Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Here are some notes I made while researching possible routes for an interesting Haute Route, which for me means one that occasionally takes "the one less traveled by". No suggestions are made, read and decide what use, if any, you will make of the material presented.
Alas, most English speaking walkers seem satisfied with the standard trip following the well trodden highway; as a result almost all the references are in French (I do not read German, so I may have missed some interesting material).
Val Ferret to Val d'Entremont
From Tour du Saint-Bernard site:
La Fouly -- La Tsissette:
la randonnée matinale nous mène au col du Basset ... près de 1200 m de dénivelés! Chamois, bouquetins et marmottes nous font oublier l'effort et le panorama nous émerveille ... Belle descente au cœur de la réserve naturelle de La Combe de L'A jusqu'au refuge de La Tsissette à 2005m.La Tsissette -- Mille:
l'étape commence facilement sur la route d'alpage nous ramenant vers le village de Liddes. L'après-midi sera plus ardue avec la montée vers la cabane de Mille à 2450m d'altitude ... Une cabane située au col entre le Val de Bagnes et les vallées du Saint-Bernard, au pied du Petit Combin et face aux plus beaux massifs alpins.
From another Tour du Saint Bernard site:
J 4 : La Fouly -- La Tsissette : entrée dans la réserve naturelle de La Combe de L'A par le sauvage col du Basset. Nuit dans un gîte à 2000m. L'étape étant plus courte, vous profiterez pour y observer les animaux sauvages de la réserve naturelle. Du gîte, descendre vers le village de La Fouly. A l'entrée du village le sentier grimpe en direction du Col du Basset à 2765m ; vous avez la possibilité d'économiser vos forces en utilisant jusqu'à l'alpage de L'Arpalle le télésiège. Du Col du Basset, descendre en direction de Vouasse puis du refuge de la Tsissette par le seul sentier existant. 4h30 à 5h30 de marche selon l'utilisation ou non des remontées.
J 5 : La Tsissette -- Mille : la cabane de Mille offre un panorama extraordinaire sur les massifs des Alpes valaisannes, bernoises, le massif des Combins et tout le massif du Mont Blanc. Après deux jours au cœur de la réserve naturelle, retrouvez le charmant village de Liddes que vous rejoignez par une route forestière depuis le refuge de La Tsissette. Possibilité de ravitaillement puis montée par le sentier des Eperviers et l'alpage de Erra vers la cabane de Mille à 2472m. Depuis Liddes, le sentier part depuis le centre du village à travers forêts et pâturages pour rejoindre la cabane. 5h30 à 6h de marche.
McNab Alpine Tours
McNab Mountain Sports: Classic Haute Route is a mountaineering trip, but their days four and five cross from the Val Ferret to the Val de Bagnes in a very interesting way:
Day 4.
From the hotel (in La Fouly), we start out easily on a road which peters out into a track. Higher, this becomes a steep zig-zag trail which leads up the Col des Planards (2735m.). This is not a well-traveled route and there are great opportunities for spotting alpine wildlife, marmots, chamois and bouquetins (ibex). Beyond the pass, we make a long, gentle descent to Bourg St. Pierre. En route, there are excellent views back to the Mont Blanc range and over toward the Grand Combin. Overnight in a gite.
Day 5.
Today starts out with a long and easy-angled ascent to the Col de Lâne (3033m.), passing many picturesque bergeries and pretty summer pastures. A final, short, steeper section of rocky footpath takes us up to the pass. Descending, we cross a short snow-slope to reach a glacial moraine and make a short climb to cross a second col, the Col d'Avouillons (2647m.). From here, we drop steeply down and cross the Glacier de Corbassière to reach our overnight halt at the Panossière Refuge (2645m.). Great views of the Grand Combin from the refuge. This is a long day!
From the Cabane de Panossière there are many ways of reaching the Val de Bagnes (either Fionnay or Mauvoisin), from which one reaches the Cabane de Louvie. From there it is a day hike to the Cabane de Prafleurie and the standard route.
Col de la Breya
Few mentions of it, some that I found:
- Cabane Orny, Cabane Trient from the CyberNoth web site
- KE Adventure Travel, in their
Ultimate Tour du Mont Blanc, say that:
Wherever possible, we have chosen to take the high-level route and this includes several interesting pass crossings, such as the Col des Fours (2665 m./8,740 ft.) and the Col de la Breya (2401 m./7,875 ft.), which appear on no ordinary version of this circuit.
In their Dossier (can be downloaded after registration) they amplify:
Technically the hardest section of the entire tour, beginning with a spectacular ridge walk and then plunging down into the rocky chasm of the Comb D'Orny, which we exit by way of the Col de la Breya. From here the remaining descent can best be described as vicious. Not for nothing is this `path' described as the most demanding mountain route in the Mont Blanc region.
