Some thoughts and reports from outings...
Blogs from some outdoor adventures.....
After a busy year, a last minute Alpine adventure was decided on and the Steaming Boots Team headed out to Geneva on an early September flight. Arriving on the Saturday afternoon we were looking forward to some late summer fun with four days of outdoor escapades planned! However the weather was decisively “Scottish” when we arrived with heavy rain and gales, not the late summer arrival we were hoping for! We picked up the hire car and made our way for Arolla and the Kurhaus Hotel. In the prior days I had seen pictures of the sun loungers in the front garden of the hotel on social media. Tourist were out soaking up the sunshine, but by the time we reached the winding road taking us up to the hotel, it was obvious that these photos had been the last summer photos for a while!! The rain quickly turned to snow and by the time we arrived the sun loungers had a good covering of snow! Over tea we discussed our options. We had planned a hike to La Cabane des Dix and then a hike up to La Luette but with winter arriving early the conditions were a little different to what we had expected! Come the morning we called the hut – 15cm of fresh snow had fallen up high –mmmm …. Might make the Pass de Chevres ladders interesting! We decided to head up to the pass and assess the conditions once we got there. It was a cracking morning as the overnight storm clouds gradually lifted revealing the majestic Swiss Alps in their snow covered glory. The snow lay thick on the ground but the path was still obvious – well until we reached the Pass de Chevres! Reaching the pass, the Cheilon Glacier lay below us with the Cabane des Dix in view now. We descended the ladders carefully and the next 1.5hrs were a bit tricky – a snow covered boulder field made progress slow but soon we were across the glacier and ascending to the Hut. It had been an adventure even reaching the hut. At a height of nearly 3000m and a lofty position it is situated in a spectacular position with Mont Blanc de Cheilon dominating the location. A near empty hut saw us have the luxury of a dormer room to ourselves. The evening meal was great and we settled down for the night planning to have a look at La Luette in the morning…. Monday morning and the weather was looking good. We didn’t leave too early but still manged to watch the sunrise as we headed towards La Luette and its glacier. A small lake provided a grand mirror and photo opportunity for the sunrise. Soon we were putting our gear on for the glacier crossing. The fresh dump of sow had obscured any track that may have shown on a dry glacier so we proceeded with caution! We progressed well but with about 200m to go of the crossing we decided to turn around. Large crevasses and the unstable top layer of snow being enough for us to retreat! The situation was superb and we stopped again to get more photos, taking our time descending to the hut! A brief bite to eat and we were on our way again – back to Arolla and reversing our previous days adventure – glacier crossing, ladders, hike to the valley. Lower down the landscape had transformed from the previous day and the Alpine meadows had returned to their green status after a monochrome day the day before!
Back at the car and we made plans for the following two days adventure TBC!
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WilkieMurraySome thoughts and reports from my outdoors activties... Archives
August 2017
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