Haute Route: Trient-Champex
08/21/07 07:33 AM
Day 3 was pretty challenging; 4400 feet of ascent
(and almost as much descent) over 9 miles. As Mrs R
kept noting; Swiss miles are NOT like American miles.
She's right: nine miles would normally just be a
typical day's run for me but in Switzerland it's a
full day's hike. Must have something to do with the
4400' of climbing. Also: the Swiss don't follow
American guidelines for slope and steepness. They
KNOW about switchbacks, we found them here and there;
they just don't like to use them most of the time.
Why waste all that time when you can just go straight
up?
In Trient we met quite a few English-speaking folks, including some Americans. This was a surprise. By this time we had been in Switzerland for two weeks and had not met any Americans and had rarely overheard someone from Britain or Australia speaking English. Of course we weren't going to the big towns or the popular tourist destinations for the most part, preferring off-the-beaten path villages and such. Because many of the people we met were also doing the Haute Route we saw them frequently over the next week although we weren't all moving at the same pace. Still it was nice to make some new friends.
From Trient we climbed and climbed and climbed up to Alp Bovine (or, as we'd say in America, "Cow Farm"). We had some great views of the Rhone Valley. To my surprise we met some trail runners coming down the opposite way; this part of the Haute Route is also part of the equally demanding Tour du Mont Blanc route which circumnavigates Mont Blanc. There is a multi-stage trail race that follows that 100+ mile route in August and these folks were training.
After the long hard climb to the top of the Col we sat down for a picnic lunch. The spot was already occupied by another group of about 15 hearty hikers enjoying their bread and cheese and the marvelous views in both directions. More trail runners? No, this group consisted entirely of women, none of whom appeared to be under 65; none of whom appeared to be athletic (most of them were noticeably soft around the middle). But they had made the climb and were having a great time- they left the spot while we lingered.
Later we had one of the gnarliest descents of the trip, practically straight down a cliff with a "trail" consisting primarily of routes and rocks. Runners call these "technical trails" - this one was more "technical" than "trail". It was nasty. But as we neared the bottom, there was this church ladies' group (or whatever they were; in the US they would have been a knitting group), sitting by a waterfall, resting and snacking and talking and laughing. Our church has a 50+ group but they mostly go out to eat and have sing-alongs: I don't think we could get them to join us for a hike up to Alp Bovine! Later we saw the women in Champex at the end of the day; tired but happy.
After leaving the col we stopped at a little cafe up on the mountain in the middle of nowhere and bought more outrageously priced cokes. While we were there a helicopter landed and two guys got out and had cokes also. In the Swiss mountains helicopter patrols are routine.
All day the weather was unsettled. Shortly after we got to Champex we had a big downpour with lightning. It was the first of many evenings in a row in which the weather held off all day for us and broke loose just after we got to our lodging.
The dorm in Champex was a little tacky, one of our least favorites, but not crowded, and all the hotels were ridiculously expensive. Becky and I went out for spaghetti (or was it pizza?). We ate a lot of spaghetti and pizza on this trip because: A) They were often the only two things on the menu we could read (though we weren't always able to translate the pizza toppings) and B) they were usually the only two things we could afford (about $12-15 per person as opposed to $30+ for most items). In the morning we all got a yummy and calorie-laden breakfast at the bakery.
Pics: 1- The Little Ol' Swiss Ladies' Club rests after a 4000' climb.
2- Alp Bovine and the Rhone Valley
3- The Descent of Gnarliness
In Trient we met quite a few English-speaking folks, including some Americans. This was a surprise. By this time we had been in Switzerland for two weeks and had not met any Americans and had rarely overheard someone from Britain or Australia speaking English. Of course we weren't going to the big towns or the popular tourist destinations for the most part, preferring off-the-beaten path villages and such. Because many of the people we met were also doing the Haute Route we saw them frequently over the next week although we weren't all moving at the same pace. Still it was nice to make some new friends.
From Trient we climbed and climbed and climbed up to Alp Bovine (or, as we'd say in America, "Cow Farm"). We had some great views of the Rhone Valley. To my surprise we met some trail runners coming down the opposite way; this part of the Haute Route is also part of the equally demanding Tour du Mont Blanc route which circumnavigates Mont Blanc. There is a multi-stage trail race that follows that 100+ mile route in August and these folks were training.
After the long hard climb to the top of the Col we sat down for a picnic lunch. The spot was already occupied by another group of about 15 hearty hikers enjoying their bread and cheese and the marvelous views in both directions. More trail runners? No, this group consisted entirely of women, none of whom appeared to be under 65; none of whom appeared to be athletic (most of them were noticeably soft around the middle). But they had made the climb and were having a great time- they left the spot while we lingered.
Later we had one of the gnarliest descents of the trip, practically straight down a cliff with a "trail" consisting primarily of routes and rocks. Runners call these "technical trails" - this one was more "technical" than "trail". It was nasty. But as we neared the bottom, there was this church ladies' group (or whatever they were; in the US they would have been a knitting group), sitting by a waterfall, resting and snacking and talking and laughing. Our church has a 50+ group but they mostly go out to eat and have sing-alongs: I don't think we could get them to join us for a hike up to Alp Bovine! Later we saw the women in Champex at the end of the day; tired but happy.
After leaving the col we stopped at a little cafe up on the mountain in the middle of nowhere and bought more outrageously priced cokes. While we were there a helicopter landed and two guys got out and had cokes also. In the Swiss mountains helicopter patrols are routine.
All day the weather was unsettled. Shortly after we got to Champex we had a big downpour with lightning. It was the first of many evenings in a row in which the weather held off all day for us and broke loose just after we got to our lodging.
The dorm in Champex was a little tacky, one of our least favorites, but not crowded, and all the hotels were ridiculously expensive. Becky and I went out for spaghetti (or was it pizza?). We ate a lot of spaghetti and pizza on this trip because: A) They were often the only two things on the menu we could read (though we weren't always able to translate the pizza toppings) and B) they were usually the only two things we could afford (about $12-15 per person as opposed to $30+ for most items). In the morning we all got a yummy and calorie-laden breakfast at the bakery.
Pics: 1- The Little Ol' Swiss Ladies' Club rests after a 4000' climb.
2- Alp Bovine and the Rhone Valley
3- The Descent of Gnarliness
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