Haute Route 4: Lac des Dix to below the Col de Torrent - a wet night and one of the most amazing camp spots ever

Moving the tent was not enough. I still had water in the tent, my sleeping bag was wet around my feet and I had the wet tent sticking to my face. So all in all not a great night. I was pretty tired since I woke up several times, because I slid down the slope to the right hand side of the tent over and over again.

Well anyways, I got up early since I also did not want anyone to see me camping there. So I packed my stuff, made it to the end of the lake and started the climb up to the Col de Riedmatten.

It was again one of these long and steady climbs which I love so much. And I had the feeling it was getting better and better now. The performance was coming back and I did not feel as exhausted and tired as during the first days.

The last 100 meters were a scramble up over some loose rocks and scree, but then the gate opened up and the view was just spectacular. It was not raining but there was still a light drizzle coming down. But a lot better than yesterday.

I started to descend from the Col de Riedmatten. Nothing special or challenging on this part. But then the sun came out and it instantly got warm. So I stopped and pitched my tent to get it dry again. I also spread the rest of my equipment on the grass to get the moisture out of it. I found a beautifully flat and large rock for myself and took a little nap in the sun to warm up as well. I had a nice view of the Mont Blanc de Cheilon and the Pigne d’Arolla.

The nap ended when a group of Dutch day hikers came up the hill making so much noise that I woke up from it. On top of that they also decided to take a break right next to me, continuing to laugh, scream and yell around. That was too much for me, so I packed my stuff and continued.

It was a long descent of almost 1.000m from the col down to Arolla. A pretty dead town. When I arrived no shops were open, so there was no resupply or coffee for me. So I directly continued to Les Haudères even further down the valley. I got myself a big sandwich with ham and cheese, coke, coffees and planned the rest of the day.

I got some resupply in town and decided to tackle the next long climb. The sun came out again and it was just perfect for a nice and long afternoon climb. Shortly after I left town, maybe after the first 200m of the climb, I saw a little hay barn in the distance. It looked like any of these typical barns up here: maybe 6 by 6 meters in size, built into the slope of the mountain, so a bit elevated on the downslope side, and just made out of logs with a practical roof which also withstands a good amount of snow during the winter. But the closer I got I saw that this was not a barn used for hay anymore. A smart guy had refurbished the old barn and turned it into a little cabin. The entire front with a view down the valley was a big glass window, and through that I could see a fully stacked book shelf, a fully stacked kitchen and even an Italian espresso machine. He was sitting in front of the cabin reading one of his books and looked as happy as he could be. BUCKET LIST for my retirement in the next couple of years ;-))

It was only around 6pm when I was at about 2.500m and shortly before the next pass. I actually had the time to maybe make it over, but when I arrived at this spot I couldn’t resist. Against my normal behavior I decided to just stop, camp right here and chill.

It was a little plateau nestled below the pass. And the last bit of sunshine was still warming the grass next to a beautiful little tarn. At the edge of the plateau there was a massive and steep drop of around 1.000m down to the valley where I just came up from. And on the other side of the valley the snow capped mountains were peeking out of the clouds. It was one of the most amazing spots ever.

No more rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so Zinal and a little bit more should be in. I am really excited and I can feel the performance coming back. It’s so good to be out here, and this camp spot is why I come out here.