Arrival in Arolla

After landing in Geneva in the late evening we stayed in a hotel close to the airport that provided a shuttle service to and from the airport. We used this the next morning to return to the railway station adjacent to the airport to catch the 10.27am train to Sion.

Of course it was bang on time and disembarking at Sion we had no trouble locating the stand for our post bus to Arolla.  We had a quick coffee and shared a florentine cake while we waited.

The bus was soon climbing towards the mountains and we were interested to see some unusual rock features along the road.  Were they natural or man made? We couldn't decide.

Strange rock formation as we drive to Arolla

As we passed through Les Hauderes we spotted tomorrow night's hotel and were surprised how far above this town Arolla was situated.

The post bus dropped us in the square at Arolla and our hotel was just a few strides away, looking very picturesque in the afternoon sun, its balconies covered in flowers.

Our hotel in Arolla

The view from our hotel was stunning - snow covered mountains, snowfields and a glacier which looked perfectly accessible, this was no doubt an illusion!

The view from our hotel

It was still early so we walked round Arolla and stopped off in a cafe for crepes and beer.  We might as well start as we intend to progress and it was very nice to sit, eat and drink in the afternoon sun.

Crepes and beer in Arolla

Our balcony

Dinner at the hotel was not what we expected.  The first course was an enormous quantity of beautifully displayed cold meat and sausage, plus gherkins and bread.  More meat than we would eat in a fortnight at home.  The second course was fondue with dry bread.  We cut the bread into cubes and dipped it into the bubbling cheese.  Desert was fresh fruit which slipped down easily.

We slept well!

To Day 2

Day 2

Arolla to Hauderes

(plus an extension)

We knew today's would not be a long walk so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then made sure we had all our essentials in our rucksacks before setting off.

Let's go!

Leaving Arolla

It was a lovely day and the walk to Lac Bleu was on good trails with fine views with an occasional drop to the side.

The wire here is really unnecessary!

Handles and chains for a step down!

The sign warns of sudden torrents and flash floods

Lac Bleu

We had anticipated walking to Lac Bleu and then on to Hauderes but we arrived at the lake by 11.30am, with only two hours walking left, so we decided to extend the day following a route suggested in our trip notes.  

As we walked away from the lake we noticed a small hut selling coffee and tarte and we sat for a while in the sun with butterflies all round us and smoke drifting from a fire set in a stone hearth opposite the hut. 

That hut looks like it might have coffee....

.... and tarte!

View from the hut

Refreshed we pressed on and our legs were strong as we had done little serious climbing so far.  The extended route was a lovely walk on good paths, though there was quite a lot of ascending, naturally followed by a long descent.

A long descent to Hauderes

Entering Hauderes

A welcome reward

We arrived at Hauderes at 4pm and enjoyed a welcome beer at our hotel while nearby, some ladies in traditional dress were playing cards with our hostess.

Dinner was more to our taste tonight with a green salad for the first course followed by roast chicken and ice cream for dessert.

To Day 3

Day 3

Les Hauderes (1452m) to Grimentz (1572m) via Col de Torrent (2918m)

Ascend 1475m  Descend 1357m

Today's walk began with a bit of a shock.  We were intending to take the bus to Villaz, as suggested in our notes, which would reduce the height we needed to climb by about 1000'.  Our hostess had confirmed that the Villaz bus left at 7.55am from the square so we had an early breakfast.  We were told that our baggage needed to be in reception at 7.15am for collection, as the road through town was going to be closed for a festival parade.  We left the hotel and got to the square too early but a bus pulled in and stopped so I asked the driver if it was going to Villa.  No, he said, there would be no bus to Villa today because of the festival.

Early morning start

Walking through Les Hauderes at 7.30am

Leaving Les Hauderes

Well, our legs felt strong and we had a map so we set off to walk from behind our hotel and climbing rapidly soon found ourselves above Les Hauderes.  The cool of the morning was pleasant to walk in and we saw a deer, which hurriedly moved off our path.

The ascent was steady and we passed through the village of Sage and into Villa. Sadly no cafes were open to satisfy my caffeine addiction on this Sunday morning so we pushed on and after about an hour reached the point the bus where the bus would have dropped us.

The sun was well up now and each step we made sent crickets leaping from the path and butterflies of all sizes and colours flew around us.

The general direction was up, with some very steep sections, heading for the Col de Torrent, sometimes traversing and sometimes climbing.  In the heat it was quite tough and in the distance we could see small groups of walkers climbing ahead of us on the trail.

A long climb

We passed through an area where there were some hopeful paragliders but there was almost no movement of air and we didn't see any take off.  At this point there was a square shaped, leaning tower of rock, about 20' high, a noticeable feature we had been able to see for some time.

I start to wilt

The trail zig-zagged more steeply as we neared the col and the cross marking the col could be seen peeping over the cliffs above us.

We steeled ourselves for the last push and our efforts were rewarded when we gained the col with magnificent views.  In front and below us was the pale blue water of  Lac des Autannes and behind that the vivid blue expanse of glacial water backed up by the Barrage de Moiry.  All around us were the peaks whose names give clues to their shapes - teeth, needles, horns.

Heading for the Col

The last push...

Made it!

The view from the  Col

Carole at the Col

We decided to stay at the col to enjoy our picnic and were fascinated by two ladies who ate their way through a huge lunch, at one point producing a very large glass jar whose contents (gherkins?) were eaten with forks. We were astonished that they had carried a heavy glass jar all this way, don't they have Tupperware in Switzerland?