- Alpine Dreams also offer a Tour du Mont Blanc using the Col de la Breya: The Great Tour du Mont Blanc
- La Cabane d'Orny puis celle du Trient (nuit sur place) - retour
tout à pied par le col de la
Breya pour arriver sur l'Arpette puis Champex.
Le dimanche: descente vertigineuse de Trient à Champex à 1466m : un peu éprouvant pour les genoux... Très beaux points de vue depuis le col de la Breya...
- Pointe d'Orny by hiking under the chairlift to La Breya, i.e. not over the col.
- Another TMB (in English!!) using the Col de la Breya on Day 12.
- For photos see the Tom Michoel trip report towards the bottom of my page.
Col de Lâne
Again, not a very popular route! Some references:
- Pointe de Boveire (3212m) by the Col de Lâne, very brief description
- A description of hikes from the Cabane Brunet suggests that Cabane Brunet to Bourg St-Pierre by the Col de Lâne would take six hours.
- From a Classic
Haute Route commercial tour:
Day 5 Trek to Bourg St. Pierre
From La Fouly we follow a little-traveled route across the Col du Neve de la Rousse (2752m). We follow the paved road to begin with but this soon deteriorates into a rough dirt track and eventually a steep zig-zagging mountain trail. On the way we pass a small lake – the Gouille du Dragon – where we can pause for a rest and those brave enough can go for a swim. From the crest of the pass we can climb a small summit - the Pointe des Planards (2866m). This gives us excellent views looking back toward Mont Blanc. From the pass there is a long descent to the village of Bourg St. Pierre where we stay overnight in a local gite. This is the last place we can have a shower until we get to Zermatt. It is also a re-supply point and we can get access to our trek bags this evening.Day 6 Trek to the Cabane Brunet
From Bourg St. Pierre we have a long but gradual climb up to the Col de Lâne (3033m). The path goes through a picturesque region of flower-filled meadows and simple alpine hamlets. The final section to the crest of the pass is a little steeper and somewhat rocky. From the pass we descend a rough path on glacial moraine which eventually brings us to the chalets at Nicliri (2492m). We continue to descend more easily now to the Cabane Brunet (2103m). - For photos see the Tom Michoel trip report toward the bottom of my page.
Mont Rogneux
Mont Rogneux to or from the Cabane Brunet is more a ski than a hiking destination, still a few references:
- Verbier Guides on their Tour
des Combins page:
"Jour 5 - Mille - Brunet Ascension du Mont Rogneux à 3082m. Vous jouissez d'un panorama exceptionnel sur le massif des Combins. Descente à travers les alpages vers la cabane de Brunet à 2100m." - From the Col de Mille page of the LesMonts web site: "Ajoutons encore la possibilité d'effectuer la traversée du Mont Rogneux en direction de la cabane Brunet."
- Mont Rogneux, with a few photos, one showing the blue blazes. This was a round trip from the Cabane Brunet. Also a picture of the cross and its dedication.
- The Tour du Saint Bernard now includes an optional ascent of Mont Rogneux, so it is beginning to show up in some trip reports, such as this one from July 2005.
Col des Ignes
Again not much on the web, but see Une ballade dans le haut Val d'Hérens, which describes a circuit going down the Col des Ignes and back to Arolla by either of the classic cols.
The Cabane de Dix page of the Monte Rosa section of the Swiss Alpine Club makes two notes of the Col des Ignes. First they list it as an access route to the hut, from Arolla in five hours. They then list Cabane des Aiguilles Rouges via the Col des Ignes as a trip that can be done from the hut. No details!
Glacier de Corbassière
- A Tour des Combins trip report, with day 7 involving crossing the glacier. Good pictures of glacier here, here and here.
- Wikipedia has a stub on the Tour des Combins, also one more picture of the glacier.
- The official Tour des Combins site suggests that it takes the same time to go from Cabane Brunet to Cabane Panossière over the Col des Avouillons (crossing the glacier) or going round the glacier; in either case a bit over five hours from Cabane de Mille to Cabane Panossière.
Topali Weisshorn Höhenweg
This seems to be stages one and two of the new Tour du Cervin, done in reverse. The hut's site has a schematic map of the route, which they call the Weisshornweg. Unfortunately the paths they show are not shown on the 2004 Visp map (274T), though the second half of the second day is shown on the Mischabel map (284T). The whole section is shown on the current (2007) Wanderkarte Tour Matterhorn, and I have found a few waypoints (not a track) here. They can be downloaded in several formats, including GPX.