Distance: 5.4 miles
Ascent: 6,012 ft
Descent: 2,835 ft
Passes:
Col du Tsate: 9,409 ft
Cabane du Moiry: 9,268 ft
This day caught us a bit by surprise. After having just finished what was supposed to have been the trek's two most difficult days, and seeing as we only had a five mile walk ahead of us, we slacked a bit and got our latest start of the trip -- partly because we slept a bit extra, and needed it, and partly because we had to wait 30 minutes for the bus to La Sage. La Sage was just 40 minutes or so walk away but we decided to bus it to the starting point of the trail. The obvious lesson is that ascending 6,000 + feet in the alps in a day is tough work - even if the walk is only somewhat over five miles.
In the end, this ended up being another challenging day of hiking. It also enabled us to stay in my favorite location of the trip -- a cabin and setting that both truly merit the word awesome. The cabane is owned by the Swiss Alpine Club and had fairly recently undergone a multi-million dollar renovation. I was stunned when I walked in as the dining room has floor-to-ceiling windows that provide a spectacular and very close view of the glacier -- it is an amazing place.
The hike started fine, albeit with a 4,000+ ft climb, and then continued for some way down and across some rugged trails, but beneath beautiful scenery. The big challenge came with the last two hours of hiking, which was very uphill, very steep, and was happening late in the day when we were somewhat fatigued. To top it off I was nervous much of the way because the skies seemed very threatening. It did end up snowing lightly once we reached the cabane.
Unbeknownst to us, the final climb included a section that required careful footing and clinging tightly with both hands to a chain bolted to the rock (again), quite a bit of steep-edge rocking climbing, and crossing a steep snowfield that I felt was particularly precarious because it was steeply situated above a glacier lake that appeared to have a couple of icebergs in the middle. The water looked real cold. After crossing Michael and I debated whether a plunge would have meant shock, boots filling up with water and sinking, or whether endorphins would have kicked in sufficiently to allow us to swim to shore. Fortunately, this ended up being just a theoretical discussion.
Next Day: http://callihan-haute-route-2012.blogspot.com/p/july-23-cabane-du-moiry-to-zinal.html
Ascent: 6,012 ft
Descent: 2,835 ft
Passes:
Col du Tsate: 9,409 ft
Cabane du Moiry: 9,268 ft
In the end, this ended up being another challenging day of hiking. It also enabled us to stay in my favorite location of the trip -- a cabin and setting that both truly merit the word awesome. The cabane is owned by the Swiss Alpine Club and had fairly recently undergone a multi-million dollar renovation. I was stunned when I walked in as the dining room has floor-to-ceiling windows that provide a spectacular and very close view of the glacier -- it is an amazing place.
The hike started fine, albeit with a 4,000+ ft climb, and then continued for some way down and across some rugged trails, but beneath beautiful scenery. The big challenge came with the last two hours of hiking, which was very uphill, very steep, and was happening late in the day when we were somewhat fatigued. To top it off I was nervous much of the way because the skies seemed very threatening. It did end up snowing lightly once we reached the cabane.
Unbeknownst to us, the final climb included a section that required careful footing and clinging tightly with both hands to a chain bolted to the rock (again), quite a bit of steep-edge rocking climbing, and crossing a steep snowfield that I felt was particularly precarious because it was steeply situated above a glacier lake that appeared to have a couple of icebergs in the middle. The water looked real cold. After crossing Michael and I debated whether a plunge would have meant shock, boots filling up with water and sinking, or whether endorphins would have kicked in sufficiently to allow us to swim to shore. Fortunately, this ended up being just a theoretical discussion.
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| Michael (lower right) making his way toward the glacier. |
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| Our day's goal -- the cabane on the hill. |
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| The lower section of the massive Moiry Glacier - before the final ascent to Cabane du Moiry. |
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| A chilly summer day. |
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| One tired trooper! We shared the four-bed bunk with a Swiss couple who planned to go out climbing in the morning above the glacier - complete with ropes and ice axes. |
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| Cabane du Moiry, with the glacier situated mainly out of view and to the right. As it turned out, it was a bit too cold for eating outside that night (July 22). |
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| Cabane du Moiry, owned by the Swiss Alpine Club, with its million-dollar views. This place is spectacular. It takes a bit of an effort to reach it, but is well worth it. Supplies are brought in by helicopter and we had a typical hut dinner here -- a four-course meal heavy in calories and which included desert. We shared our dinner table with some UK climbers who were using the Moiry area to "shape-up" for a later-week Matterhorn summit climb. This was by far my favorite lodging of the trip. |
