HAUTE ROUTE_2013

DAY 14: GASENREID (5442 FT) TO EUROPA HUT (7283 FT)

(EUROPAWEG DAY 1)

 

Woke up at 7am. Sunny and cool with great view of the Weisshorn from our balcony in the morning sun. For breakfast at the hotel, we had coffee, bread, croissants, jam, butter, ham, cheese, eggs, apple, cereal, and yogurt. A large American family sitting at the table next to us was really excited about having hot chocolate with their breakfast.

 

We left Gasenried at 8:30am and embarked on the first of two legs of the Europaweg. Since it was opened in 1997, the Europaweg trail has served as the official finish to the Haute Route. It connects Grachen to Zermatt and winds along on the east side of the Mattertal valley at fairly high elevations most of the way. The path out of Gasenried was very steep and weaved through dense pine forests.  Late in the morning we arrived at a stunning viewpoint (Grat, 7546 ft) with a panorama of the Ried Glacier, Bietschhorn and the Bernese Alps to the north, Gasenried and Grachen in the valley below, and the Barrhorn, Weisshorn, and Matterhorn across the Mattertal valley. A few steps later we arrived at a large stone statue of St. Bernard, patron saint of the Alps.

 

After this point, we encountered two hours (not 20 minutes per Kev Reynolds) of steep traverses across loose boulders and scree. We shared the trail with the American family we saw at breakfast, and a German-speaking family with a friendly dog that was completely unfazed by the exposure. We finally left the rock fall danger zone around 1pm and found a grassy overlook to eat our lunch: 10-grain baguette, can of salty anchovies, cheese, ovaldrink (chocolate milk), left over salmon pate, nectarine, apple, and chocolate. The lunch spot came with great views of the Matterhorn, Weisshorn, and Bisgletcher.

 

After lunch we continued south over more narrow rocky terrain with exposure and steep drop-offs. We crossed a bouncy suspension bridge and eventually arrived at the Europa Hut around 4:30pm and checked into a room with three small bunk beds. The hut, situated above the town of Randa, was constructed in 1999 and is owned by the Swiss Alpine Club. It appeared to be booked almost to capacity. We relaxed on the terrace with a beer, apfelwein, and water. 

 

According to Jie’s notes, some wildlife we encountered today included ibex, black squirrels, black birds, and marmots. She also spotted three drone-like aircrafts, which Fan thought were hang-gliders.

 

Dinner was served at 6:30pm at the Europa Hut. The three courses were instant soup with bread, curry chicken with rice and canned fruit medley, and meringue with whipped cream to finish. It was just barely enough food for Jie and not enough for Fan. So we bought a slice of apple and raisin cake to supplement our dinner. We learned that the 250m suspension bridge and tunnel at the start of tomorrow’s route are closed due to rock fall. Detour options were posted at the hut. Jie’s back was feeling sore. We went to bed very early, around 8:15pm.

 

8.7 miles, 8 hours.