Category: alpine

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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.

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

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

Cabane-Dix-vista

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.

glacier-walkers

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

birds

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.

ladders
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 inspired
I was inspired

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

horses-Arolla

flowers-Arolla

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

Swiss-farm

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.

mountain-pass

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

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Mt Blanc to Matterhorn – day 3

Hiking trip report by site editor Rick McCharles. Day 3 of 7.

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

This turned out to be the most memorable day of many amazing days.

The weather was terrible. All day. Terrible.

The most remote and wild terrain of the entire route.

intensely glaciated
intensely glaciated
surreal glacial tarn
surreal glacial tarn

I was quite happy to finally arrive at Cabane de Prafleuri.

alpine hut
alpine hut

These refuges offer accommodation as well as food. Nice.

Rosti
Rosti

I got a chance to dry out. And warm up. Then walked on when the rain slowed.

Very impressive this day was Lac Dix, man made, created by one of the highest dams in the world.

Lac Dix (Lake 10)
Lac Dix (Lake 10)

The wildflowers and wildlife this day, were the best of the entire Haute Route. It’s an animal reserve.

wildflowers

marmot
marmot

In the early evening the weather worsened. Again.

I decided to stay at an alpine hut rather than try to climb out of the valley.

A long, impressive ridge would take me up to Cabine Dix.

Cabine-Dix

That photo I shot the following morning. The night before, in the rain and dark. I thought I’d never get there. It’s very high. Nearly 3000m. Higher than the pass I would cross next day.

Cost for dinner, bunk bed and breakfast was US$65.

The dinner was excellent. The bed very comfortable. The breakfast the worst I had in Europe.

I was the only Anglophone that night. Ordered about like a German soldier.

Overall, I’d rather sleep in my tent and cook my own food.

See the rest of my photos from day 3.

… on to day 4

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

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Mt Blanc to Matterhorn – day 2

Hiking trip report by site editor Rick McCharles. Day 2 of 7.

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

sunrise from Fenetre d'Arpette pass
sunrise from Fenetre d\’Arpette pass

Morning dawned clear yet again.

I quickly descended from snow, rock and ice to lush alpine meadows.

looking back at the Fenetre d'Arpette
looking back at the Fenetre d\’Arpette

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.

pretty alpine town of Champex-Lac
pretty alpine town of 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.

Champex-Lac Alpine Garden

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.

vista from Verbier
vista from Verbier

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.

Chamois
Chamois

Late in the day I spotted another Chamois on a very attractive chunk of snow.

Chamois eating snow near Lac du Louvie
Chamois eating snow near Lac du Louvie

Normally very shy, this Chamois hung out with me for many hours … once I set up my tent on his snow supply.

tenting on snow
tenting on snow

See the rest of my photos from day 2.

… on to day 3

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

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Mt Blanc to Matterhorn – day 1

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles. 

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

It was a beautiful sunny day in Chamonix. I had my perfect gear set. And far more quality food than I needed to start a week long hike. (Note the British Old Cheddar. Buying that imported merde is not chic in France.)

Cheddar and Diet Coke
Cheddar and Diet Coke

Effortlessly, I found myself atop the first high pass of many.

Rick at Col de Balme, France
Rick at Col de Balme, France

Effortlessly because I took a bus and cable car to get up to altitude.

My guidebook author Kev Reynolds would not approve. The best way to do the Haute Route is walking every step from Chamonix to Zermatt, 180kms or so.

Another guidebook editor, Hilary Sharp, advises not to walk underneath any working cable car.

Everyone I met doing the Haute Route cheated at one point or another.

My plan was to cheat on the lower valley sections, and opt to take every higher, longer, more scenic option. There are many trail alternatives on the Haute Route.

The main goal for the day was Fenetre d’Arpette, 2665m. It didn’t look so tough.

There is a lower trail alternative … but it was called the Alp Bovine route. (I translated that as COW PATH. Wanted nothing to do with it.)

that small lower notch is the "Window"
align=”aligncenter” that small lower notch is the \”Window\”

Instead of sticking to the BORING regular trail, I over enthusiastically decided to climb the edge of the Trient glacier moraine.

