This second set of photos from our Haute Route hike contains the last 4 days of hiking from Arolla
to Zermatt. The views became increasingly dramatic, but the weather turned on us a bit tapering some of
the views. As with the first 5 days, the hike continued up and over ridges, traipsing from one
valley to the next. One night was spent in a wonderful cabane perched high above a glacier, other nights
in small agrarian towns before completing in Zermatt - a mecca for hikers and skiers alike!
Compared to the small towns we were used to staying in, Zermatt seemed like Manhattan! At least
half of the people walking around had hiking packs (and ice axes)...many others had ski equipment to get
in some summer skiing up on the glacier above. It was a great place to end the hike!
In all, we hiked about 90 miles, over 11 passes, 30,923 feet up and 26,629 feet down, climbing grades up to 43% in spots,
and typically hiked from 8 until 5 every day, all to reach Zermatt...and we'd do it all again!
See Part 1 of the Haute Route Photos
Looking up the valley towards Arolla from La Sage at the start of Day 6
The small village of Le Tsate along the trail
A small mountain tarn
Looking up to Col du Tsate (9407 ft) The pass is the dip on the righthand side
Climbing to Col du Tsate
Looking back from Col du Tsate at the trail (and Lisa)
Looking from the pass back towards La Sage and Arolla Pas de Chevres (the ladders) is back behind the distant peaks in this photo
Our first view of Glacier de Moiry as we descend from Col du Tsate
Parking du Glacier - the parking lot for the trail up to the glacier 1500 feet down below in the valley
The amazing blue color of Lac de Moiry This lake is filled with pure glacier meltwater and white silt creating an unreal blue color
Lisa points to our destination for the day: Cabane de Moiry (9266 ft) The cabane is perched on a rock outcrop next to the glacier
A cairn with a toupee?
Looking across a meltwater catch pond below Glacier de Moiry The ponds were created to help settle the silt out of the meltwater before the water reaches Lac de Moiry down below. Many of these streams are nearly white with silt.
Brian with cows blocking the trail ahead
Hiking up the lateral moraine towards Cabane de Moiry (visible in upper left, 1000 feet above us)
Looking down at Glacier de Moiry Note on the right side of the image are 5 tiny specs - these are 5 people climbing up the glacier...gives you a little perspective on the sheer size of this thing!
Cabane de Moiry
Looking out at across Glacier de Moiry
Some relative scale for how massive this glacier really is Even standing there looking at this, it was very easy to lose any sense of scale
The new expansion of Cabane de Moiry The dining room is visible along the bottom - bedrooms are the small windows on top
The old portion of Cabane de Moiry
Our 4 bed room for the night
The dining room of the Cabane The cabane sleeps 100...only 26 people when we were there
Looking at the back of Cabane de Moiry The entire building was copper clad, making it even more striking in its rocky environment
Cairns
Cabane De Moiry - old and new The larger dorm rooms were still in the old portion of the cabane, but dining and small bedrooms were in the new extension that opened this year
Brian...ready for bed
Lisa, ready for bed
The Cabane on the rainy morning of our departure
Lisa and Brian
Looking down towards Lac de Moiry
More moraine walking
Cairns
Looking back for one more view of the glacier before the clouds move in
One of hundreds of snails we saw on the trail
The trail as it contours along the ridge
Clouds starting to move in
...and visibility diminishing quite a bit
A rare clear view of Lac de Moiry below us
The dam of Lac de Moiry
Beads of condensation in Brian's hair
Reaching the top of Col de Sorebois (9299 ft)
Brian and Lisa on Col de Sorebois - not much a view in front of us (or behind us)
A chairlift swallowed in the fog We hiked through a large ski area above Zinal
Sheep grazing in the mist
Fog climbing up off a nearby cliff
Brian in the fog
Cows in the Mist
Clouds break up a little to grant us this view across the valley
Finally a view of Zinal, still about 1000 feet below us
Zinal - a small ski town Zinal was one of the larger towns we stayed in
A strange bridge/ledge contraption
Arriving in Zinal
Lisa takes a spin on the two story high slide in town
Many of these buildings carried dates from the 1800's
Clouds trying to break free in Zinal
Relaxing in our hotel room
Brian is ready to hit the trail now that he's procured a baguette
Hiking up and out of Zinal
Hiking through a tunnel on the edge of town This tunnel was part of the town"s avalanche defense system to funnel avalanches into sort of a catch basin below
Lisa hiking up the trail - yesterday's pass (Col de Sorebois) in the distance
Looking back to the south up Val de Zinal
Looking across the valley to the previous day's hiking down from Col de Sorebois
The path along the east side of the valley wall
Val de Zinal
The town of Zinal, 2000 feet below (and 3.5 miles away)
Looking up towards our pass for the day, La Forcletta (9427 ft)
Lisa hiking up the trail - Sorebois in the distance across the valley
View from La Forcletta down into the Blüomatttälli valley
Rugged peaks on the southern end of the valley below the Weisshorn
Looking back towards La Forcletta (the dip on the left)
The lower tongues of the Brunegggletscher and Turtmanngletscher As may be obvious, the Bluomatttalli valley is the first German-speaking valley the hike enters
The small town of Grüben 2000 feet below
Old cottages along the path to Grüben
Lisa, hiking through early fall color
Fall seems to be hitting this valley
A tipi...in Switzerland... because that makes sense...
Hotel Schwarzhorn in Grüben
Looking southward up the Blüomatttälli valley from our room
Grüben in the morning
Looking downvalley and across the Rhone
Looking back across the Blüomatttälli valley to yesterday's pass in the distance
Lisa makes a new friend
The route up to today's pass, Augustbordpass (9490 ft)
Yesterday's route down from La Forcletta
Augustbordpass
The summit of our last pass of the trip
Looking down the far (east) side of Augustbordpass The clouds obscured much of the view...
Brian
Lisa, the summit of the pass behind her
Looking back on Augustbordpass and the trail down
The trail as it contours around towards Troära
One of the most spectacular views on the trail: Dom (14,908 ft)
A panoramic view up and down the Mattertal valley
The Mattertal valley, looking southwards towards Zermatt
Brian and Lisa in front of Dom
The Mattertal valley
Jungu, 1500 feet below, which itself is perched 2500 feet above St. Niklaus below The valley floor was almost 4500 feet below us at this point
The small town of Jungu - the end of our hike From here, we took a tiny cable car 3000 feet down to St. Niklaus, followed by a train up the valley to Zermatt
Jungu
Arriving in Zermatt and concluding our hike Hiked 90 miles, 11 passes, 30923 feet up and 26629 feet down; we finally made it to Zermatt!
Dining at Whymperstube This was one of our favorite restaurants from 5 years ago...
The Matterhorn - just like at Disneyland This was the view from our hotel room...not bad, eh?
Klein Matterhorn 5 years ago, this is where we went to get a view of the valley
The Matterhorn from Sunnegga Paradise above Zermatt
