Wednesday 3rd September: Another stunning sunny day, can you believe it? 5°C to 20°C
La Sage to Arolla: 11.5k: 9am to 12.30pm: 3hrs 30 mins - OUR SHORTEST DAY IN 16 DAYS!!
Ian setting GPS at Hotel La Sage
View down Val d'Herens
View Up Val d'Herens
Cold du Tsate, yesterday's climb
Time to feed the cows today
Val d'Herens and blue skies
Cup of Tea at the Wayside Chapel
Lunch and a beer in Arolla
View from Hotel Kurhaus
View from Lounge Hotel Kur Haus
Time to blog in lounge room
Hanging out the washing
Celebrating half way at 16 days
Rack of Lamb Swiss Style - yummm!
The Grand Hotel and Kurhaus
We just can't believe it's another stunning day - blue skies and snow on mountains. Today was our shortest day in 16 days and we are now at the half way point of our 32 day hike. The total walk was supposed to be only 500k but at half way we're well over 300k, with some long days to come so our estimates are blown - but we're having a great time. Today was a 11.5k walk up a deeply forested valley, slowly rising to 2074 metres to Arolla, with snow capped mountains high above us. No cols or passes to climb today but there's plenty over the next few days to make up for it. Today was our sorta rest day.
Knowing we've got an easy day, we sleep in til 7am, roughly pack and go down to breakfast which also doesn't live up to expectations. The porridge that some walkers raved about was cold and gluey and the hot water for the tea was only luke warm, and the internet still didn't work properly - frustratingly slow and flakey. We've become dependent on e-gadgets.
After spending 1hr trying to get the internet to work to make some refuge bookings for the two nights after tonight, we give up and head out into the brilliant sunshine. It's 5°C and cold in the shade walking down to the quaint village of Les Hauderes deeper in the valley, with a mixture of pretty chalets with flower boxes and small barns intermingled along narrow paved streets.
The path to Arolla follows the main road up the valley through pine forests. There's several walkers coming our way on their way to La Sage. It's an easy stroll slightly uphill, an overall graded climb of only 554 metres. On the way up, we can look back to see La Sage and Les Hauderes set to a backdrop of pine forests and snow capped Alps. It's a beautiful sunny day, with a very slight haze in the air.
At 11am we spy a small chapel on the side of the track with seats in the sun - a good place for a cup of coffee. More walkers say G'day, with a strange accent - Australians, we think, but probably Victorians!! And one of them is wearing a Tilley hat just like Ian's.
Further up the valley, way pass through the small hamlets of La Gouitte and Satarma. The gushing stream below has washed away some of the path so we need to walk on the road for some of the way. But no problem, this gives us an opportunity to look around.
After a brisk walk along the valley, there's a sharp right up a horse track to Arolla. Amazingly we arrive at 12.30pm. The place is much smaller than we'd imagined, with about 10 chalets, 6 hotels and 2 very small shops servicing the walkers. Time to buy a small piece of cheese and a few dried ham slices to go with our left over bread and butter - and of course a beer for Ian. We sit down in the village square to eat lunch and it's almost hot in the sun. It's very relaxing on our short day. We'll come back later and buy supplies for the next 3 days lunches.
Theres' a sign that says 2 mins to the Grand Hotel and Kurhaus, which we assume is the time by car. And yes it took 15 minutes to walk uphill to this really lovely Victorian era hotel. It was built in 1896 and catered mostly for the UK visitors. Inside is a grand old lounge room. There's no one at reception - we're too early - so it's time to get on to the internet. Luckily there's no password, and the internet signal is strong and fast. An American couple from Oregon are heading out to do some hiking. They just arrived yesterday and raved about the rack of lamb. We'd already decided on a picnic dinner in their lovely beer garden but lamb is very tempting.
At 2.30pm someone appears at reception and we check in. Our room is out the back facing the pine forests ( courtesy of booking.com again) but it's really big and though no view, really nice and quiet. We've noticed a huge patio just up the corridor from our room 117 and it's in the sun and breeze with a clothes line all set up. There's really no need to do any washing, having washed last night, but we thought we'd take the opportunity to do it all again while we can. 3 days of mountain huts and long days ahead might mean no washing possible for a few days.
Time to sit back and relax and book ahead the next two mountain huts and a Bed and Breakfast in Le Chable, then a 10 minute walk down to the local epicerie in Arolla to buy cheese, meat, bread and tomatoes for the next three days, plus a beer to have with some nuts while we wait for dinner. We've decided to splash out and have rack of lamb that the Americans recommended to celebrate our half way mark, instead of a picnic dinner.
At 7pm, we're in the dining room sitting by the fire and order the rack of lamb each and a red wine. The red wine is really nice - comparable to the best of any Australian Shiraz and certainly the best wine we've had in Switzerland so far. And the 7 boned rack of lamb is absolutely delicious, complete with a smattering of vegetables. Ten times better than the French chef last night. Well done Hotel Kurhouse - highly recommended!
We've eaten more than our walk today deserved but it was all so nice. A piece of dark chocolate, a quick check to see that our food bag hasn't been taken by the foxes and we're in bed.