Hiker’s Haute Route

This well-known tour takes you from Chamonix, France all the way to Zermatt, Switzerland.  This means you are hiking from Mont Blanc country to the distinctive Matterhorn, to say nothing of the other all-star mountains along the way.  Eleven passes, 175 kilometers, and two different countries, all in one glorious range called the Pennine Alps.  Why is it called the Hiker’s Haute Route and not just the Haute Route?  The reason is that there is also a Skier’s Haute Route that winds through the peaks at much higher elevation and across a number of glacier passes.  This has become a very popular randonee ski tour in the winter season and is, without a doubt, the most famous of European long-distance ski tours.  But back to our hiking tour.  The Hiker’s Haute Route has several characteristics that make it an appealing choice.  You get to experience two different cultures and you get to stay in both traditional mountain huts and charming villages.  The weather here is unpredictable like all weather in the mountains, but this region tends to get less rain and more sunshine than other parts of Switzerland.  Two stages of this tour lead you through quite rugged and remote terrain which is a plus for anyone seeking less development .  Note that I give this tour a difficulty rating of Moderate Plus.  It may not be THE most difficult tour, but it is still quite challenging and Moderate doesn’t sufficiently reflect the experience. The go-to guide book for this tour is Kev Reynold’s Chamonix to Zermatt, The Walker’s Haute Route.

Mont Blanc Massif and the Chamonix Valley

Day 0     Chamonix  

I would arrive a little early and spend an extra day or two here.  There are several excellent day hikes out of Chamonix (some of which are lift-assisted for your ascent and/or descent) if you want to use your time to get in better shape.  A good place to stay is the centrally located La Chaumiere.  The prices are reasonable but not cheap.  It has a nice atmosphere and serves a good breakfast.  Another slightly less expensive option is Gite d’Etape La Tapia.  My favorite place to eat hands down is La Maison Carrier which is the less pricey restaurant option at the very deluxe Albert 1er Hotel.  This is a gourmet French eating experience but in a casual atmosphere. They have wonderful salad and dessert bars.  Their menu of the day is the best value.  Make a reservation.  It sometimes happens that you are in a pizza mood, even in France.  A good, moderately-priced option is Le Bartavel.  I adore good bakeries and Chamonix does not disappoint.  Patisserie Richard has excellent pastries, breads, and a few savory items for a light takeaway lunch.  

Auberge La Boerne in Tre-le-Champ

Day 1     Chamonix to Tre-le-Champ

Many hikers aim for Argentiere as their first stage on the Tour de Mont Blanc (TMB).  Argentiere is a nice stop but I prefer to stay in the small hamlet of Tre-le-Champ just a couple of kilometers farther up the valley road to Martigny. It is very small and peaceful (basically just a spot on the road) and there is a most charming and most French auberge there.  Take the lift directly out the west end of Chamonix to Planpra where you begin your hike along one of the most stunning balcony routes in the Alps.  Continue on to the Flegere lift (about two hours) where you have several options.  If you don’t want to subject your knees to the descent, you can take the lift down to the valley floor and hop one of the frequent buses to Tre-le-Champ.  If you prefer to continue walking, you can take a trail which leads gradually down to Argentiere where you can road walk the rest of the way, or you can take a more demanding trail which goes all the way down to Tre-le-Champ.  Of course, if you are faced with bad weather, a final option is to take the bus the entire way or walk along the valley floor on a pleasant wooded trail near the fast-flowing Arve river.  This is not a stage that I would suggest hiking in inclement conditions.  The auberge is called La Boerne.  It is warm and charming but it is not for everyone.  The sleeping quarters are cramped — a variety of little nooks and crannies where mattresses are grouped together.  The dining is at community tables and the food is wonderful.  I love the place.  One final note.  You absolutely, certainly, decidedly must reserve weeks in advance if you want to be assured of a place here.  This pertains to all lodging along the Haute Route.  It’s a very popular hiking trail, especially so in high season.

Day 2     Tre-le-Champ to Trient

You cross the border today into Switzerland and in a very nice, gradual manner over the Col de Balme.  It seems too soon to be leaving France and all that it offers, but don’t be dismayed because you will still be in culturally French territory for a few more days.  The Mont Blanc massif with its glaciers and aiguilles (needles) will dominate your view on the climb up.  Before you know it you have reached Refuge Col de Balme which sits all by itself at the pass.  The only water available here is sold by the bottle.  Your descent is also pleasant and not too steep.  Trient is a tiny village of just over 100 permanent residents nestled in the Trient Valley.  Stay at Hotel La Grande Ourse.  

