Distance: 9.94 miles
Ascent: 2,250 ft
Descent: 2,450 ft
Passes: Col de la Forclaz & Alp Bovine, at 5,125 and 6,519 ft
In general this was a pretty nice hike, but a somewhat long day and the final leg heading into Champex seemed to take forever as the "just-around-the-corner" lake took a long time to materialize. The scenery was pleasant but not overly dramatic and we spent a fair amount of time in high cow pastures and walking through Larch Pine forests. We did get nice views of a few new valleys and lots of views of somewhat distant snow peaks, which seemed to bode well for the coming days.
There was a more difficult and almost certainly more dramatic hiking option available that day, via Fenerte d'Arpette pass, but the route was said to be long and very difficult. We passed on this route and instead opted for the "alp bovine" route as we were still getting our stride and as we knew had a lot of hiking days ahead. We did meet some folks who crossed the Arpette and while they said it was fantastic they did confirm the route's difficulty, which is largely due to extensive boulder and scree fields.
At this point, Michael was having a bit of trouble with the hike, which we eventually attributed to a poorly fitting pack. In order to have a smaller 35-liter pack he used an old pack that was lying around the house and it turned out to be too small for his frame. Consequently, he was carrying too much weight on his shoulders and over the course of a few days this was causing his shoulders to be pulled out and it became quite painful. Luckily, we were able to find a sports store in Champex and bought Michael a better-fitting new pack, which helped immensely over the coming days.
Champex itself was relatively small but it did have a three-block shopping street with a few hotels and restaurants. We had dinner at a small lakeside cafe. I had perch from the lake, which were small so they put a dozen or more on my plate - but they were good! We stayed at the Hotel du Glacier, which was comfortable and turned out to be a fine choice.
Ascent: 2,250 ft
Descent: 2,450 ft
Passes: Col de la Forclaz & Alp Bovine, at 5,125 and 6,519 ft
There was a more difficult and almost certainly more dramatic hiking option available that day, via Fenerte d'Arpette pass, but the route was said to be long and very difficult. We passed on this route and instead opted for the "alp bovine" route as we were still getting our stride and as we knew had a lot of hiking days ahead. We did meet some folks who crossed the Arpette and while they said it was fantastic they did confirm the route's difficulty, which is largely due to extensive boulder and scree fields.
At this point, Michael was having a bit of trouble with the hike, which we eventually attributed to a poorly fitting pack. In order to have a smaller 35-liter pack he used an old pack that was lying around the house and it turned out to be too small for his frame. Consequently, he was carrying too much weight on his shoulders and over the course of a few days this was causing his shoulders to be pulled out and it became quite painful. Luckily, we were able to find a sports store in Champex and bought Michael a better-fitting new pack, which helped immensely over the coming days.
Champex itself was relatively small but it did have a three-block shopping street with a few hotels and restaurants. We had dinner at a small lakeside cafe. I had perch from the lake, which were small so they put a dozen or more on my plate - but they were good! We stayed at the Hotel du Glacier, which was comfortable and turned out to be a fine choice.
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| This was mainly a day of high alpine cow meadows and evergreen forests. |
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| Champex was a cute town and we had a nice hotel - so all was good. |
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| Lake Champex - full of tasty perch! |
