The Haute Route
While doing the Wicklow Way the year before for my 50th birthday to see if it would be something nice to do for my 50th. I came home bitten by the multi day hike bug. The Haute Route caught my eye. A 14 day hike starting in Chamonix and ending in Zermatt. 180km long, 12km of vertical and crossing 11 valleys.
Haute Route August 2019
Day 1 Chamonix to Argentiere 18 August 2019
9.1km Ascent 229m Descent 7m time 3:13
Easy first day.Weather Beautiful. A bit too excited to start and felt a twinge in my hamstring while walking too fast. The walk is just along the valley floor beside a river and is a good starter to get accustomed to the altitude. Stayed in a friends place for the night. I am with my good friend Martin for the first week.
Day 2 Argentiere to Trient 19 August 2019
13km Ascent 1061m Descent 1043m time 5:54
Woke up to heavy rain and forecast was for it to get worse. I spent a while trying to figure out how it could possibly get worse.We spent the first hour on an extremely steep path to Le tour. We kept on climbing and the weather deteriorated. Climbed to 2200m to the high point of the day Col de Baume. We met some people who were very jealous of our trip .Visibility was zero and we took the direct route down rather than the more mountainous . We did switch backs the whole way into the valley through a forest and then descended into Trient
Day 3 Trient to Champex 20th August 2019
13km Ascent 808m Descent 637m time 5:03Out by 8am.
Pouring raining. Was advised by a guide at dinner last night to take the easy route to Champex as it would be very exposed and slippery in this weather to attempt the normal route. Spent two hours climbing and then needed to take shelter in a hut to get dry. Changed my clothes as I was truly drowned. On the way down we crossed three steams which were very much swollen and difficult to cross. The down path turned into a stream and people coming up were really struggling. We made it to the hotel and poured out of our clothes which we tried desperately to dry for the next day.
Day 4 Champex to Le Chable 21st of August 2019
14.1km Ascent 303m Descent 947m time 4:51
Supposed to be a rest day but was quite exhausting. Walking through beautiful villages but temperature was too hot at 30 degrees. .
Day 5 Le Chable to Cabane du Mont Fort 22nd of August 2019
10.6km Ascent 1700m Descent 104m time 6:02
Killer day in great weather only uphill for six hours. Wonderful views of the valley .Loads of handgliders and downhill bikers. Great hut tonight with a wonderful view.
Day 6 Cabane du Mont Fort to Cabane de Prafleuri 23rd August 2019
13.3km Ascent 928m Descent 709m time 5:47
The first big test. We started out early which If I think of it was the key to the whole trek being successful. Out early meant you finish not too late and miss the real heat of the day and very importantly you are able to prepare for the next day before dinner. After about an hour we started walking along a ridge which was less than a meter wide and had a huge vertical drop. There were chains but the Kopf Kino (head film) I was playing in my mind made it worse. I kept on thinking that it was going to get worse and the exposure played on me hard. I could only imagine doing it in bad weather. The exposed outcrops were the worst where you needed to edge around corners. Quite a few boulder fields which I found a lot easier. We saw loads of Ibex today and the hut we arrived in had a dorm of one mattress with everyone on it.
Day 7 Cabane de Prafleuri to Arolla 24th of August 2019
16.6km Ascent 862m Descent 1490m time 6:36m
Another big test. First out again. Start with a 30 minute climb up the col and then descend to walk along a beautiful lake. Reached the other end of the lake and met a group coming from another hut who said they felt the boulder field up over the next valley was not passable. We took our chances and headed up. The route became difficult and hard to see how to enter the boulder field. After we found it we got through most of it and then needed to climb. Before us were climbers who told us to wait as they were worried the whole field would move. We waited until they left and we continued up to where a rope was tied to a ledge. See picture opposite after navigating this as well as a seriouily scared women in a group coming in the opposite direction. We climbed four sets of ladders attached to the cliff wall. 1 kilometer drop below and straight down. If you have exposure issues this will be a major problem for you. Once over the top we eat lunch and watched to our amazement cyclists going by. Then it was a long trek down the valley in heavy heat and we were very welcome for our hotel with a good Laundry service.
Day 8 Arolla to La Sage 25th of August 2019
10.9km Ascent 557m Descent 918m time 4:13
This was supposed to be a rest day but was a beautiful enjoyable wander through a valley . After about an hour I came across a beautiful lake where a lot of people had wild camped overnight. Crossed the road and continued along a track and came to an outside church service with beautiful mountain singers. Continued on and my path which was filled with many crickets jumping around my feet. The last 30 minutes was a climb into La Sage.