Trient-glacier

That turned out to be a HUGE mistake. I ended up scrambling a cliff – for HOURS – to regain the trail. By the time I finally reached the pass it was close to sunset.

sunset from the Window
sunset from the Window

A gorgeous night, I pitched the tent right on the pass.

Fantastic.

See the rest of my photos from day 1.

… on to day 2

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

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trip report – hiking Mt Blanc to Matterhorn

by site editor Rick McCharles

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

Chamonix to Zermatt: The Walker’s Haute Route is one of the very best hikes in the World.

One of the very best hikes I’ve ever done.

It changed my life.

Matterhorn

Chamonix to Zermatt, Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn – … the greatest collection of 4000 metre peaks in the Alps and visit some of the most spectacular valleys. The route is more than 180 kilometres long. It crosses 11 passes, gains more than 12,000 metres in height …

This new edition includes the exciting two-day Europaweg – a true high-level path that carries the Haute Route way above the Mattertal and into Zermatt – a worthy conclusion to a great trek. …

Over the next 7 days I’ll post my trip report, one post for each day on my personal adventure. One I should call Rick’s High Route.

Rather than do the normal 12-14 day itinerary staying in alpine huts, I did 7 long hiking days sleeping all but one night in my tent.

And I cheated, skipping as many valley sections as possible in order to spend more time HIGH.

Walking between the 2 most famous mountaineering towns in the world. What could be more inspiring?

… on to the day 1 trip report

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

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besthike pilgrimage to Scotland

by site editor Rick McCharles

Arrived Edinburgh. What a fantastic tourist town!

This is my first trip to the ancestral homeland. My first trip.

Accommodation is booked out for the Fringe Festival.

I’m off to the West Highland Way, the most popular long hike in the British Isles. Planning on a climb of Big Ben Nevis to finish that route.

Will be offline for a few days.

highest "mountain" in Scotland

Don’t use the term “hiking” in Scotland. Here it’s hillwalking.

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best serious hikes in Idaho?

backpacking-IdahoFor many years I’ve been trying to find the best hikes in Idaho.

I live close. Have friends there.

And go several times a year.

It’s embarrassing I haven’t hiked more there.

Backpacking Idaho lists only these two adventures as 10 of 10 for scenery:

1) Snake River Trail
2) White Cloud Peak Loop

Castle Peak in White Cloud Mountains, Idaho - photo by duroc2006
Castle Peak in White Cloud Mountains, Idaho - photo by duroc2006

Leave a comment if you have your own best hike Idaho.

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hiking out of Chamonix, France

Much critical of France over the years, I must admit I’m loving Chamonix. It’s a great hiker’s town.

Only 10,000 people live here. Yet the valley hosts over 5 million visitors a year!

Chamonix-map

… the snowclad summit of Mont Blanc towers above the valley from the southeast. At 15780 feet, Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Europe. …

Chamonix
Chamonix

When I checked with tourist information, my usual question: “What’s the best hike out of Chamonix?” … the woman laughed.

She told me that there are far too many choices for her to be able to steer me to the “best” hike.

… Jon Krakauer, in an essay in his collection Eiger Dreams, described the town as “the death-sport capital of the world” because Chamonix serves as an ideal playground for almost all types of outdoor activity, especially in their more extreme variants, such as ice climbing, rock climbing, extreme skiing, paragliding, rafting, and canyoning. …

I like this town even better than the much more famous, upscale Zermatt, Switzerland.

Chamonix and Zermatt are two of the best hiking towns in the world. Leave a comment if there are other hiking centres you would rank in the top 10.

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besthike pilgrimage to the Alps

by site editor Rick McCharles.

Jeff asks whether the Tour of Mont Blanc truly is the best hike in Europe.

He’s planning a hike in the Alps in the next couple of weeks.

And it sounds to Jeff … and to me … that the more difficult, longer High Route would be the better adventure.

I may see Jeff on the Trail. Today I start at Mont Blanc … and walk to the Matterhorn. That could be 180km … if I don’t cheat.

Mont-Blanc

The Matterhorn
The Matterhorn

I’m using Chamonix to Zermatt: The Walker’s Haute Route by Kev Reynolds as my guidebook.

besthike must ajudicate, once and for all, if the High Route is better than the TMB.

That’s our mission.

… Actually, the TMB and the High Route have one common section. It may be a … tie.