Big Hike but where were we?

We headed out yesterday to hike in the mountains near Bex. From Bex we drove up to Pont de nant and did a 3 hour loop through Trou a-l'Ours (bear hole), Cinglo and back. When we started it was pleasantly cool with a slight mist in the air. Not much visibility, lots of fog up above us, but all in all quite nice.

As we hiked, we gained quite a bit of elevation and the weather got worse and worse. The mist turned to drizzle and then to a hard rain....Combine this with a few slips and falls and Dave and Haylee were both mud balls! Somehow Becky and Jacque managed to stay upright and their only complaint was being drenched and cold!

The most spectacular part of the hike was at the 'bear hole'. We hike along a narrow path for bit with a hard rock wall on our right. When we reached the hole, we had to crawl between rocks and then climb vertically up through a small hole in the ceiling. This meant a bit of mind over matter therapy to get over the fear factor, and taking off packs to find a way to squirm up through the hole! The dogs were a hopeless cause and had to be lifted up in much the same way we handled our backpacks!

Once we were out of the hole we looked back at where we had hiked. For a few seconds, the mist lifted and we could see the sheer cliff had been walking across. Good thing I couldn't see this when I was on the trail! I would have probably turned back.

Dry dogs before hike!
Filling up the water bottles...

Pretty in its own ways...I think there are mountains behind this fog!

Which way do we go?
Not towards my calf, said the cow!
A bit of stone art work
Mini river running over bridge.


The bridge held!

Are we wet yet?

Climbing but still kind of smiling!

Looking up at the 'bear hole'

View from the top as Becky emerges

Now it's Dave coming out!

Too wet to go into the Auberge for dinner!

Cold wet ride home!

Becky, Jacque and Haylee arrive!

The three young ladies arrived safe and sound on Tuesday morning. All were a bit tired but wanting to get out. It was overcast and drizzly but the forecast indicated this might be the best day all week to be outside. Given the choice of a hard hike or boat ride to Yvoire, they unanimously picked the boat ride. It was a nice day with lots of time to catch up with each other's lives.

Here are some pictures: Haylee, prior to falling asleep on the boat!

Becky on dog duty!
Haylee's spaghetti bolognese
Hmmmm good!
Walking around the city walls

Wind Power

Yesterday I explored the Gruyere area by mountain bike with buddy Greg, hoping to find some fun single track and some nice hiking trails for when Becky, Jacque and Haylee arrive. We started in a little village called Grandvillard... The outing began ith a grueling climb. It didn't take long for Greg to holler, "Dave, are you trying to kill me?". The incline got better, but the trails did not...It turned into mostly fire road, pavement, and only a bit of nice single track. Oh, and we had one passage thru a cow pasture. Nasty stuff..muddy with many cow leg holes just waiting to suck up my front tire.

Had the dogs with me and though they clearly enjoyed the outing, both are now limping pretty badly. Each one has an injured paw..too much rocky fire roads.

All in all, though the area was beautiful, I'd probably vote to skip it as a family outing. Too far and not as nice for hiking in my opinion as near Montreux or into the Valais area.

On that note, I set off on a solo 120km one way ride today to Sion in the Valais Canton. I lucked out and ran into a +30Km/hour tail wind. Never experienced such easy riding. I was moving between 40km and 50km/hour over most of the stretch! I was almost afraid to stop and sight-see along the way for fear of seeing the wind change directions. But I did stop and the wind stayed faithful!

I found three good areas, St-Maurice, Martigny, and Sion.

St-Maurice has tons of history dating back to the Roman empire times. It has a shrine to Saint Maurice and an Abbey worth seeing. Not too sure about hiking..

A bit further down, near Martigny I came across the Pissevache waterfall. I almost stuck my head under it, but only got close enough though to enjoy the spray...wasn't quite up to the full dunk!

By the way Pissevache literally means the pissing cow! It was pretty impressive and there appeared to be nice hiking trails leading up to it.

Sion, is quite beautiful. I rode up Rue des Châteaux to a groove between the twin castles of Sion. From here, there were two paths one to Tourbillon, and one to Valère.

I hiked/rode up to Valere and went in the Chapelle de Tous-les-Saints which dates back to 1310 and features massive Roman foundation walls. Certainly a nice area to get panoramic pictures and a bit of culture!