Cabane du Moiry to Zinal







I’m not much of a “sports person,” but one term I’ve learned this last year during the pandemic is the football term “Calling an Audible.” Calling an audible is when the quarterback calls out a new play at the line of scrimmage. As I understand it, it is in essence changing the plan at the last minute based on new information - something all of us had to do a lot in the last two years due to Covid. 



Well, our group decided to “call an audible” on the plan for getting to Zinal.  For starters, we awoke to a light rain and foggy conditions. 



The way down from the hut is the same way we went up. Here we are on a portion of the hike down hanging onto chains that are attached to the mountain wall.



Luckily, fairly soon into our descent, the rain stopped which definitely helped. We descended back down to the valley floor where we took an “alternative route” to Zinal.




Our alternative route involved walking past the beautiful Lac Moiry which is known for its beautiful color. 


 I thought my new rain jacket is a very similar color.



Our alternative route got us to Zinal at about 4 pm which we were thrilled about. The extra time gave us some space to rest and wash clothes before we had a wonderful dinner. We are all happy to have another rest day tomorrow!

Comments

  1. Marsha SSeptember 1, 2022 at 2:17 PM

    So treacherous, love that on the fly change of plans.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zinal to Gruben

Image
Today was a day where we split forces - each member of our group got to decide what their body was up for today. Our journey was from Zinal to Gruben - but there are a couple ways to get there. Greg decided to solo today and he took the “red route” which starts with an almost 4000 ft ascent. Others, myself included, opted to take the “purple route” which included cutting off 2000 ft off the 4000 ft by taking the funicular up from St Luc and then hiking from there. Here we are after the funicular dropped us off, ready to start our hike to Gruben. The remaining hike still proved challenging as after we got to the top of Col Meidpass (9151 ft), we then had a descent of close to 4000 ft to get to Gruben.  The trail up to the col (which you can see in the background) was a good path with minimal boulders.  We started seeing a different breed of cows along the way. We made it up to the col by lunchtime and then put on warm clothes to eat our lunch as the wind was cold.  Meanwhi...
Read more

Gruben to Sankt Niklaus

Image
At this point in our trip, the members of our hiking group each had an individual plan for getting from Gruben to Sankt Niklaus. Since this was another challenging stage with a big ascent and descent and the weather forecast was for lots of rain, a couple people (myself included) opted for a different kind of traveling adventure. Greg set out early for another solo journey followed by Kevin and Kris about 30 minutes later.  Meanwhile, the remaining members of our group used the Swiss traveling app to figure out how to get to Sankt Niklaus via a bus to a cable car, and finally to two trains. While we didn’t get as many “steps” as the hiking group, we had our own adventure.  Just like in the movies, all of us eventually showed up in Sankt Niklaus!  We met for beer and later for dinner in one of the only two restaurants in town. Over dinner, we spent quite a bit of time talking about what we “wouldn’t bring next time” - we still are trying to figure out how to lighten our l...
Read more

Cabane de Prafleuri to Arolla

Image
The next morning we got up at 5:15 am and got ready for another tough day of hiking. Once again, one of the most important parts of that preparation is taping up the toes.  In our collective memories from our Haute Route trip eight years ago, this was the stage we dreaded the most! This stage has lots of exposure including a series of ladders - the thought of attempting the ladders and chains in rain, wind, and/or lightening had me worried. However, we were so thankful when we got up that the  storm had passed through and the sun was shining.  Right out of the gate, we had to climb a first col, Col de Roux which was at 9,200 ft. I think the combination of an early start and residual fatigue from the day before meant a slow start for several of us. But once we reached the top, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Lac Des Dix. Our hike today would take us all the way down to the shores of the lake, then to the end of the lake, and up to the next col that you ...
Read more