Lac de Taney, Switzerland

Bike ride up to a mountain lake

And staying in a refuge to get to know the region over a wild nature weekend.

You’ve seen it in my recent stories. I just visited the Lac de Taney region, up in the Alps of the French-speaking half of the Swiss Canton of Valais:

— — Well, it turns out I got there by bike! — —

Just like last fall,

but now spending the whole weekend in order to walk around the mountains and forests of the region, and in this way know more about this place. Well to be honest it was not my first time in the Taney region… but it was the first time that I dedicated efforts and photographs to create content for you here.

The trip

As usual, I first got my bike in the train, with all my stuff: quite a lot of water because it was a very hot day, but also clothes because up there can get cold; plus a sleeping bag to use in the refuge and some fuel for me: fruits, sandwiches, snacks, … Luckily, dinner and breakfast are available at the refuge where I stay -read on.

Just like last time, the biking trail begins at the train station of the town of Vouvry, in the valley of the Rhone river. The path goes up uninterruptedly, from 380 to 1450 m.a.s.l. That’s over 1 km difference in height, on mixed paved and gravel road, with a backpack and quite some kilos in the saddlebags. And not a light bike…

Starting at the Parking du Flon (where you can get by car or even public transportation, on a regular paved road) a very steep, gravel section begins which is only open to 4x4 vehicles. In most of it, I had to walk and push my bike. It was just too heavy and the slope too steep to ride!

Riding up

Google says 1h 42min, but it took me almost 3 hours. It was too hot, I was too heavy. And I stopped many times for photographs.

Like when I saw this river, just past the Parking du Flon:

Or when the forest opened up offering wide views of the Rhone valley and the second chain of Alps:

Or when I stopped for a wild snack -the best strawberries I ever had in my life:

Or when I stopped to contemplate the pass I had to go through, up there on the right:

Reaching Taney

Like every other time, on foot by bike, I eventually arrived. Signposts of the country-wide hiking + biking association await with indications to the different places of the region, some of which I visited as you’ll know about in other stories:

The first chalets welcome the visitor with flags of the country and of the canton:

Right after, the small alpine lake of Taney:

I immediately went for the “Tour du Lac”, which I had already done several times so this one I added a small excursion away and up to one of the mountain sides that I had never explored.

The lake is full of fish (mostly trouts) that seek the warmth of the surface:

Here I’m having lunch, sitting and contemplating the lake and getting energy for the short walk to one of the few mountain sides I had never explored:

The newly explored path was worth it. It got me ideas for future hikes, and offered me a view of the bigger lake down there, which the Rhone river crosses: Lac Leman, Switzerland’s largest lake:

I was immersed in a thick forest of pine trees, lichens, mosses, and small plants:

An overnight stay to have more time to wander around

There aren’t too many places to stay overnight in Taney. I know these two refuges, both offering varied meals, sleeping places (you must bring your bag with you) even including some private rooms, all facilities including hot water, and great views of the lake because they are right at its end (actually where waters goes in):

I know both places. I’ve stayed and eaten in both. Both have interesting stories behind, that I leave up to you to discover.

This time I (just kind of randomly) picked the Refuge du Grammont. Grammont is the name of one of the mountains up there, this is a very nice one by the way! Other important mountains are the Jumelles, French for “Twins” which you’ve seen in many photos. Then behind you have the Cornettes de Bise, still snowed and on which I found the best flowers as you can see in my dedicated article:

Here are the Jumelles on the left and the pass leading to the summit of the Grammont in the center, as seen from Taney:

By resting overnight in the refuge, I could leave my stuff there and walk up some of these mountains much lighter -more on this to come soon.

After dinner, I went to the shore of the small lake and shot some night photographs. A group of youngsters had done a fire by it, and there was still some light to see the mountains…

More to come: stay tuned for the hikes around!

Including getting very close to some wild animals and unveiling a forest of orchids.

www.lucianoabriata.com I write and photoshoot about everything that lies in my broad sphere of interests: nature, science, technology, programming, etc. Become a Medium member to access all its stories (affiliate links of the platform for which I get small revenues without cost to you) and subscribe to get my new stories by email. To consult about small jobs check my services page here. You can contact me here.