The Naked Kayaker
  • Blog
    • Search the site
  • Resources
    • Complete List of Posts
    • Trip Planning 101
    • Intro to Kayaking - Course Outline
    • Where can I rent a kayak in Belgium/the Netherlands?
    • How do I get certified in NL?
    • Map of Paddling Clubs
    • Dutch-English Watersports Dictionary
  • Destinations
    • West Coast
    • Great Lakes Region
    • New York State
    • New England
    • Europe
    • Oceania
  • Water Nerd
  • About & Contact

Blog

"Believe me, my young friend. There is nothing, absolutely nothing,
half so worth doing as simply messing around in boats." 

The Wind in the Willows

A brief paddle on Lake Geneva, and a hut trip in the Alps!

10/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
The friendly cows we passed on our way up to the hut. What a perfect Swiss view!
When we recieved an invitation to Tanya and Ken's wedding in Switzerland, I jumped at the opportunity to go on another kayaking and hut trip in the Alps! My first kayaking trip in Switzerland, on Lake Brienz, was (and still is) one of my most beautiful paddling experiences, and I hoped to recreate it on another Swiss lake. We planned to attend the wedding on Saturday, do a hut trip on Sunday/Monday, and go kayaking on Tuesday before flying out Tuesday evening - busy to say the least! Before building it up too much, I'll warn you that the paddling experience was a bit disappointing, but the wedding and hut trip were wonderful! 
We spent a first short night in a small B&B in Geneva before getting a ride with one of Ken's friends (in a blue striped mustang) to the wedding in Sion. The wedding was threefold: a ceremony at the town hall in Sion, followed by a party at a ski resort at the top of a mountain (via gondola!), and a cozy evening with a super-Swiss raclette dinner at a winery (?) close to Tanya and Ken's new house. We spent the night in a beautiful B&B in Grimisuat before getting up very early to start our hut trip... Scroll to the bottom of this post for some pictures from the really scenic wedding!
Picture
I just had to include the large picture of the raclette...

A brief paddle on Lake Geneva

However, I'll start with the kayaking, since this is a kayaking blog... After an intense two-day hut trip (described below), we were ready to relax a bit in Morges, a small city on Lake Geneva near Lausanne. Passion Nautique in Morges was the only kayak rental I could find on the lake. I was hopeful, as the website says they have "advanced equipment," and the rentals were only 18 euros/hour (though I now realize I was given the 12 euro rate, so apparently they thought I was younger than 18...). I made a reservation by email, which only required giving my name and phone number - it took them a few days to respond, but that wasn't too much of an issue. 

​​The morning of the rental, we walked 20 mins with our very sore legs to the rental shop, only to realize upon arriving that we were at the shop rather than the rental base. Oops! That was my fault. At some point I had been aware of this discrepancy and had saved the correct location on my phone. But in my morning laziness I simply typed Passion Nautique and blindly followed the directions. We then walked another 30 minutes along the lake (nice views, at least) to the rental shop, which was adjacent to a city campground. 
​After having walked up and down the lake twice, we weren't so optimistic about the paddling scenery being much different. The lake is huge, and the big mountains line the southern shore.  After standing at the Passion Nautique desk for a while and finally approaching one of the employees who seemed to be ignoring me, I asked one of the high schoolers running the rental stand if she could recommend a destination. Her response wasn't particularly enlightening. She pointed me to city parks in each direction along the shoreline. By this point, Henk had bailed for a more relaxing afternoon sitting in the park. Still determined to have another Swiss paddling experience, I signed myself up and picked out the most sea kayak-looking boat available. 
Picture
A hazy summer day on Lake Geneva - the Alps in the distance.
​Off I went! I paddled a short distance west, sticking to the shoreline. As expected, it wasn't particularly interesting - similar to paddling a short way along the more developed parts of e.g. Conesus Lake in New York (+big mountains in the distance). However, there was one castle, so that was a bit of a highlight (see below)! It was pretty and green and there were plenty of swimmers out enjoying the day. I watched as a few ferry boats made their way from Lausanne to Geneva and back. 
Picture
Worn out from the previous days hikes, I returned after only an hour. However, it was still nice to get on the water. It was pretty and blue and clean enough for Henk to jump in for a refreshing swim. I've put the stats and map at the bottom of the page, past the hiking write up!

2-day hut trip in the Alps! (the real reason I'm writing this post)

The morning of the hut trip we awoke early (~6am) to catch the first bus down to Sion from Grimisuat. From there we caught another bus to Chalais, where we took a very old-fashioned telecabine (gondola) up the mountain to Vercorin. In Vercorin we bought some lunch supplies before catching another telecabine up to Cret du Midi! Even before starting the hike, we'd experienced an elevation gain of 1775 m (5800 ft). *Cue foreboding music...* In Cret du Midi we had coffee at a scenic ski resort before starting our hike along the ridge to the hut. 
Picture
Henk making his way along the ridge
Picture
Ah, ridges, always so pretty...
The hike to the hut was a gradual uphill along a ridge, with a fairly steep section towards the end. The views were breathtaking, and we got lucky with the weather (rainstorms waited until we reached the hut).  In every direction we could see snow capped mountains. We passed a few other small groups of hikers, but mostly had the trail to ourselves. 
Picture
Our hut, Cabanes Becs de Bossons, in the distance.
​There was still a little snow in shady areas at high altitude. By the time we got to the hut, we were tired but not too terribly worn out. Thanks to all the gondolas, we only had about 5 hours of hiking to reach the hut.
Picture
Cabane Becs de Bosson in the evening light
When we arrived we checked in with the cook, who seemed a bit exasperated. His fellow hutkeeper had deserted him for a resupply, and he asked us to wait a while until they came back. He spoke essentially no English, so I had a chance to practice my French! With the exception of a couple visiting from Taiwan, all other hikers seemed to be quite local. When the other hutkeeper came back, he gathered everyone into the common room and explained how the hut was organized. Most memorably, he described the bathroom situation, which was a simple system that separated pee from poop. This separation only works if you properly position yourself on the toilet, with the pee going through a grate at the front, and the poop going straight down into the put below. We also couldn't drink the water, so we were required to buy water, at 10 euros/1,5 L. In the end, we spent 40 euros on water for one night! I didn't see others buying as much water as we did, but they sure drank a lot of wine! Tough Europeans... 
Picture
View from the Cabane des Becs de Bosson, at sunrise.
At dinner time we all went to our assigned tables and had a large meal of bean salad with some sort of potato/cheese/tomato/beef casserole. By this time, Henk and I were both getting a headache. Initially we thought it was dehydration, but quickly realized we had ascended from essentially -2 m to 3000 m above sea level in 24 hours. This proved to be true as our headaches only worsened throughout the night. We also got stuck with the top bunk, which meant we were cooking. I did descend the scary ladder in the middle of the night to open the window... but then couldn't fall asleep because I was worried someone else would close it!

After a fitful night of sleep, we were happy to drink coffee the next morning! We didn't stick around the hut long, as we both wanted to descend in elevation asap. The descent followed the beautiful Vallon de Rechy - a wide green valley dotted with wetlands, rock features,  and spectacular views. The trail followed a creek, which formed just below the hut and grew along the way. Flat expanses ended in steep drops and waterfalls, followed by more flat open wetland areas. It was gorgeous! 
Picture
Vallon de Réchy, a little ways down from Cabane Becs de Bosson
To make the rest of the (long) story short: we ended up deciding to hike all the way down to the bus, rather than taking two gondolas. The lower part of the trail included steep forested hillsides appearing to be on the brink of a landslide (we got through that part quickly), then eventually a long, steep, dirt road along a number of uninhabited huts and vacation homes. Our knees and soles were not happy with us... We finally hobbled to a busstop and caught a bus to Sion, where we had dinner at a tasty falafel place run by a Syrian(?) refugee who had lived in the Netherlands for 4 years and spoke Dutch! 
Here are some more pictures from the wedding and the hike... 

Stats & Maps

The Paddle:
Date
: Tuesday, August 21st, 2018
Distance: 5 km
Duration: 1 hr
Weather: hot and super sunny, breezy

The Hike:
​Dates
: Sunday & Monday, August 19 -- 20th, 2018
Distance: ?
Duration: 5 hrs on day 1, 8 hrs on day 2
Weather: hot and sunny, a bit cloudy later in the afternoon
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Welcome!

    This is a blog about exploring the outdoors (mostly by kayak), traveling, trip planning, and coastal engineering. It currently focuses on kayaking in the Netherlands and Belgium, but previous posts cover Upstate New York, California, and much more. See the Complete List of Blog Posts for a history of the site. Looking for something specific? Search the site here.

    In addition to the blog, check out the Water Nerd section, where I write about coastal engineering and hydrology. 

    ​Happy Paddling!
    ​Nena

    Subscribe Here!

    Email updates on new blog posts, about once per month.

    Reader Tips

    Click the "Read More" link at the bottom of each summary for more photos, to see an interactive map of the route, and to read about the adventure.

    Maps in each blog post: Click the icons to learn more about the launch site (amenities) and destinations. Click the square in the bottom-left corner to see an aerial photo behind the route.
    Suggestions much appreciated!


    Archives

    December 2020
    April 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    May 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010


    Categories

    All
    Biking
    Camping
    Canoeing
    City Trip
    Distance: 00 - 05 Miles
    Distance: 05 - 10 Miles
    Distance: 10 - 15 Miles
    Distance: 15 - 20 Miles
    Distance: > 20 Miles
    Guest Post
    Hiking
    Kayak Polo
    Reflections
    Region: Belgium
    Region: California
    Region: Canary Islands
    Region: Croatia
    Region: France
    Region: Great Lakes
    Region: Greece
    Region: Italy
    Region: Netherlands
    Region: New York
    Region: New Zealand
    Region: Norway
    Region: Oregon
    Region: Portugal
    Region: Spain
    Region: Switzerland
    Region: UK
    Region: US East Coast
    Region: Vancouver
    Region: Washington
    Roadtrip
    Tide: Non-Tidal
    Tides: Non-Tidal
    Tides: Tidal
    Time Capsules
    Trip Planning 101
    Type: Bay
    Type: Canal
    Type: Channel
    Type: Fjord
    Type: Lake
    Type: Lake/Reservoir
    Type: Open Coast
    Type: River
    Water Nerd

    RSS Feed

    Click the RSS Feed link, copy the URL, and paste it into your favorite feed reader.
    Blog Expat: living abroad

    Expats Blog
© 2021 The Naked Kayaker. All rights Reserved.