Rasbro's Ramblings - No. 22


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Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Zermatt
August 1st 2013
Published: August 1st 2013
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Monday 1 July was a lovely day for Brians birthday. We tried to go to a restaurant for lunch but it was not actually a restaurant, just a school group having a lovely picnic in the yard, we did think about asking to join them but decided a more intimate lunch was called for. After driving down a long, narrow, windy road to a parking spot near a hydro power station we climbed the Eschelles de Mort (Ladders of Death) for a great view over the gorge then took a 10km hike along the river at the bottom before settling down for a quiet birthday night in the gorge. The next day was very pleasant starting with a walk around the old town of Maiche, then on to Roche de Petre for the view over the Cirque de Consolation after which we drove down into the valley of the Cirque where we found a delightful aire at the monastery. It had electric and services all for 5 euro – and they even made their own artisan bread – yum!

Wednesday it rained a lot so we drove a scenic route to Les Sommetts where we browsed a large junk shop disguised as an "antik" shop then on to Morteau to visit the Clock Museum which was well worth the visit. This area has a long history of clock and watch making and the variety and precision of the tools they use to make clocks and watches is amazing - Brian was in his engineering element. That night we tried the aire at Villars le Lac but it was right on a busy road so we continued south until a road closure forced us to detour which meant we stumbled across a x-country ski car park on a quiet hillside at Perdix. The only people were a few visitors to the nearby small observatory. More rain on Thursday so we spent time in Pontarlier. It was market day and there were plenty of shops to fill in the time. We finshed up by the lake in an aire at Lac St Point with 22 other vans – the most we have seen for some time.

Friday 6 July we crossed into Switzerland, bought a motorway vignette for 28 quid at the border then went looking for a cash machine in Le Ferrier to get some Swiss Francs. We parked in Motier forest and did a fabulous 21km, 860mt height walk up the delightful Gorges de Poessa Raisse even stopping for a beer at a farm on a high pasture before the hike back down. Later we found ourselves at an aire on the shore of Lac de Tailleries with several other vans. This area is known as "the Siberia of Switzerland" and would not be too pleasant in the middle of winter. On Saturday after a not so quiet night (car noise carried a long way on this open road) we drove to the Gorges de Areuse and did a shortish walk along this lovely river gorge. There were quite a lot of people around but we spent the afternoon lazing in the van in the shade of a tree part way back up the access road. We decided to backtrack to Pont St Martel for the night to stay on the aire at the bottom of the town. It was fairly quiet except for some families having a BBQ, some of whom stayed around until 1.30am!

Sunday 8 July was warm again as we drove to Neuchatel but could not get near where we thought a laundromat might be. We continued on to Solothurn which has a lovely old walled town centre but still no laundry. Ended up at Camping Waldweg in Burgdorf which was a lovely spot. However it did not have a washing machine so we handwashed everything! Used lots of their very hot water and got it all dry by early evening. On Monday we had a look around the pleasant hilltop town of Burgdorf then drove many scenic kilometres to end the day at Adelboden in Camping Albo. We stayed here some years ago for a xmas ski trip and it was good but this time it was all a little seedy and motorhomes were not welcome in the area. It was also a little overpriced at 31CHF – basically a place to park for the night!

Tuesday was a lovely day. We drove around to the next valley called Diemtigtal. At the village of Grimmialp they had pay parking but just back down the road at Schwenden we parked for free and did a lovely hike up a very steep mountain and on the way back down we spotted a nice parking area up the Menningrund valley which we drove to later for a quiet night.

Wednesday 10 July was yet another lovely day as we drove back to Oey, stopped at a large Mammut (Swiss outdoor clothing shop) but there were no bargains to be had and on up the Lenk valley. We found a terraced riverside area just near a chairlift which we spent the next 2 nights at. We did a lovely walk from the top of the Mensch cable car with great views of the Simmen Falls. Our circuit took us over the Hahnenmoos pass where many model aircraft enthusiasts were gathered with a massive workshop set up as well. We had a well earned beer on the terrace of a bar waiting for the next cable car down. On Friday we drove around to Gstaad which is a pleasant, upmarket town that had a round of International Beach Volleyball on so the place was awash with long legged, bronzed young things. Not really our scene so we drove up a nearby valley and did a walk up to the Lauenen Falls then finished the day at Camping Heiti in Gstieg bei Gstaag just below Col du Pillon. It had lovely bathrooms (like a 5 star hotel) but the motorhome area felt like a car park at the front of the restaurant.

Saturday we drove up and parked at the Col du Pillon from where we did a lovely hike around La Pallette to Isenau. Here there was a small wine and food festival on so we enjoyed a few hours of tastings, food and good company. We spent the night tucked in behind the cable car station with a couple of other vans and it was quiet. Sunday morning we drove many windy, steep mountain roads. First to Les Diablarets to shop, then on to Les Mosses for a giant flea market. From there we wound our way to a parking area above Gryon where we spent the remainder of the day and night with lovely views.

