Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 9 – Les Haudères to Grimentz

by Gator | Aug 15, 2018

Today’s hike was supposed to be strenuous, roughly 7 to 8 hours long and extreme elevation changes. We were also in a time crunch, the bus we had to catch at the end of the day to Grimentz left at 3:30 pm. We woke up at 5:30 am to have breakfast. Breakfast was not served until 7 am, but the waitress from dinner the night before left everything out so we could get an early start.

We followed the trail signs to the center of town and up into the woods. The next town of La Sage was supposed to be about a 45 minutes hike. Once out of town, there were no more trail signs. It seemed as though we were switchbacking up and down the same mountain multiple times. After two hours of strenuous hiking, we could still see the church across the street from our hotel the night before. La Sage was nowhere in sight. Realizing there was no time to catch our 3:30 bus, we gave up and hiked downhill to Evolene, which we could see from the trail.

We wandered through town checking our cell phones for free Wi-fi trying to pull up a bus schedule. Realizing this wasn’t working, we decided to find a coffee shop – surely they would have Wi-Fi. We found one connected to a hotel. After we paid for our coffee we realized there was no public Wi-Fi there. Isn’t that illegal in most countries? As we finished our coffee, we noticed a bus stop across the street. We walked over to check the schedule and it went to Sion. Sion is a larger town in the valley, so I assumed that we could catch a connecting bus to Grimentz.

Once the bus arrived, the doors opened and our friends Jeremy and Anne were there. They seemed to have gotten lost in the same spot, and Jeremy was having similar knee problems. They had internet access, so they already had a planned route to get to Grimentz. We asked if we could follow them, and they said yes. The itinerary was a series of bus and train rides which would take most of the day. While traveling with Jeremy and Anne, we learned that we had a lot in common. They own a bakery in San Antonio, and we are self-proclaimed gourmet chefs. We all enjoy backpacking and the outdoors because we were all hiking the Haute Route.

When we arrived in Grimentz, around 1:30 pm, we checked into Hotel de Moiry. Starving, we decided to eat there. I had a watermelon salad with kale chips. Nuthin had a gazpacho of raspberry and mixed greens. We shared a pot of cheese fondue. The chef seemed to love flowers.

Watermelon salad at Hotel de Moiry

Nuthin eating cheese fondue at Hotel de Moiry

Full, we decided to go grocery shopping. The road to the grocery store lead through the historic part of Grimentz. The traditional buildings were made of dark rough-cut timber. The houses were separated from their foundations by large flat stones which were used to keep out rodents. Some of the buildings dated back to the 1400’s.

Historic Building in Grimentz

On our way back to the hotel, we met Jeremy and Anne. While walking and visiting, we stumbled upon a free wine tasting. All of the wines were made in the valley that our train went through earlier that day. We got to see the vineyards where the grapes were grown. Being smaller wineries, we got to meet the winemakers, rather than a sales representative. We enjoyed discussing the nuances of the wine with our new friends for a while, and then parted ways.

Strolling back through the historic part of town, we made it to the hotel for dinner. Three courses again! The first course was a mushroom salad. The second course was sliced ham with gravy and stewed cannellini beans. The third course was a raspberry tart. After dinner, we went to our room and watched the sunset over the mountains from our balcony.