trail was rocky with some technical bits. We passed both the gondola stations to Chamonix. We could see bits of the town far beneath us through the cloud. As we climbed the cloud parted to give us some views of glaciers and what looked like new snow on jagged peaks. At one point we heard a low and distant rumble which sounded like an rock avalanche. We got to the top of the climb and started to drop down through piles of rock. A note about the bivouac camping in this nature reserve. Look, firstly, we have hiked in a few French National Parks and Reserves and they are very rule oriented towards hikers which we have found pretty stifling. However, the parks themselves are clear about their role in preserving natural beauty and they do this very well, so we try to play the game. However, this reserve takes the 19-9 bivouac rule one step further, you can only bivouac in certain, quite small areas and you have to register online as they limit the tent numbers. Fair enough. So last night we were kept awake by barking dogs and tonight we hit the bivouac zone along the path and it was 90% totally uncampable due to steep terrain. We found a small campable spot on some slopey ground but the only other option was an area where there was already a tent up and we feel it's poor form to camp on top of someone else. We just think the guys who run the reserve are nuts! How can you set aside an area for bivouacing and get people to register and then there is hardly any tenting to be had? Anyway, we had our tent spot so went to get water and shower at a nearby river. It had a pounding waterfall which we thought, winner we can shower properly, and it HAMMERED us! Mike came out battered and bruised! By this time is was 19:00, so a case of dinner and bed. Luckily it was not raining, but it was so misty, just white cloud all around us. We hope for better weather tomorrow!!


As we were falling asleep we heard a strange animal grunt at us. Not sure what it was! It walked away and grunted somewhere else, possibly at the other camper! We woke to a clear morning, and lay in bed a little longer than usual as the sun is now only rising just before 07:00. We had breakfast and hit the trail, meeting many hikers this morning as we approached the next refuge which they would have been leaving from. It was still downhill for us into a canyon and then a climb out to the refuge and up the col behind it. We could not believe the change in the weather, it was a beautiful day and we could see everything! What a view! The climb to the refuge was fair and we rested there a while, enjoying a delicious omelette. The climb from there to Col d'Anterne was steep but the views of the other side were sublime. Dropping down from the Col to the lake of the same name we were struck by the beauty of the valley and the lake which lay beneath an imposing sheer rocky cliff. It all looked like the perfect campsite! We rested by one of the rivers which fed the lake and had tea to drink and a snack, getting out some of our stuff to dry. After an hour we got up, it was about 7 or 8 km to where we were planning on camping. The area around the lake was busy with hikers. As we walked the trail we read a sign which actually said that we could bivouac at the lake, avoiding the wetland areas! We couldn't believe it! Lately we have taken the view that good camping should drive the end point of the day. First rule of cycle touring: the perfect campsite always appears when you don't need it, same thing with hiking. Camping here at the lake would be perfect! So we picked a spot and relaxed there for the afternoon, drying out more stuff and enjoying our beautiful surroundings. By 19:00 there were a few tents up of people also bivouacing for the night. We have our work cut out tomorrow as we have to walk 18 km to Samoens to get me new boots! Hope mine last 18 km.


Such a great night camping by the lake. There were about 12 tents all up, but the area was huge and everyone was spread out and very quiet. We were up with our alarms at 06:15 as today was operation Get Judith New Boots and we had no time to waste. We had about 18 km to Samoens, almost all downhill, but experience has taught us that downhill does not mean easy. We hit the trail at 06:45, deciding to make breakfast along the way. It was a perfect morning. We had a small climb up and over a hill and then we could see the next refuge in the valley below us. The walking was pretty easy and we stopped at the refuge to make brekky. The refuge was busy. After this it was flat with a little climb before the path just slid downhill. After the rain a couple of days ago it was super muddy and the rocks were super slippy as our boots were wet and when making contact with the fine dust from other people's boots you just slid right off the rocks. We both had a couple of falls even though you really concentrated, it was easy to lose your footing. So the downhill was not easy and also the trail grew very busy with day hikers coming towards us up the climb. Trail etiquette on narrow trails is to step out of the way of people going uphill. So it was a bit stop-start, "bonjour" "merci" etc. As always, the French are very polite. It took two hours to get down to the carpark area where we took a rest. It was going well. After that everything became a blur. A section of trail descended vertically, criss crossed by exposed wet, slippery tree roots, it was suicide really. We managed. Then hit a section of trail along the flat which was an absolute mud bath. Eventually we got to an area of open countryside at Sixt where we took a rest in the shade. Good thing too as shortly thereafter we had a massively steep climb up followed by a drop down so steep it required ladders and hand rails to navigate. It dropped through an area of leafy green trees, thick moss and huge boulders, called the Ancient Gorge of Tignes. We could have done without it. Then it was pretty much along the flat, following a beautiful, gushing, glacial river all the way to Samoens. We had dropped 1 687 m vertically by the time we got there. Our knees are unhappy!