Day 9 La Sage to Cabane de Moiry 26th of August 2019
10.3km Ascent 1694m Descent 525m time 6:04
If I was to repeat any leg of this trip it would be this one. A long climb after another early start. Very hard to figure out the col which would take you over into the Moiry valley. I reached the top and was joined by a few of my fellow hikers where we ate lunch. A very steep downhill section and after about an hour the hut for the nights sleep came into view. How I was going to get there seemed difficult and my stomach lurched. That was not helped by a hiker coming in the opposite direction who confirmed it was terrible. Anyway after hitting the valley floor and climbing the other side of the valley it actually was not as bad as it seemed and even the last 500m climb which was seriously steep with big drops passed without a whimper. The Cabane is the nicest I experienced in the Alps and looks like something out of a Bond movie. The Glacier it sits next too looks like somewhere that the G7 leaders should be brought to, to see the effect climate change is having in the Alps. A calorific dinner followed by a deep sleep.
Day 10 Cabane de Moiry to Zinal 27th of August 2019
15.8km Ascent 625m Descent 1718m time 5:59.
A game of two halves with a wicked surprise for a lot of hikers. People were starting to feel the effect of the last few days and when the hut owner told people that they could take the gondola down to Zinal avoiding 1500m of knee breaking decent, shortened their day in their mind by a few hours. I being a purist was going to endure it. The first part of the day I was walking along a ridge above Lac de Moiry . I needed to concentrate as it was quite exposed in places. After the lake there was a very steep climb of a few hundred meters. Then at the top was the disappointment a ski piste on the other side and a real feel of civilisation that had been missing up until now. I descended to the gondola and saw a sign saying closed and realised this would break the back of a few people who were praying for it first thing this morning. I soldiered on and arrived a few hours later without feeling in my legs into the beautiful mountain village of Zinal. A number of people dropped out that night and others over the coming two days. The closed gondola was definitely a nail in the coffin and if you are discouraged and see people leave the trail it makes it easier to join them.
Day 11 Zinal to Grüben 28th of August 2019
16km Ascent 1252m Descent 1093m time 7:17
I least remember this day for some reason. Other than I got a twinge in my hamstring on the ascent early in the cold of the morning and I was seriously worried as I know that if it goes the trip is over for me. Today I discovered that too small a dinner and a rushed breakfast can catch up with you. After two hours of climb I suddenly stopped and could not go any further . It took me a few minutes to realise why this was and I tucked into as much food as I could swallow and sat for thirty minutes and waited for the fuel to kick in. After that I reached the pass and started the long decent into Grüben. The first German speaking village and hit my hotel in time to have a large beer and Schnitzel mit pommes.
Day 12 Grüben to St Niklaus 29th of August 2019
15.3km Ascent 1116m Descent 1820m. time 6:59
I learnt a lesson today when in the mountains and you feel uncertain look for companions to walk with. I went through a very exposed section on my climb and felt uncomfortable being alone. After an initial climb and over the pass it was a traverse through a difficult boulder field followed by an exposed ledge with very large drops. The exposure was not mentioned in the guide book which added to its scariness. The picture to the right is taken after the exposed area and has the last valley of Zermatt in the backround. The decent was knee breaking and I arrived in St Niklaus very tired and was looking forward to two close friends joining me for the last two days.
Day 13 St Niklaus to Europa Hut ( Europaweg) 30th of August 2019
17.8km Ascent 1600m Descent 600m 5:46m
The book had stated that if you have problems with exposure you are going to have a problem with these two days. This was playing on my mind and resulted in me needing to puke out my fears on the climb up in the morning. The Europaweg is dangerous and has rockfalls. One a few months before we came took out a lot of the first section so we needed to walk for the first hour or so along the valley floor and then headed up the mountain from Herbriggen. It is seriously steep with large vertical drops. Once we reached the top we joined the ridge walk with large drops to one side. We crossed a couple of bridge and headed into our hut for the night exhausted.
Day 14 Europa Hut to Zermatt ( Europaweg) 31st of August 2019
24.3km Ascent 1104m Descent 1500m time 6:25
Last day started out with a walk across the largest walking suspension bridge in the world and it is not for the faint hearted. Followed by a three hour continuous ridge walk with ropes and larges drops and never ending exposure. I grew in confidence and had my hand lightly hanging over the rope by the end rather than clutching with both hands. After a lovely stop for lunch looking out to the majestic Matterhorn we descended into Zermatt finishing by knocking on the church door . What a wonderful two weeks