Champex

Day 3     Trient to Champex

You have to choose today between two routes which each arrive at the village of Champex.  The path via Alp Bovine is a wonderful walk which affords views down the Rhone Valley.  The more challenging, exposed variant goes via the Fenetre d’Arpette.  I have only hiked the former which has always been a lovely and pleasant route.  But if you want to tackle the latter (only recommended in good weather), you should be rewarded with spectacular views.  Champex is a beautiful Swiss village with the added benefit of a lovely lake at the center.  Notice the large mountain in the distance to the southeast which is the Grand Combin.  There is a hiking tour which circles this massif which you might want to do another time.  I like to spend a little more money than usual here and stay at Hotel Le Belvedere, a charming, small hotel with fantastic views of the Grand Combin.  Ask for demi-pension (breakfast and dinner included) because their food here is wonderful.  If you’d like a less expensive option, stay at the clean and comfortable refuge just outside of town called Relais d’Arpette.

Cabane du Mont Fort

Day 4     Champex to Cabane du Mont Fort

Thus far you have been overlapping with a section of the Tour of Mont Blanc and the trails may have been quite busy.  But today we leave the Tour of Mont Blanc and continue our journey eastward.  If you are a purist and want to hike every footstep of the Haute Route, you will arrive at Cabane du Mont Fort in two stages — one to the hamlet of Le Chable and the second on to Cabane.  This two-stage approach entails a bit too much valley walking for my tastes and I recommend instead taking the bus to Verbier, a very busy and unappealing Swiss ski station.  From there you can hop onto the lift to Les Ruinettes which positions you well for the short,  moderate hike to Cabane du Mont Fort.  This makes for a good day to restock on supplies and let your muscles recover in preparation for the remaining six days.  This authentic stone hut offers no frills but is quite comfortable.  The Swiss built a larger and more modern building for dormitory accommodation around 2002 and now the original cabin is used only as the restaurant.  Enjoy the views as the setting is spectacular.  

 
 
Day 5     Cabane du Mont Fort to Cabane de Prafleuri

Today you reach terrain that is wilder and more barren.   The day is still interesting and varied, passing over not one, but three cols.  A fairly uncommon occurrence for a stage in the Alps.  Another uncommon but fortunate characteristic for today’s route is that you stay up fairly high the entire way, and thus only have to ascend 900 and descend 750 meters.  Just an average day’s work for a hut-to-hut tour.  Many years ago, this became the most difficult day I had ever experienced on a hut-to-hut trip.  We were hiking early in the season, so early that we were going to be only the second pair to break trail through a great deal of snow.  It’s one thing to do this for a couple of kilometers or so.  It’s quite a different thing to do it all day long on an already moderately demanding stage.  Thousands of footsteps, sometimes sinking in, sometimes slipping, sometimes falling and having to pull oneself back up in order to do it all over again.  As we approached our final pass of the day after 9-10 hours of struggle, I took one more good step in some deep snow and tumbled over.  I was so tired and so frustrated that I just sat there in my heap of snow and cried.  I wanted no more of it.  I wanted the rescue helicopter to swoop in and save me.  Needless to say, that didn’t happen, and after a good cry and some encouraging words from my partner, I dusted myself off and slogged on.  Not too much later, we finally reached Cabane de Prafleuri, a most welcome sight.  The hut today is a fairly new and comfortable building with places for 59.  This is a far cry from the original building which you will see just behind.  I say this with a little sadness and nostalgia in my voice because almost all of the original alpine huts in the Alps are disappearing as they are being renovated or replaced to provide larger and more comfortable accommodation.  This is a good thing, of course.  We all like a little more space and a few more creature comforts.  But some of my best memories came from those old, cramped, dark, and sometimes smelly original huts of days past.      

Ibex

Day 6     Cabane de Prafleuri to Les Hauderes

Get an early start on today’s hike because it is a long one.  You are also aiming to catch the last afternoon bus from Arolla to Les Hauderes which leaves around 5:20.   Experience has taught me to build in an extra hour of buffer when trying to plan enough time for a stage where I must catch the last lift or bus at the end.  It is not that pleasant to have to run with a pack on the final kilometer or two in order to make it in time.  You are again in somewhat barren rocky landscape but the views at the pass are great.  This is an area of the route where you might be lucky enough to see ibex.  They are a stunning sight but keep your expectations of coming across one low.  I have hiked many a day in the Alps and have only seen them a handful of times.  Your pass today requires climbing up two iron ladders in order to get over the final steep slab of rock.  It requires no technical skill, just focus.  The pass is appropriately named Pas de Chevres which means Path of the Goats.  Two to three hours of descent will bring you to the pleasant village of Arolla where you could easily spend the night.  There are several lodging options here.  But by catching the late afternoon bus to Les Hauderes, you position yourself to start the next day’s hike by walking right out your hotel door.  Stay with half-board at Hotel Melezes, a most welcoming place.