Samoens is a very pretty village and being so close to the Swiss border, it looks Swiss with all the red geranium flower baskets and carved woodwork decorating the homes. We went to the Sherpa Supermarket to buy milk to finish off the cornflakes Mike had been carrying for a while. Delicious! Then on to Pellissier Sports where we hoped I could get new hiking boots. It was a great store, the first proper hiking store we had seen on the trip. They had a really good selection of boots and I bought a pair of Lowa boots. When I tried them on they fitted like a glove. The assistant who helped us was really good and we are so happy that I could get a good pair of boots. After that we went back to Sherpa to resupply for 3 days. The assistant at Sherpa was also really helpful and even gave us a free baguette, quite a fancy "sporting" kind with nuts and fruit in it. As he said, "No one is going to buy this now!" It was nearly 17:00. Don't worry, the hikers will! We drank our way through a 1.75 l bottle of coke, packed all our food into our bags and kept going. We were aiming for a forest area with a river running through it a few km's away, along our route. Such a pretty town to walk through and the forest was lovely. We found a superb area to camp right on the river and had a cold wash in the pool that it formed. Some people walked by and crossed the river and as we walked back to our tent, two people walking a horse and pack donkey crossed the river too. We did a 12 hour day today and are amazed at the distance we covered and grateful for my new boots!


We woke to our pretty forest, had breakfast and hit the trail. Our alarms are going off at 06:30 now. Rain was forecast today and it drizzled a little as we ate. We had a 1 000 m (just over) climb up to Col de Golese. We enjoyed the climb which was mainly through bright green lacey forest (it looked more like spring than autumn) and mostly on road, first sealed then stone. It made a huge difference to do the climb on a graded surface. We popped out into the open, above the treeline and that was good too. There were a couple of hunters up there with their beagle dogs. One was roaming around with his nose to the ground sniffing around Mike, the dog that is not the hunter. Mike spoke to one of the hunters who said that he was hunting Chamois. Later as the path wound towards the Refuge de Golese, it became a proper hiking path, pretty rocky and muddy. The refuge was a non-starter. We had put on rain gear by then and it was raining pretty heavily. We went to stand on the porch of the refuge to decide what to do next, a coffee inside would have been nice. Through the windows we could see some fogies having glasses of beer and wine at tables covered with tablecloths. The menu was available on the outside wall and did not offer coffee, but many meals and quite pricey. The sign read: "The terrace and toilets are solely for the use of patrons" or it's French equivalent. So we got off the terrace and went to sit in a little shed/three-walled shelter where we had our lunch, consisting mainly of the delicious sports bread we got for free from the Sherpa, with cheese and jam. Yum! A group of trail runners arrived while we were there and went into the restaurant.

After lunch we were downhill for the river where we thought we might camp. Other option was the Col de Coux where there may have been water but we were not 100% sure on that. The trail was super muddy. My new boots are really good, they are actually a dream. I am so happy as my feet were dry all day, as they should be. But the path was so muddy that the right boot could not grip at all! Slow going. Mike spotted some nice campspots under fir trees before the river so we went on and filtered water and then came back to camp. I washed the gunk off my boots at the river. It was nice to have a 14:00 finish today after the long day yesterday. As we went back to set up camp the trail runners passed us again. It stopped raining long enough for us to shower and then we spent the afternoon being warm in the tent.

