Hiking trip report by site editor Rick McCharles. Day 2 of 7.
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Morning dawned clear yet again.
I quickly descended from snow, rock and ice to lush alpine meadows.
When hiking I like to rise early. Put in a full hiking day of 4-6hrs. Relax for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. Then put in another 4-5hrs of hiking. Setting up the tent at around 7-8PM.
Here I am airing out the bunions at Champex-Lac.
Waiting for the bus, I stopped by the finest alpine flower garden in the Alps, Champex-Lac Alpine Garden.
Sadly in early August most of the species were already done. The bees seemed only interested in thistles.
Up high in the mountains wild flowers were still going strong. But Champex is too low, too hot.
Soon I found myself up above one of the most famous ski resorts in the world, Verbier. I skipped over 15km of valley walking by taking bus, train, train and cable car. This cheat was well worth doing.
In Summer the sprawling ski town seemed to be more fixed on mountain biking than hiking, however.
I departed as quickly as possible for the wonderful Sentier des Chamois, a traverse high above the valley. Some exposure. But good opportunities to see Ibex and Chamois.
Late in the day I spotted another Chamois on a very attractive chunk of snow.
Normally very shy, this Chamois hung out with me for many hours … once I set up my tent on his snow supply.
Wow, this hike looks great! You are inspiring me to put it on my list!
-Hank