Day 9: La Sage to Alpage du Moiry

I realized last night after reading a friend's blog about following her dreams, that I never finished posting about the Haute Route. I should probably be writing about Liberia but let's take this one country at a time ;)

Day 9
Hiking in the Alps rules! This was one of my favorite days. Amazing considering the day started with a slight hiccup. We left the gite fairly early and went to a grocery store. We bought all sorts of stuff to make dinner at the Chalet du Moiry. Then we called the Chalet and found out they were full … and there are no other options within a 1-1/2 hour walk! Well, we decided to just figure it out as we went and set off toward the Col de Torrent. It was a long hike up but the views were amazing. One of the most impressive sights was an icefield at the head of one of the 2 valleys below us. The largest peak emerging from all the snow and ice was Tete Blanche, which is in Italy. Even though the hiking was hard at times, all I needed was to take in the views and I would feel re-energized.

We spent an hour at the top enthralled by the vista. It was amazing how much of our journey we could see. There was Rosa Blanche (above the Grand Desert), the Grand Combin, the Pigne de Arolla, Aguilles Rouges, Mont Blanche de Chielon (above Cab. Dix), and Grand Dent! Whew! As we headed down toward the absurdly blue Lac Moiry, we decided we wanted to camp. The day was pristine and the mountains at the head of the valley were impressive and glacier-clad – the kind of thing you could look at for hours. We tried to find the owner of the alpage (which maybe means “ranch”?) but he wasn’t around, so we headed back up the trail and found a perfect campsite in between some of the small hills. It was heavenly!

We laid in the sun and read, and watched shadows creep across the glaciers. Can life get any better?? As the sun got lower we set up the tent and “feasted” on half of our lunch for the next day, plus a bottle of wine and a chocolate bar. It was a very cold night, though, and a frost set in and dusted our packs. Not the best night’s sleep but worth it for the views and tranquility of the evening!

PS This morning Chris’ pack weighed 35 lbs and mine weighed 30 lbs (pre-groceries). We had no coffee, and our heart rates were below 52 bpm each!

A view back up the valley on the way up the Col de Torrent. Arolla is up the valley on the right. Les Haudres is on the valley floor.

One of the best lunch spots of the trip.

Typical signage at trail junctions.

I wouldn't mind being back here right now!

Best camping spot ever! We spent the afternoon lounging in the grass and reading.