Healthwise things are pretty good. I am now pretty much recovered. Mike still coughs a lot at night. It is interesting as the Swiss doctor commented on the impact of regular changes in altitude on the sinuses and we are now actively trying to equalise our ears as we ascend, as she suggested. We cannot explain why this did not impact us at all in North America. Maybe we were more at high altitude for longer stretches instead of up and down? My elbow joints are quite inflamed probably from all the downhill pole work and Mike hurt his shoulder/neck when he fell yesterday. But I have to say overall we are pretty satisfied with how our bodies are coping with our expectations! We are also learning that we do not want to hike from dawn til dusk. We are happy to carry extra weight in food and take longer. The ultra-light guys and girls can have it, 25 km days mean that you don't have to carry much between resupply but you also cannot have afternoons off relaxing in your tent! Everyone is different, I guess. If we could, we would hike til 13:00 or 14:00 everyday and camp in a beautiful spot every night. But otherwise we like to mix up long and short days. Tomorrow back to Switzerland!


Wet, wet, wet today! We had a break in the rain to get up and have brekky and set off in rain gear. We had a 400 m climb up the Col de Coux and then we were in Switzerland. The trail followed a stoney track all the way up and we could see how a 4-wheel drive vehicle had pulled off and chained up to get through the churned up mud. After the Col we had a pretty downhill stretch through some nature reserve. We came across a farmhouse and the goats were being let out from the barn on the lower floor. One and then two ventured out into the rain, but the rest of the herd just stood in the doorway and stared out at the rain, not game. We knew how they felt, unfortunately views of the valley were limited by the cloud for all of us. We were halfway through the next climb and stopped for lunch at 11:45. This would be our only break in the day, for about 35 min. We sat underneath some fir trees on dry, slopey ground to eat. Mike was pouring water in the pot from our water bottles to make tea, when DISASTER...his Nalgene bottle rolled away straight down the steep hill! He jumped up and I yelled, " Don't go disappearing over the edge too, leave it if it's too steep!". He yelled back, " No, I can see it!" and climbed down the slope a few metres to where his bottle had miraculously come to rest against a small clump of grass! I could not believe that it was not lost for good! Happy days! We set off with a spring in our step.

Sometimes the rain would stop for a few minutes, but it always started up again. The path was mainly good, even in the wet, not too much mud and the rocks were not slippery. After the climb we descended to the refuge and then followed our last climb up to a hydro-electric dam where we had hoped to camp. I say climb up, but what followed was a series of chains bolted to the rock and an almost veritical rock wall to navigate with their help. It was wet and raining and we arrived at the start of the climb at 13:30, thinking it would take an hour, but it ended up taking over 90 minutes. We were pretty exhausted by the end, it takes a lot of concentration to figure out where to step and where to put your next foot up etc. It was the most technical ascent we have ever hiked. There was a huge amount of water spilling over the dam wall, as the dam was full to overflowing. We continued to climb up the path passed the dam, but this was just normal hiking, no chains required (mostly). When we got to the top, just beneath a glacier we still had not found a camp spot, but a little while later we could see the grass flattened out and we found a great place on flat grass to camp. Mike put the tent up and we got in, unpeeled our wet clothing and got straight into our sleepy clothing, no shower tonight! It has not stopped raining at all all afternoon! We hope it is dry tomorrow, the rain is supposed to ease. The forecast is for snow Thursday. It's Tuesday tomorrow. We saw only one other hiker today, he came towards us over the Col this morning. On Wednesday we plan to catch the Mont Blanc Express back from Salvan to Vernayaz and then set off east through Switzerland. Long day today, over 8 hours with only a 30 min break, 1300 m elevation gain and 900 m elevation loss.


It stopped raining by the time we got up at 06:30, but we wore rain gear anyway as it was overcast or we were in the clouds. We had a 500 m ascent still and as we climbed towards the col it grew ever more barren, first the grass stopped and there were just thistles and then the thistles stopped and it was just black shale and rock and the misty cloud. We were accompanied by a herd of sheep, chattering away to one another as we climbed. We stopped halfway to make some couscous to eat as we were hungry. Every now and then as we sat and ate a wooly head would pop out from behind a rock to check us out. We were being watched! On top of the col was a group of sheep seemingly eating the stones. We started the descent which was quite technical with the chain ropes again and some tricky footwork. The weather down in the valley beneath us was miles better. The land dropped away across a stoney valley into a beautiful lake. There were now many cows grazing which is always good to see as they cannot manage as steep terrain as sheep do!