Monday we headed down to Bex to shop then on past Martigny and up the Val Ferret to spend 2 nights at the gorgeous Camping Glaciers. The sites are on casual terraces with fabulous views of peaks, glaciers etc and surrounded by wildflowers. The wifi was good and free too. We did a big hike on Tuesday up the valley for 19km and 900mt ascent which really knackered us. Next day we drove around to the Val de Bagnes and Camping Melezet just below the massive wall of the dam at Lac Mauvoisin. Thursday it was quite rainy so we delayed our walk until after lunch. We did only 6km but on the way back we spotted a Wallcreeper! This is a bird only a few people see once in a lifetime and we have now seen it twice! However on this occasion the camera was tucked inside the backpack so still no picture of one.

Friday 19 July was a tad cooler but still pleasant as we drove to Sion to restock then up a very windy road along the val Heremence to the base of the even more massive Lac Dixence dam. It is one of the tallest in the world at 285mt. We found a lovely motorhome parking terrace just to the right of the dam wall where we spent the next 2 nights. In the afternoon we walked up along the side of the dam and back with fabulous views and lots of Marmotte as well as Ortolan Bunting, Redstart and Wheatear. On Saturday we took the short cable car up to the dam top and hiked to Col Par-fleuri with more fabulous views and lots of very relaxed Ibex. We also saw Snow Finch and Alpine Accentor whilst having lunch at the col.

Sunday we drove back to Sion to walk around the old town – not a lot to see but pleasant enough. After stopping at St Leonards to do the ablutions we drove up the Zinal valley to Vissoie where we enjoyed a couple of hours at the artisans market and fair. We got to Grimentz late in the afternoon to find the camping site busy with weekenders, luckily all departing. Got a nice park and walked into the lovely geranium filled village. The tourist tax costs 5CH a day and we get free camping plus the use of buses and lifts. Monday we took the cable car up to Bendola then hiked up to Lac de Lona for lunch then down to Barrage de Moiry.

Tuesday 23 July was a relax day at camp. Did some handwashing and housework then walked into Grimentz late morning. We browsed a few outdoor shops and did a bit of grocery shopping then cooked a late BBQ lunch. The fridge decided to play up just before bedtime so we left it off overnight. On Wednesday Brian got it going again but we had to throw a few things away which had defrosted overnight. We then caught the bus up to the base of the Moiry Glacier and hiked up to the refuge for fabulous views of the glacier fall. Hiked back along the lake to pick up the mid afternoon bus. It is very handy to be able to get wifi on the Swiss Poste Buses. During the evening and night we watched a number of rockfalls on the heights opposite the campsite and were glad we weren't directly under them. Thursday we took the bus to Zinal and did a fabulous hike of 23km and 900mt ascent to St Luc then down to Vissoie for a well earned beer before catching the very crowded bus back to Grimentz. We also spotted a number of Nutcrackers, a Golden Eagle and a Squirrel on this walk. Altogether we spent 8 nights at the Grimentz camping spot and could easily have stayed longer but by Monday morning it was raining heavily so we decided to move on.

Our next stop was Fafleralp at the top of the Lotschental valley. This is a lesser known area which is not as visitor friendly as some. Luckily the car park at the end of the valley had the barriers up for some reason so we free camped there on Monday night. The rain finally stopped about 9pm but the noise of the gushing rivers all around was quite deafening all night. By Tuesday morning the weather cleared and the peaks around us even had a sprinkling of icing sugar on them. We headed out for a lovely hike up to the Langeglacier and the strikingly designed Annanhutte which is all concrete and and angles (as opposed to your typical alpine timber chalets).

After lunch we headed for Zermatt and the Matterhorn (the peak that appears on the Toblerone pack). It is quite awesome up close and we had many good views of it as we hiked out of Zermatt up to the hamlet of Zmutt on Wednesday. On our way back down we were nearly taken out by a mountain biker who had an exchange of abuse with Brian before nearly knocking over an elderly couple further down the track! Zermatt was heaving with tourists when we returned and the queues in the Co-op were mad. It is a funny place, being "car free" you have to stay a long way down the valley at a campsite and use a shuttle taxi with drivers who think they are called Schumacher. What was also hilarious was the electric vehicles used by locals which seem to have no speed limits as they wizz around the narrow, tourist clogged streets. Added to this mayhem were a wedding couple in a horse drawn carriage and a herd of goats being coaxed through the crowds! Anyway, we browsed a few outdoor shops on the way through and Brian managed to bag a new pair of hiking boots. After having a very expensive pair of Zamberlan leather boots for the past few years they suddenly decided to give him blisters. We think it may be a change in his gait since he hurt his gammy knee 2 years back so new boots were on the cards. He ended up getting a good discount on a snazzy pair of lighter weight boots so hopefully they will serve him well.

Happy Swiss National Day to everyone as I publish this blog on 1 August.

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