With our trusty guidebook in hand, we boarded the bus in Chamonix, France for our first day of hiking. The doors of the bus opened in Argentière, we stepped off and our adventure began. To find the trail the guidebook gave directions from the center of town – we had...
Backpacking Articles
Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 3 – Trient to Champex
The night before, we scouted the trail leading out of Trient to prevent another morning of getting lost. Up and away we ascended steeply. We had plenty of company with backpackers hiking the Tour de Mont Blanc. The TMB is a similar trail that circles Mount Blanc and...
Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 4 – Champex to Verbier
Today’s hike was supposed to be easy. Only an estimated four hours and most of the terrain was downhill. This was a relief because our bodies were still getting used to walking so many miles a day. We needed the rest. As we left the hotel we descended a few steep...
Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 5 – Verbier to Cabane de Louvie
Excited, we left the hotel room. Today’s hike contained a few milestones for us. This would be our first high mountain pass, and our first time to stay in a mountain hut. The wilderness was supposed to be more remote. Our first leg of the journey was a cable car ride...
Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 6 – Louvie to Cabane de Prafleuri
Today would be one of our toughest days yet. There were two passes to cross over to make it to Cabane de Prafleuri. Col Louvie was the first pass to tackle at 9,583 feet. The morning’s hike was familiar because it was back out along the same path we came down to...
Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 7 – Prafleuri to Arolla
We scheduled an early morning breakfast, eager to get out on the trail. It was a cloudy morning, but today’s hike was supposed to be adventurous – walking over glaciers and climbing ladders over a mountain pass. The trail quickly lead us over the steep Col de Roux....
Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 8 – Arolla to Les Haudères
Due to all of the boulder hopping the day before, Nuthin and I both woke up with injuries. My knees were hurting and Nuthin had a bad knee and ankle. Today’s hike was an easy 3-hour walk, and mostly downhill to the small town of Les Haudères. We slept in and had a...
Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 9 – Les Haudères to Grimentz
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...
Backpacking the Haute Route : Day 10 – Grimentz to Zinal
Today’s hike was only an estimated 4 hours long but with heavy elevation changes. Getting lost and not hiking much the day before was nice for our injuries. We thought with an easy day today maybe we could get rid of them. We ate breakfast and caught a short bus ride...
Backpacking the Haute Route: Day 11 – Zinal to Gruben
The morning started off like any day on the Haute Route, straight on up. The trail steeply led through the woods for about 2 hours before it broke out to an open area. It was overcast, but we could see a beautiful view of snow-covered mountains and the valley below....
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