We had changed into shorts to dry them out and sat in the sun for a hour drying out lots of other stuff. We then completed the descent to Salanfe, the path eventually turning to a track along the flat next to the lake.

We walked beneath the dam wall and started descending into the valley towards Salvan. It was a very pretty and very steep descent made manageable by some steel ladders and wooden steps. It was pretty spruce forest. We have been seeing many mushrooms now that it is autumn. The path curled down in switchbacks and it was a pretty walk beneath sheer rock walls in the clear and sunny afternoon.

Nearing Van d'en Haut there was a picnic area with 4 new picnic tables and benches overlooking the valley. We had planned to get in 4 km more today but following our new policy of letting the camping take priority, we decided to stop there. It was so nice having a table to sit at to cook, eat and plan. We piched the tent around 19:00.


We heard a number of rock falls during the night, far away. Today it was so good to have the table and benches to sit at for breakfast, oats were a little low but we would soon be at a shop! It was an overcast day, but no rain. We set off down the valley passed Van d'en Haut with its little campsite and pretty traditionally Swiss chalet houses, all with different coloured shutters. Beautiful. The path down was very pretty and reasonably graded. The highlight was the walk through Gorges du Dailley, where a team of volunteers have built amazing staircases down the little gorge so that walkers can climb up through the area. Sometimes the space to walk through was so narrow we had to take our water bottles out our side pockets to fit through! The tiny paths are neatly laid with woodchip. At the bottom of the gorge area is a lovely shelter with indoor fireplace used by the volunteers. After all this steep downhill, we hit a flat path which followed the contour. It was a lovely walk. Les Granges is the village before Salvan. Beautiful place. We followed the steep village roads down to Salvan. We went to the bakery as we were both starving and hoped for something to eat. It was already 10:00 and they only had bread available, which is fine but we had nothing to put on it. We went on to the station and bought tickets to Martigny online. We had a half-an-hour wait for the Mont Blanc Express. It was a short trip to Martigny. We had decided to book into a hotel for two nights. We had not had a day off since last Tuesday and funnily enough we arrived in Martigny last Wednesday so it was a full circle, also the weather was going to be wet and windy. Martigny is a lovely town and the Hotel De La Poste is centrally situated. We went to the hotel to find out the rate but ended up booking online with booking.com. Next stop was the Coop where we bought lunch and went to eat at a nearby bench, then the local laundry to wash our clothes. Last time we had down the washing was in Mondane, about 3 weeks ago! We were able to check in around 13:30.

There was a big storm overnight, high winds and things being blown around in the streets of Martigny. Afterwards it was very quiet. Rain was forecast for the next day, but did not materialise. Big white clouds in the sky and some snow was visible on the high mountains overlooking the town. It was cold though, 4 degrees this morning. It's amazing how quickly the weather has changed here! We are looking forward to the next stage, back into the high mountains and colder weather, snow is forecast for Friday. We took a walk to a large sporting/outdoor store and each bought a new merino wool top for an extra layer of warmth when hiking. We also did a resupply at Aldi. We bought lots of high calorie stuff due to the cold and intense climbing to come.


We got the 10:09 train from Martigny to Vernayaz and took the short walk over the Rhone River to Dore'naz. Here we took the 11:00 cable car to Champex. It was so cute and very tiny. It also took 3 km and 600 m of climbing out of the equation! There did not seem to be anyone around to buy a ticket from, although we had a look at the office. There was a little waiting room at the cable car and we sat in there. About 5 min before the cable car was due to leave, a bloke in overalls came out of the office and called us over. We had discount passports from the hotel at Martigny. These are issued by the town and have all kinds of discounts off activities and restaurants etc. There was a 30% discount off the cable car. I showed the bloke our books; "Non!" he said. Then Mike tried to pay with his card; "Non!" the bloke replied again. So we paid with cash. Then he gestured we could wait at the cable car entrance. The gate unlocks automatically and then you pull the door shut to lock it again behind you. There was just enough space for the two of us to sit down on the little bench, then it set off. Quite a fun experience! Wow! It gained some height pretty quickly and we left the Rhone Valley behind us. About halfway up it stopped and just hung there for a couple of minutes. Maybe so we could take photos, Mike mused. At Champex we got out, into another tiny waiting room. We sat down to have something to eat and could see dark clouds billowing in across the valley. It started to rain a bit and then to snow. This had been forecast so we were expecting it. In fact, it was due to snow until this evening. Mainly it was raining, so we decided to stay in the little room to try to wait out the worst. After about an hour it seemed lighter, so we put on our wet weather gear and set off.