We left the Col for the Barrage de Moiry, glad that our feet were pointing downwards again.  We made a good and rapid descent and eventually saw cars parked at the far side of the dam and near them, a cafe.

Lac des Autannes

Carole says we are NOT going to Sex de Marinda

Glacial lake at Barrage de Moiry

We checked our bus schedule and saw that a bus would leave the dam for Grimentz at 2.45pm, a tempting thought would be to get this bus and miss the the last part of the walk, a stretch of no particular interest.  Would there be a bus on a festival Sunday?

As we zig zagged down towards the dam we saw a bus stopped on the far side which then moved off. It was 2.30pm and we realised it would return back along the valley in 15 minutes.  We found ourselves speeding to the dam and then across the top of the impressive wall.  We could see three deer down below on the dry side of the wall, a massive structure contrasting with the brilliant blue of the water.  Half way over and the bus returned and stopped, we jogged the last couple of hundred yards but we needn't have bothered.  There were lots of people converging on the bus and we were almost the last to get on.

Grimentz

We arrived in Grimentz in less than half an hour and were immediately charmed by the pretty village, which is crammed with old chateaux bedecked with flowers.  We walked past a number of tableaux with wooden figures animated by water passing through water wheels.  There were nodding cows, a man wielding a saw and a baker popping loaves in his oven.

Our hotel was at the end of the village and would be our home for two days.  We had the best meal of our trip so far, and had dinner outdoors.  The hotel specialises in adding wild flowers to its meals making the presentation very attractive.  We were served a mini-lasagne followed by duck breast with apricots, rice noodles and broccoli and Carole thought the fruit pudding served for desert was bliss!

To Day 4

Day 4

Rest Day

Our plan had been to climb to Roc d'Orxival but we woke to fog and rain dripping from the hotel awning. We took our time over breakfast and then visited the tourist office, getting a leaflet that would guide us around the village showing points of interest.  This tour proved to be enjoyable .

Grimentz

House in Grimentz

Water powered animation

The sun came out and we decided on crepes for lunch. The leaflet doubled as an essential sun hat for my bald head as our table had no shade.

Hydrant in Grimentz

Our hotel for two nights

Ersatz sun hat

Carole in Grimentz

As the weather was much improved we walked on a trail to St Jean where we found the cafe to be closed.

We wondered whether we should try another restaurant for dinner but we enjoyed last night's meal so much we returned to our hotel and were glad we did.  A green salad was followed by pork in a sauce with vegetables and an interesting mix of grated carrot, ginger and other ingredients in a rice paper parcel, edible flowers and potato dauphinoise.  We washed it down with half a litre of Garnay, the local red wine.  Perfect!

To Day 5

Day 5

Grimentz (1572m) to St Luc, Hotel Weisshorn (2337m)

15k             Ascend 900m    Descend 100m 

We would be parted from our luggage for the next two nights so had to make sure we packed all essentials in our day bags before we set off.

We knew we had some steep climbing to do today but the beginning of the walk was a fairly gentle hour on a forest track to Mottec.  The day was beautiful with not a cloud in the sky so we didn't mind the shade from the trees.

The next stage was a serious 1000'+ ascent, still in the shade of the trees but it did feel an effort as the path wound up without respite but as efficiently as it could.  Emerging from the forest we climbed to the high pastures where we found ourselves surrounded by the most amazing view provided by high snow covered peaks against the blue sky.

Climbing from Grimentz

Masses of butterflies

All along this high route we were accompanied by butterflies and the clicking and rasping of a million grasshoppers.

We stopped at a disused farm building to rest and enjoy an apple and a biscuit.  There was a sign saying the Hotel Weisshorn was 1hr 40min away but out notes had warned us that it was actually 2hr 15min from this point.

We stop for a rest

Boulder field

We stop here for a quick rest

Before resuming our climb

The path was less steep from this point and cut into the hillside affording us terrific views down into the valley.  We crossed a couple of boulder fields and the path wound ever upwards.

We stopped for another rest by a fast running stream and then pressed on, eventually spotting the hotel in the distance.  We took the most direct route we could see and arrived exactly 2 hours after leaving the farm building.

We spot the hotel below

A strange sculpture on the path

The hotel looked interesting, totally alone in the high alp. There appeared to be an outside seating area over two levels, with comfortable arm chairs on the lower level.  Below that was a rock garden and a small vegetable patch.  The view was stupendous, Grimentz lies far below and the hotel is perched high on the side of the valley, looking across at a vast sweeping array of mountains.

We were soon sitting in these arm chairs, drinking half litres of ice cold beer and eating myrtle tart and chantilly cream in the sun.  Carole said this must be lost Shangri-la.


The hotel was built by the British in the 1800s and is a cross between a hotel and a hostel.  Our room was tiny with no facilities, not even a wash basin, but opposite was a shower block which was clean and modern and reminiscent of municipal swimming baths.

The view from our room

Our corridor

There was no WC on our floor.  A bit awkward for my 2am wander!

Enjoying the afternoon sun

After showering we returned outdoors for more beer and sat enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon sun.  It actually set while we were having dinner.  The dining room had windows all along the side of the room and the setting sun caused a flurry of activity as people took photographs.  Unfortunately my camera was safe in our room.

Dinner was good but a lengthy affair starting at 7.30pm and ending at 10pm by which time we were almost asleep in our pudding.  This was because everyone was served each course at exactly the same time.  Not a good system when there were so many guests.

To Day 6