Day 7     Les Hauderes to Cabane de Moiry 

You are now working your way towards the last French-speaking valley of this tour, the d’Anniviers.  But I get ahead of myself just a bit because you first take a diversion to remote and lovely Val de Moiry, a side glen that feeds Val d’Anniviers.  Today is long and challenging so don’t linger too long over breakfast.  In fact, you might want to catch the morning bus to La Sage.  It is a short 5 minute ride which hardly seems worth it but you save yourself from having to ascend 200 of the 1250 meters otherwise required to reach the  Col de Torrent.  Fortunately, as is often the case for arduous days, the views are among the best of this tour.  At the end of the day you will be approaching terrain which truly feels rugged and arctic, not something the average hiker gets to experience every day.  The Cabane de Moiry is a combination of the old stone building and a very modern addition.  It is austere in the typical Swiss fashion but provides all the essentials of comfort needed in the mountains.  The setting is stunning.

Day 8     Cabane de Moiry to Zinal 

Today’s route brings you to yet another high and spectacular pass, this time know as Sorebois at 2900 meters.  Fortunately, you do not have to completely retrace yesterday’s trail down to Lac de Moiry as there is a path in the same direction which contours the mountain at 2500 meters until it joins the other route going up to the pass from the lake.  This saves you 500 meters of descent and ascent.  At the saddle, enjoy the panorama of large peaks around you, the most prominent being the Weisshorn.  The Swiss are familiar with this mountain but not so much the rest of the world.  For my money it is one of the most beautiful in the Alps.  After the pass, head straight for the Sorebois cableway station.  Enjoy a refreshing Apfelsaft (a carbonated apple juice common in Switzerland) while you think about the relaxing cable car ride that will take you down to the valley floor and the town of Zinal.  You can walk the switchbacked trail down the 700+ meters instead but I would recommend saving your knees for another time.  Stay at the Trift Hotel in the small but pleasant village of Zinal.   

Hotel Weisshorn

Day 9     Zinal to Hotel Weisshorn

If you are pressed for time, you can actually hike from Zinal to Forcletta to Gruben, thus missing Hotel Weisshorn altogether.  This reduces the duration of the tour by one day.  But the Hotel Weisshorn is a classic in this region and I would hate for you to miss it.  The building dates from the 1880s and it has a wonderful terrace from which to enjoy the views.  Plus this enables you to experience one of those rare hiking days in the Alps.  One with only 700 meters of elevation gain and almost no elevation loss.  You can sleep in a little if you like.  What luxury.  

Day 10     Hotel Weisshorn to Gruben

This is another relatively easy stage.  Four to five hours of walking will get you across the Meiden Pass to your destination of Gruben.  You are now in German Switzerland and will start to notice some differences.  Gruben is a small village with a store in case you need to restock on supplies.  There are not too many lodging options.  Stay and eat at Hotel Schwarzhorn.  Their dormitory accommodation is a good value (for Switzerland).  It is comfortable but cramped if full so hope for no other roommates.

Jungen

Day 11     Gruben to St. Niklaus

This is probably the finest day of all your days on this tour.  You attain a great deal of altitude at the Augstbordpass without having to tackle a grueling ascent.  The trail takes you through varied terrain of woodlands, pastures, and rocky hillsides.  The views at the pass and all along your descent to the hamlet of Jungen are nothing less than spectacular.  Famous Swiss mountains practically encircle you — the Weisshorn, the Dom, Liskamm, Castor, Pollux, and the Kleine Matterhorn.  The descent would be killer-long indeed (almost 1800 meters) without the assistance of the cable car at Jungen which takes you right down to St. Niklaus.  This saves you over 800 meters of descent.  Thank you Swiss who seem to place these at the most opportune locations.  Jungen is not a tourist village but a wonderful little Swiss hamlet that is still a farming community.  Spend a little time here before you catch your ride down.  The village of St. Niklaus has more than one good lodging option but I most highly recommend staying and eating at Hotel Edelweiss.  If you want to officially walk every step of the Haute Route, you will complete your journey tomorrow with another stage to Zermatt through the Mattertal.  This undemanding segment is not terribly interesting in my book.  Instead, catch one of the multiple trains each day from St. Niklaus to Zermatt which take only 40 minutes.  Zermatt is one of the premier mountain towns of the world and is definitely worth a few extra days.  Yes, the tourists are swarming about but they are mainly day trippers who walk around the central shopping street and clear out in the late afternoon.  Some of the best day hikes in the Alps can be found out of Zermatt and I hope you have the time to experience them.  Stay at the Bahnhof Hotel in a private room or dormitory accommodation as a less expensive option.     

Links