Wow! Is all we could say. A 1 000 m elevation gain in 3.5 km does not come easy! It was super-steep, 29 %. It took ages, well about 3 and a half hours. I don't think my calf muscles will ever be the same! Mike suprised 2 chamois lurking in a dimly lit forest as he came around the corner. The track wound through beautiful forest and the snow got heavier the higher we climbed. It was such a novel experience for us, we loved it! The whiteness collected on everything and grew deeper underfoot. The best part about it is it does not make you wet! We only took one short break and got to a flat spot to camp after 3.5 km of climbing. There had been some other options but we wanted to make it to this point. We got the tent up and got into it as quickly as possible. As we had stopped walking we had cooled down. We had great dinner! First day out of a town the food is aways great! We have 60 km to go to our next resupply and our packs were heavy with food on the climb! I carried over 1 kg of chocolate! It will be so worth it. The snow has continued since we got into the tent. Every now and then a breeze comes up and blows off clumps of it that slide down onto the ground. It's weird sleeping on snow. Everything is dry but very cold. We know that after today the weather improves again and even becomes sunny and warm.


It snowed all night. A couple of times during the night, Mike smacked and shook the tent to dislodge snow that had accumulated on the roof and at our feet end. The tent did really well and we were comfortable. I should mention that we purchased Cumulus sleeping bags for this trip. This is a Polish brand and the quality of fabric and down is topnotch. The bags are really light, around 400 g and for their weight, exceptionally warm. You never overheat in them as the down and fabric are so light and seem to allow airflow, but they keep you warm. However, the ones we have are probably only rated to around zero or -1 comfort and it was colder than that last night. We were happy. The bags are supplemented by our Thermarest NeoAir XTherm mattresses which retain our bodies warmth well. The combination is working well, particularly on nights like last night when we camped on the snow.

The morning dawned clear. We were happy, even some blue sky. We got going around 08:30 after cooking in the vestibule, there being nowhere to sit in the snowy outdoors. We were often cold during the day but never wet. Our boots spent most of their time covered in snow so our feet were pretty chilly. We had a climb first thing to the col, the views were beautiful. It's the dream, isn't it? Hiking in the snowy Swiss Alps on a clear day? The reality was to give us a good kick shortly. From the get go it was difficult to find and stay on the path as the whole place was just blanketted in pure white snow. Even getting out of the tent was tricky due to the mound of snow at the door. Mike is a brilliant navigator and our mapping program is excellent, so kudos to him for keeping us on an invisible track. Easier for me as I only had to follow his footprints in the snow! As we came over the high point we gazed on a steep slope descending before us, no path visible, no markings even. From the map there were tight switchbacks, but they were invisible. Off we went. Mike blazed the trail through mostly knee deep and often thigh deep snow. It was very hard going. We both fell over a number of times. It is a crazy feeling when you put your foot down and your entire leg just disappears through the snow. You kind of hope it will come to a stop! We saw an ibex on the hill and Mike saw a wolf skulking from rock to rock. After we finally got through the steep descent the path was made a bit more obvious by the other hikers on it coming towards us. They all looked pretty surprised by the snow! They also all turned up a path earlier than our descent to the refuge Du Demecre. At the bottom of the climb we stopped for our first rest. It was just before 13:00 and we couldn't believe how long it had taken to walk 5.5 km. We sat at a water fountain and had lunch and made tea. We were unsure what to do, our path went right and climbed further, although not as high as we had been. Otherwise we could drop down this valley and camp somewhere, walking a lower elvation. We could see Lausanne from up high this morning, on the lake. We decided to continue on our route and see if we could get to a point another 4.5 km away. Crazy, isn't it? Walking 10 km in a day, yet it felt like a challenge! We got going and had another invisible path scenario, then crossed what would have been a gully or maybe small stream and found ourselves thigh deep again in snow. We were pretty much at our limit when we rounded a bend and saw what lay ahead. We just felt it was unrealistic to safely manage the climb, we could see there were chains to use but they lay just above the snow with no idea what lay beneath. The chamois grazed up high on the hillside. We turned our back on our route and turned around, back passed the water fountain which had now stopped running, which meant that we would be melting snow for water. This is one great advantage of the snow, there is always water, you just have to work a little to get it! We followed the valley downhill and found a flat spot under some now dripping fir trees to camp. After melting snow and having some tea we got into bed. What a day, it was already after 17:00.

