Haute Route

Summer 2013, dad plus the two of us planned a trip to Switzerland to do the haute route from Chamonix to Zermatt. He was already abroad doing some backpacking and we had a bit less time off. We flew into Lyon, where we had a day to try some quinelles and explore the city and its food markets. We then drove to Chamonix in our rental car. After exploring many options, we decided to store our luggage at a Chamonix hotel for pickup after the hike. The first day was Chamonix to Trient, taking the chairlift at the beginning and enjoying the great views of Mont Blanc as we ascended to Col de Balme before arriving at Auberge Mont-Blanc Trient, a cute alpine village and ok but quite crowded accommodations. The next day we were headed for Champex, beautiful day along the alpine glaciers up towards fenetre d’arpette, then down into the valley where we stayed at Hotel belvedere, a pleasant hotel with good accommodations and restaurant. It was a tough day that took us longer than expected. From Champex we were headed for Mont fort. Day starts off with a pleasant walk along the top of a valley with some civilization down below. We cheated a bit with a taxi/train/gondola ride and ended up at Cabane du Mont Fort. A very nice refugee high up in the alpine above Verbier. Would be quite the long run back down into town in the winter. Lots of photos here of the original haute route skiers, that would have be an adventure. The hike from Cabane du mont fort to prafleurie is full of wonderful alpine views of the alps. It was another tough day with lots of cliffside hiking. Saw a few chamois. Unfortunately, the refuge at prafleurie is a dump. Owners were quite rude, meals were poor and not rationed properly, and the location at the top of old quarry, not the easiest climb after a long day, is very uninspiring. When I planned the trip this was somewhat unavoidable, not sure if things have changed but I would recommend going out of your way to avoid this spot if possible. From here we headed to Arolla, staying at Pigne d’Arolla. We had a fondue dinner there and stayed in a much nicer room then the previous night both lifted everyone’s spirits. Met a couple a pair of older brothers doing the hike, they had insisted on not taking any of the gondola/shortcuts. From Arolla it was a fairly uneventful day out to La Sage, staying at hotel de la sage. The next day we headed to Cabane de Moiry, overlooking a glacier. It snowed on the last ascent section. This was probably the best refugee on the trip, nice meals with a fabulous glass overlook of the scenery. From here we were headed for Zinal. Weather outlooked turned on us. Next two days called for heavy rain and poor visibility. We decided to pull the plug, although my dad wanted to push onwards with his new friends met along the way. He continued on to Gruben. We took a bus + train to Sion, doubled back to Chamonix to pickup our bags, made an impromptu spot in Bern for the night, dropped off the car, and headed for Zermat (car free) by train the next day. We stayed at Alpenlodge, a pleasant hotel at a reasonable price, perhaps a bit far from the action. Anxiously awaited the arrival of my father from the last leg of the hike, he made it. Lots of great restaurant options abound, we ate at the more casual meat focused restaurant in Hotel Cervin, Grill le cervin as we were in had a somewhat carnivorous appetite by this point. Did a couple short day hikes with nice little cafes where you could sit out in the sun and soak in the matterhorn views. We said goodbye to dad here, he was off to Genoa and we were headed to see some more mountains. First we had a stop in Crissier/Lausanne to dine at restaurant hotel de ville, one of our top restaurant experiences. We were then off towards Jungfrau regions we stayed in Wengen, and did a couple day hikes from there. Very postcard Switzerland, cow bells, chalets, green valley and spiraling peaks. Food/accommodation (hotel baren) was a bit of a let down. We were also not willing to pay the fees for the “top of Europe” experience which felt all too touristy after a week of hiking through the alps. We were off to Alscae for a few days from here. We switched rental cars at Basel airport, a quick little walk across the border and picking up another rental saves a few hundred euros in rental car fees. We stayed in Sarment D’Or in Riquewihr. We ate at la table du gourmet, restaurant Riquewihr, lovely half timbered old building. The villages of Alsace were particularly charming with the rolling hills, and lots of great wine tasting. A must visit region if you like Christmas shops/markets too. Colmar was a nice day trip, pretty canals. We skipped Strasburg (except for the airport) for another trip. Flew home from via Paris.

Everyone enjoyed the trip, although it is a lot of walking— my spouse yelled out in her sleep a week after we returned ‘can’t we take a shortcut!”. It seemed less crowded than the tour de mont blanc based upon the areas of overlap. the Alps are certainly quite different from what we were used to in North America. While I don’t think I would do this again, I would love to go back to a few of these towns and do some more relaxing day hikes and or ski. The alpine civilization is far more developed, which is quite different from the backcountry feel of hiking back home. Also, being newer mountains they are more jagged, with steeper valleys and peaks. A lot of the hike times were less conservative to what I’m used to so factor that in as well. Kev Reynolds book is recommended, I seem to have lost mine.