Haute Route - Hiking From La Sage to Cabane De Moiry to Barrage De Moiry

This day was supposed to be a 10 kilometer / 6.2 mile hike, but with a lot of altitude gain and loss. The weather was perfect with crisp cool air easing our 1,600m / 1 mile ascent. We were climbing at a good pace, following the trail until it vanished into a field of wildflowers. We saw where we needed to go, but couldn’t find a way to get there. You could just hear that Pepperridge Farm guy saying, “You can’t get thar from here.” With nowhere else to go, we walked through a field, waist deep in flowers.

We took a small break by a tiny pond reflecting the mountains around us. Although it was tiny it had relatively large fish darting about. As we sat a large white furry Yeti ran by. As my father-in-law Ken gave me strict instructions to protect his daughter, I didn’t break out the camera until the danger was gone. Therefore, the only evidence we have are the photographs of the tracks of the stealthy, geographically misplaced creature.

We pushed on for the col and when we reached it, we had it to ourselves for an early lunch.

As we got close to the top we heard the warning horn of explosives. We thought they were trying to prevent avalanches, but when we reached the cabin the horns were for construction. Actually it was for destruction. The cabin was in disarray, construction vehicles were hard at work and the stench of explosives were in the air.

Call us strange, but with a choice of hanging around a construction site or hiking along a peaceful lake, we’ll take the lake. So, we walked down and headed to the restaurant and barrage (refugio) of Lake Moiry. From a culinary perspective we totally made the right choice.

The story continues...