We have decided to take a lower route to try to get further along our direction. Although there is no more snow forecast, it looks like the snow that is here will stick around for a while. Around 18:00 we heard the roar of an avalanche from the direction in which we would have been hiking had we not turned back. Phew, correct decision! That sound makes us nervous!


I woke up around midnight, call of nature. The trees had stopped dripping so we knew it was freeziing point or below. Difficult to open the zip at the outer tent door as it was frozen. Cold morning waking up, the tent was iced, the pole segments frozen. We got up at 07:00, probably should be getting up later but there is a lot to do in a day! We got onto the trail at about 08:45 and headed off on the lower elevation path as we decided. This took us passed Chalet Neuf and we were looking at the map on the sign pole when a Frenchman came along and we got chatting. We told him that we had turned back and he confirmed that this was the correct decision. He had sought advice on the route at the Cabane Du Demecre and they had told him not to think of attempting that section without crampons as it was too dangerous, so we were vindicated in that. He was on his way to Cabane de la Tourche. He said that this much snow in September is very unusual. We stopped at the next refuge along to have a snack and change into shorts, such was the improvement in the weather! The sun was out and views of the Rhone Valley were beautiful. The mountains were very crisp and clear. The snow was much less down here, mainly slushy on the path. We chatted to another group of girls at the refuge who were quite surprised that we were camping. It doesn't seem like anyone else is. We had a climb through a herd of sheep and at the top their guard dog came to say hello to us (very friendly) and we also said "hi" to the shepherd. A nice walk along the contour brought us to a lovely picnic area with stone tables and benches and a water fountain. It was fenced so the sheep stayed out. We could see two blokes making their way down from the high route which we had abandoned while three made their way up. The two came to the picnic area also and we had a chat to them. They were young and from Lausanne (just down the valley), they were well-equipped with climbing ropes, ice axes and other hardwear. They had gone up in the night as the snow is harder then and had not needed crampons. They had overnighted there in an old military barracks which is still set up for hikers/climbers to use free of charge, you only have to pay 2 CHF if you want firewood. Apparently there are four such accommodations in mountains in the area. We also met a Brazilian man who lives in Switzerland and came to do some climbing but as he was on his own and the snow was deep he had decided it was too much risk. We had our lunch at this lovely spot and then headed off to where we woud rejoin the high route at Cabane de la Tourche.

When we got to the turn off we could see the path following switchbacks, although it was under snow. We saw switchbacks again higher up, but in between and over some craggy mountainside must have been a path we couldn't see. Also there were no footprints in the snow indicating that anyone had come over that route today or yesterday. This was the clincher. The high path and the low path both went to Pont-De-Nant, in apparently the same amount of time (just over 4 hours), but the high path first went to 2 600 m and so it seemed the high path involved too much risk again. As well as it would have been much colder up there in the snow and wind.

The low path was pretty uneventful. It descended steeply down to a river where we had a break and then climbed up through some forest. It was all so completely diifferent to yesterday with the thigh deep snow! We stopped to filter water at the next river as we hoped to camp soon, however the path was very narrow from here and the forest around dropped away steeply. After 2 km we came to a shelter which was very nice but no camping was allowed so we kept going downhill, steeply again until we found some flat forest in a great spot to camp. It was a pretty eventful day, ending up in a completely different sort of place to where we started!