rel="nofollow" href="#ulink_2e92e8d3-44d8-5076-9f9f-ddf9b692c601">1:2). The hut enjoys a spectacular, airy situation, with distant views of the Pennine Alps being especially memorable (www.cas-chaussy.ch).
About 4km south of Vérossaz as the crow flies, but a mite longer via the waymarked TDM trail, the charming crowded village of Mex is reached by a short but tortuous road directly from St-Maurice. Located 700m above the Rhône, with woodland both above and below, a cutting dug by the St Barthélemy stream to the south, and the Cime de l’Est soaring above the village to the southwest, Mex has considerable merit as a staging post and short-term base, from some of whose upper houses a fine view can be had of the Grand Combin in the southeast. Overnight accommodation may be found here at the local café-restaurant, Auberge de l’Armailli (see 1:2).
A path descends from the village to Evionnaz in the valley south of St-Maurice, but by following the TDM southwestward, the Salanfe basin with its large dammed lake, busy auberge and views of the south flank of the Dents du Midi, may be gained by a walk of around 3½–4hrs. However, by a combination of road and mule-path, that same basin is approached by a somewhat more circuitous route that climbs above the deep cleft of the Trient gorge near Salvan.
1:5 Vallée du Trient
The Trient valley proper begins on the outer edge of the Mont Blanc range in the snowfields of the Plateau du Trient, rimmed by the Aiguille du Tour, Aiguilles Dorées and Pointe d’Orny. From the northern edge of the plateau the fast-receding Trient glacier cascades steeply downhill to a funnel of moraines, pinewoods and pastures that spill out by the hamlet of Le Peuty which neighbours the small village of Trient, a village that’s well-known to trekkers as an overnight halt on both the Tour du Mont Blanc and the Chamonix to Zermatt Walker’s Haute Route.
The main road link between Martigny and Chamonix crosses Col de la Forclaz above Trient, and skirts the village on its way down the narrowing valley before turning southwest round a spur on the way to the French border at Le Châtelard. Before reaching that border, however, another road cuts sharply back to the right and climbs to Finhaut, built on a terrace high above the head of the Trient gorge. Meanwhile, the Trient river, boosted by the Eau Noire (which begins at the Col des Montets in France), burrows its way into a deep shaft heading northeast towards the Rhône’s valley. Walking routes stretch the length of the ever-deepening gorge, but keep to its upper reaches. That which goes from Finhaut to Vernayaz on the sunny left bank has the pick of the views, while another on the right bank, beginning at the mouth of the Vallée du Trient and ending in the Rhône valley below Gueuroz, links a series of remote hamlets: Litro, Planajeur, La Crêta, La Tailla and Gueuroz itself.
Trient, a small village visited by hundreds of trekkers every summer
While there are paths and farm tracks on both flanks, and the narrow-gauge Martigny to Chamonix railway (which carries the Mont Blanc Express) has managed to forge a route via stretches of tunnel along the north side of the gorge, the terrain is presumably too abrupt to encourage a road to be built all the way along the gorge walls – on either bank. There’s a road at the upper end, as we have seen on the way to Finhaut, and there’s another at the lower end that serves Salvan and Les Marecottes, but there’s nothing in between. So in order to find access to the Salanfe basin below the Dents du Midi, other than by the walker’s cols already mentioned, it is necessary to turn out of the Rhône valley along a minor road found on the northwest outskirts of Martigny at La Bâtiaz.
At first running parallel with the original valley road, it soon angles across the steep hillside of Mont d’Ottan, goes through a tunnel and emerges to cross the Pont du Gueuroz which spans the dramatic Gorges du Trient, here just a few paces wide with the river surging 180m below the bridge. Across this the road climbs on to the small resorts of Salvan and Les Marecottes, both of which have been built on natural shelves high above the gorge facing south and east. Salvan is the larger of the two, but hotel and b&b accommodation is available in both, while from Les Marecottes a cable car rises to Le Creusaz at 1777m for a panoramic view that includes the Mont Blanc range to the south. (Tourist information for both Salvan and Les Marecottes can be obtained from www.salvan.ch).
A narrow side road winds above Salvan heading north past the chalets of Les Granges on the way to the Lac de Salanfe. It is a narrow road too, mostly single-track with passing bays cut into the steeply wooded hillside, and with a couple of tunnels blasted through the rock, from the last of which you come out at the entrance to the Vallon de Van. This is a tight wedge of a valley; a valley of pasture and woodland with the tiny hamlet of Van d’ Haut (1371m) its only habitation reached by shuttle minibus service from Salvan and Les Marecottes in the high summer season. A short distance beyond the hamlet the road comes to a halt at Camping Van d’Haut, from where a mule-path strikes ahead to make the final 500m ascent to the Lac de Salanfe reservoir, reached by a walk of about 1½hrs from the roadhead.
‘Whether you come to climb or not,’ said R L G Irving, ‘you should see the Salanfe basin from which [the Dents du Midi] rise; its praises were sung long ago by Emile Javelle and he has not exaggerated its charm’ (The Alps).
With the ever-busy Auberge de Salanfe (see 1:2) standing at the northeastern corner of the reservoir at 1942m, the Tour Sallière apparently blocking the western end of the lake, and the SE Face of the Dents du Midi rising to its north, this is a truly dramatic and understandably popular location. No wonder the English-language interim guide to the district described it as ‘a sort of “seaside” resort for the Rhône valley townships below’. With clouds hanging in the basin it can seem a haunted place, but on clear days of sunshine it has a unique and exquisite kind of beauty.
For a brief one-off visit a stroll along the south shore of the lake will provide perspective and memorable views (clouds permitting, that is), but the north side gives more variety, especially if you head through the marshy meadows and go part-way towards the Col de Susanfe. And then there’s an undemanding 45min walk northeast of the auberge that leads to Col du Jorat on a broad path used by the TDM (described in 1:2); the col being especially rewarding for those who are unfamiliar with the east side of the Dents du Midi range.
The SAC-owned Cabane de Susanfe stands in the wild little Susanfe valley
More challenging routes for the walker include the climb to Col de Susanfe and ascent of the Haute Cime (see 1:2); the crossing of the same col (in 2–2¼hrs) to gain access to the Vallon and Cabane de Susanfe (40mins from the col) on a path that continues to Champèry; while some 530m or so above and to the south of the lake at the head of a hanging valley, the 2462m Col d’Emaney (1½hrs from the auberge) offers walkers an opportunity to make the uncomplicated ascent of
By crossing the Col d’Emaney to its south side, however, you gain a choice of routes, the easiest being a descent along the left bank of the Vallon d’Emaney to Les Marecottes or Finhaut. A second option links with the highly scenic Col de Barberine (2481m) beyond which lies the Lac d’Emosson; while a third crosses the 2451m Col de Fenestral above Finhaut. This last is part of the Tour du Ruan, of which more below.
Those longer suggestions, of course, take walkers out of the Salanfe basin, while climbers might be persuaded