...continued from Part B: 14 to 16.8.2011 (Please refer to http://happyotrekker.blogspot.com/2011/09/walker-haute-route-part-b-14-to-1682011.html).
WHR Day 7: Hôtel des Alpes, Arolla Les Haudères to Au Gite de Saint Jean, Grimentz (Up900m and Down670m)
After breakfast, we ride by van to Le Cotter (2013m) to begin our hike. We ascended up beautiful meadows and pastures, over the Col de Torrent (2919m) and down to the turquoise Lake Moiry (2250m). Mountains sighted along the way included Dents de Veisivi (3418m), Pigne d’Arolla (3476m) and Dent Blanche (4357m). Eight of us decided to explore the Moiry Dam and to follow up with a short bus ride to Grimentz while the energetic seven opted to trek from the dam through the forest and small gorge instead. The ancient village of Grimentz is most picturesque and historic village in the Alps. Trekking time was about 6 hours.
WHR Day 8: Au Gite de Saint Jean, Grimentz to Hotel Schwarzhorn, Gruben Meiden (Up760m Down960m)
In the morning, we were transported by minibus to an elevation of 2030m at Saint Luc to begin our hike along the Planet trail which passes by Francois-Xavier-Bagnoud Observatory. After the Saturn monument, we left the dirt road and took the trail which winded gently upwards through alpine pasture before a steep climb to Meidpass (2790m) and into the German speaking region. From Meidpass, the trail zigzaged steeply before leveling off near Lake Meidsee where we had a fantastic mountain view of Bishorn (4153m) and Weisshorn (4506m) despite the cloudy sky. Soon after, it was steep downhill descent and a passing through a lovely larch forest before reaching Hotel Schwarzhorn, Gruben (1825m). Along the way, we had the chance to pass by grazing Wallis Blacknose sheep (In German: Walliser sheep). Total trekking hours totaled 7 hours.
WHR Day 9: Hotel Schwarzee Horn to Hotel Tannenhof (Up1070m and Down900m)
Before sunrise, we were up to begin our uphill hike through larch forests, alpine meadows and rocky terrain to Augsbordpass (2894m), our final mountain pass. After enjoying the fabulous views at the top it was a long downhill and traverse through rocky terrain before we finally reached Jungu Cable station (1988m). Ten of us rode the cable cars below to St. Niklaus (1120m) while three energetic members trekked all the way down. From St Nicklaus, we were transported to Zermatt (1620m) and saw the iconic Matterhorn (4478m) standing like a sentinel watching over the car- free town, with the exception of electric taxis and buses. The trek to the Jungu station took about 7 hours.
Trekking mates: Choong Lai Cheng, Catherine Mak, Christina Goh, Chin Mee Poon, Lee Beng Eng, Dr Ng Ban Che, Law Chin Teong, Barbara, Christine, Monic, Jorge Costa, Armando Sobral, Manuel Pires and Sonia Tissieres (Guide).
For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/11542.
The next day four of us went for the Matterhorn Hornli Trek (http://happyotrekker.blogspot.com/2011/08/matterhorn-hornli-trek-2082011.html).
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