Mt Blanc to Matterhorn – day 4

Hiking trip report by site editor Rick McCharles: Chamonix to Zermatt: The Walker’s Haute Route. Day 4 of 7.

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After the rain storms of the previous day, the dawn at Cabine Dix was clear.

This hut is famous with climbers as it’s a perfect jumping off point for crossing the glacier early morning while the snow is still cold and stable.

I watched the Yellow-billed Choughs, entertaining mountain birds that are found anywhere hikers might picnic.

I love ladders and had long been looking forward to those at the Pas de Chevre.

I dashed across the glacier below the hut. And rushed up to be first over the ladders.

I finished the 3rd ladder much more frightened than when I started at the bottom. These are long and scarifying.

Thank Gods I didn’t try to cross the previous night in the cold and dark.

There’s my goal. The Matterhorn, still many days away.

I was pretty happy making the descent to pretty Arolla, one of those picture postcard swiss villages.

I relaxed by the river for a couple of hours. Then caught a bus across the valley, climbing quickly to Le Sage.

Near a typical high elevation farm I saw an interesting scene. It looked to me like the Swiss helicopter rescue service was doing some training.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Compared with the previous day, my climb over Col du Tsatse 2868m seemed easy.

What a great hiking day!

See the rest of my photos from day 4.

Or start reading from the beginning of this 7-day journey, a valuable resource if you MIGHT want to do the Haute Route yourself.

… on to day 5

day 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | info