Evolène, with its mountain peaks, is ideal for hikers. Located in the Valais region of the Swiss Alps, there are more than 250 kilometres of paths, 100 kilometres of cycle trails and spectacular alpine scenery including the magnificent Dent Blanche. For the more adventurous, there’s always Via Ferrata!
Dent Blanche (4,357m) in Val d’Hérens is just 10 kilometres west of Zermatt, home to the iconic pyramid-shaped Matterhorn. We’ve skied in Zermatt a couple of times albeit some years ago now, before POD came along. We have fond memories of the skiing there, the Bahnhofstrasse and of course the lively après-ski scene!
There’s plenty to do in the Valais region in the summer months whether you’re an aspiring or experienced hiker. As a family we love nothing more than getting outdoors and breathing in that fresh alpine air! The hike to Lac d’Arbey (1,780m) started from the pretty village of Evolène – there’s also a footpath across the hillside above Les Haudères. We were informed by the local tourist office the route would take just over an hour so we had a wander in the pretty Evolène before heading off on our hike.
What then followed was like something out of a comedy! The route initially took us along the main road and while nice enough and not busy, it wasn’t particularly interesting. JD ran back to the car in Evolène, leaving us by a log pile, so we could drive further along the road. As it happens the sign to Lac d’Arbey was just a little further on from where we’d been!
We ended up driving further on to find another car park then walking back on ourselves along the same road but from a different direction! By the time we reached the sign for the lake, we must have already walked for an hour or so. Unusually for POD she wasn’t overly impressed to hear we had an hour and 10 minutes to go (it ended up being way more than this!) so we had a slow start through the forest.
Thanks to her Wonder Woman swimming costume, POD transformed herself into a superhero and was off through the woods. We’d had a fairly gentle start to this trek but it did become steeper and harder as we progressed. The paths would alternative between dusty paths and clambering over rocks. The smell of the conifers was unreal though and we hoped to see some wildlife (marmosets especially) but I think we were too noisy. There were a few rest stops along the way and with no sign to tell us how far we’d walked or how far we had to go, we just kept walking. As if we’d turn back if we were any the wiser.
As we’d been walking for a while before we’d started the hike, and had a slow start it felt like we’d been walking for hours. We were however well rewarded as always with magnificent views through the trees. We realised how far we’d come when we caught a glimpse of the log pile, we’d waited at when JD got the car, which was a tiny dot beneath. When we were close to the what seemed like the top of the mountain, we still weren’t sure how much further we had to go as being at the summit doesn’t always mean you’ve reached your destination. We didn’t see a single person while we were hiking but when we spotted a couple of women coming down who didn’t look like they’d been walking for long, we thought we must be close.
And just over the hill, there it was – Lac d’Arbey! If I’m honest when we first saw it, it didn’t compare to the turquoise waters of Lac Bleu, but it was pretty special and the views of Dent Blanche beyond it were truly magnificent. A little further along from the lake is a buvette where we were able to enjoy a very well earned beer, rest our weary bones and take in the scenery. It’s a really interesting place with butterflies, bees and lizards aplenty. We even saw a black squirrel – sadly too slow to get a decent photograph – I think it took a minute for the words “black squirrel” to sink in!
While we could have stayed here quite happily for some time, and explored what was over the other side, we were conscious we had to get back down the mountain before we lost the light. Added to which, this unintentionally long hike was on the last day of our Swiss adventure so we had to start packing when we got back to our wonderful campsite. Unsurprisingly the walk down was pretty swift although we might have done a couple of short cuts through fields when we saw the car in the distance! We were like something out of Heidi, running down the mountain trying to stop ourselves and not break our ankles in the process! POD decided it was time for a dip in the pool when we returned to the campsite (I think we would have drowned!) and unsurprisingly we slept like logs. What an incredible day we’d had.
