Haute Route 2013-Day 4-La Chable to Cabane du Mont Fort

Haute Route Hiking Stats-Day 4

Today is slated as one of the more difficult stages of the Haute Route. This is mostly due to the over 5500 feet of climbing elevation gained. Personally we are looking forward to this stage since both of us prefer going up over going downhill. I am also looking forward to getting more into the heavy alps. Everything up to now just doesn’t seem totally “Alpy” yet.

We started off the day around 7am since the traffic noise outside the Hotel Gietroz was a little too loud to sleep any longer. We had a nice breakfast, although I missed the server yourself manner like the other places had. We had some cereal, croissants and bread with butter, jelly and my new favorite, Nutella.

There was a large group of other hikers mingling outside the hotel as we ran up to the post office to mail a post card and get some money from the ATM. We had asked Alpine Exploratory, our tour company, if we could possibly skip staying at the last hut on the trip, the Europahutte, in lieu of staying at another hut called Cabane des Dix in a few nights. This would could be a pain since they would have to push back our other lodging reservations a night. So, I needed some extra money in case we needed to pay for it ourselves.

We started off down the street on our hike following 3 other male hikers. These were the same guys who we had seen at the pizza shop in Sembrancher. They seemed a bit puzzled with the first couple turns and we did as well. We all figured it out and started the long slog straight up the hillside. We eventually passed them and then caught up to the larger group we had seen congregating at the hotel earlier. We followed them up the hill for a while, and eventually passed half of them at a small church along the way. There were a bunch of younger hikers with their group that we hung behind for awhile until they stopped to rest or wait for the others. They let us past and we didn’t see them again for quite some time.

We just kept steadily pressing our way up the narrow switchbacks that never seemed to end. Miles and miles of winding up a very steep hill. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other. It was still 10x better than going downhill for sure. We eventually reached a café at about halfway which was about a tenth of a mile down a lane. We bagged it since it didn’t look open anyway and we didn’t feel like going down for nothing if it was closed. The route card also indicated a picnic area further up which sounded good.

After more zigzags on a road now we came upon another couple, Ann and Nate, who we had seen at breakfast. They were sitting in the shade having a snack break. We chatted with them for a few minutes about travel and photography and then headed further up the road to a picnic grove. We enjoyed some bars and coffee and tea from our thermos’. As we munched our goodies,  Ann and Nate passed on through as did the younger bunch of the big group. There was an older couple enjoying a picnic in the picnic grove as well. They had a fire rolling and were cooking up some food on it. Eventually the older bunch from the big group came by and settled into the picnic grove. By then we had started packing up and continued up a cat track from the Verbier/Les Ruinettes ski area.

Eventually we same out of the treeline and could see the top lift of the ski area. A bunch of hangliders had spread out their kites on the ground preparing for flight. They were taking off one after the other and filling the sky. It was pretty cool.

From their we followed a bisse(irrigation water ditch) around the mountain for most of the way. It was all open now with no trees and the views were amazing. Eventually we rounded a bend and Cabane du Mont Fort, our nights accommodations, was revealed. The landscape had also changed from meadowy fields to jagged rock and scree. It reminded me of being on the moon. One aspect that did disappoint me was the chairlift and gondola poles and wires drapped across the landscape. I had expectations of a more remote landscape and this made me feel like I was in the middle of the ski area.

Denise on the final approach to Cabane du Mont Fort

We made one final push up the cat tracks to the Cabane which seemed like the steepest part yet. The Cabane had looked so close initially, but was so much farther away than it seemed. We eventually reached it, racked our boots and poles, grabbed some Crocs off the shelf and found the guardian to get our room. We had a nice private 2 cot room on the second floor. We unpacked and quickly headed for the showers. They were 4 Francs for 2 minutes which didn’t sound like a lot, but if you turn the water off while lathering it is quite a good amount of time.

Our cozy accomodations in Cabane du Mont Fort

Apres Hike at Cabane du Mont Fort – relaxing on the deck after a long hike with Nate, Clare, Paul, Anne & Martijn

After cleaning up, we headed out on the deck to have a couple beers. The British couple we had met in Sembrancher the day before, Paul and Claire, were on the desk having a couple beers already. We found out they had taken a gondola up to the top. We had a nice afternoon chatting with Paul and Claire, Ann and Nate, and some of the other folks from the large group too. We were getting very hungry and it seemed like forever until 6:30PM came when dinner was served. We enjoyed some vegetable soup, salad and penne pasta with meat sauce dinner. We also had a vanilla pudding for  dessert. It really hit the spot for me.

After dinner I grabbed my camera and tripod and headed out for some sunset pictures. Nate is also a photographer and was out there as well. I think I managed a few good shots, but they will require some blending I think.

Denise and Ann were chatting when I returned to the cabane. We talked a bit more and then headed in for the night. Tomorrow will be another tough day as we make our way over 3 mountain passes to Cabane de Perfleuri; tomorrow nights accommodations.