Hiking (mountain trail, in places narrow and exposed)
Alpine route (equipped or very exposed section, snow field, blocks)
R106
Anzeindaz » Col du Demècre
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10h15 |
25.3 km
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2897 m
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2428 m
Leave Anzeindaz via the Col des Essets heading southward. The pass trail leads down to Pont de Nant. From here, dip into the Vallon de Nant valley and climb over the Col des Perris Blancs up to the Alpe la Tourche. Continue on the high-altitude trail to the Alp Rionda and further along following the southern flank of the Dent de Morcles to the Col du Demècre pass, the stage destination.
Leave Anzeindaz walking between the two marsh areas in a southward direction. The trail takes a gentle incline over pastureland with numerous rock boulders. On reaching the Essets pass, pass some rocky outcrops and head down into the wide Plan de Bouis mountain valley. The mountain path leads gradually into the valley to the La Vare alpine huts. From here, follow the alpine trail down into the valley, past Alp Richard to the Pont de Nant bridge, a popular excursion destination, with the Thomasia alpine garden. Here, turn into the little Nant valley, which is under nature protection and where there are numerous information panels on the particularities of this valley, and follow the mountain stream until reaching Alp Nant. After around 1.5km, the climb to the Perris Blancs pass begins: first comes the climb to the Les Martinets terrace, followed by a walk over the moraines up to the pass crossing. The climb is rewarded with a unique panorama stretching from Mont Blanc to the Genfersee lake. The descent from the Perris Blancs pass to La Tourche requires you to be extremely careful, as parts of the mountain trail were blasted out of the rocks. After the rocky terrain, head down on a grassy ridge to the La Tourche hut. The alpine trail continues on a level course to the Rionda Alp. From here, the rock trail leads to the Demècre pass, which in several exposed parts requires you to be sure of foot and free of vertigo. This demanding part of the trail can be circumvented by taking the route from the Rionda Alp via L'Au d'Arbignon and Chalet Neuf to the Demècre pass. Both routes meet in Dzéman, after which follows another steep climb to the Demècre pass, the stage destination. Finally, the extraordinary view into the Unterwallis and Oberwallis largely makes up for the strains of the day.
(Schweizer Wanderwege).
Natural and cultural heritage
Nant Valley The little Nant valley has been a cantonal nature reserve since 1969 and has been included on the inventory of landscapes and natural monuments of national importance since 1996. A harsh climate and the Martinets glaciers affect the narrow valley’s vegetation. Over 1,000 different plant species grow on the calciferous earth. These are essentially pioneer plants, as the rock boulders and stony terrain create niches protected from the wind for them. This vegetative abundance was the reason for which the valley was placed under protection back in 1969. The Thomasia alpine garden in Le Pont de Nant offers an insight into the plant diversity. It houses over 3,000 plant species, streams flow through the miniature alps and, between rocky hills, you will find all of the mountain flowers that occur naturally in the Nant valley. In the 1960s, the army wanted to establish a training ground there for its tanks. But conservationists drew attention to the great species diversity in the valley and succeeded in preventing the sale of the valley to the army. (Schweizer Wanderwege)
Useful topographic maps
272T St-Maurice ~ Swisstopo (1: 50'000)
Grand-St-Bernard / Dents du Midi-Les Diablerets ~ Kümmerly und Frey AG, 3052 Zollikofen (1: 60'000)
Useful guidebooks
Unterwallis / Waeber/Steinbichler ~ Bergverlag Rudolf Rother GmbH (ISBN 3-7633-4128-5)
Du Léman à Sion / André Beerli ~ Editions Ketty & Alexandre (ISBN 2-88114-026-2)
Comments
Favourites, criticisms ? Make your personal comments on this stage. For more general notes please use the comments section of the page Over to the Via Alpinists.
Mountain Girl - 2011-10-30
I stayed at La Vare and highly recommend it. A clean, cozy dortoir in a setting that does resemble Mongolia. Instead of yaks, there are plenty of black cows to watch. The guardian and staff are very friendly and helpful. Supper was a savory lentil dish, prepared with locally-plucked herbs. Dessert was an outstanding Breton pie. What a welcome change from normal hut food!
Le Richard is far more "basic", to put it kindly. I believe the 'beds' are on straw in the barn. No showers that I could see. (Le Vare doesn't have showers either.) On the plus side, you may get to watch grandmere et grandpere making cheese at Le Richard, in a scene unchanged from the last century.
Pont de Nant is at the trailhead, with a large parking lot and lots of day hikers. Anzeindaz also had TONS of day hikers when I passed through in August 2011.
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Daniel - 2010-10-17
I stayed at Pont de Nant (Dorms), which is very comfortable, but has uninterested staff and a generator running all night. But OK if the need a showed or electricity to charge your laptop. But I passed le Richard (which has dorm too), and would have liked to stay there! They sell cheese at le Richard too.
La Vare looks OK too. When you pass there you feel you are BACK in Mongolia.
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Daniel - 2010-10-17
The valley of the Nant is very spectacular in beauty. The military wanted to make this an artillery testsite, instead it was turned into a natural reserve. Going south, it first looks easy but the climb to the Col des Perris Blancs steadily gets steeper. Watch the old army barrack near the col.
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Daniel - 2010-10-17
Between Dzéman (spelling!) and Rionda we follow the Rhone way up. This is a spectacular view, the Mont Blanc and the other end the Geneva Lake. On the other side Les Dents Blanc which we passed the day after yesterday (or tomorrow). Rionda is an abandoned military barrack where you can get water. (last waterpoint until Demecre (incuded))
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Daniel - 2010-10-17
The relatively new Col de Demecre Refuge used to be an army barrack for soldiers who manned a gun to shoot off enemies rowing up the Rhone. There seems to be an advanced tunneling system under here. Now the refuge is proudly build and run by a local community. During winter you must enter the building by the roof! There is NO running water in or near the hut.
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Lou Papé - 2009-08-02
Ne pas hésiter à passer la nuit au refuge de La Vare afin de couper cette très longue étape: accueil très sympa du gardien (un berger corrèzien), repas délicieux et abondant, dortoir impécable. Malheureusement, sa compagne (une bretonne spécialiste des crèpes) était absente lors de notre passage.
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Lou Papé - 2009-07-28
Un must comme étape avec comme récompense au col des Perris Blancs une vue fantastique sur le Mt Blanc et sur le lac de Genève
|
10h15 |
25.3 km
|
2897 m
|
2428 m
Favourites, criticisms ? Make your personal comments on this stage. For more general notes please use the comments section of the page Over to the Via Alpinists.