Irrigation Channels and Ravines on the Valais Sunshine Trail

Wednesday May 22, 2019 -- This day was a rare nice day of late, in most parts of the country but especially in the West and Southwest. 

In Canton Valais in the South/Southwest is a trail called the "Sunshine Trail" ("Walliser Sonnenweg") which according to our map had all kinds of things we liked to do: Several stretches along the irrigation channels (German = Suonen, French = Bisses) so abundant in this dry part of the country; views up and down the Rhone Valley; a walk into a deep and narrow valley called the Bietschtal with its magnificent railway bridge attached to two almost vertical cliff faces; narrow mountain trails where you sometimes have to hold on to cables to pass; a suspension bridge and a descent into a steep gorge with a surprising passage through a tunnel through which the irrigation waters are diverted; lots and lots of wooly Valais Black-nosed Sheep; and to top it off, a sighting of an Ibex in the forest, which hikers just ahead of us had surprised on the trail. 

The Sunshine Trail lived up to its name except in the side valley, where clouds tend to concentrate. But never mind, we had lots of sunshine otherwise on this very long, as it turns out, 14-km hike from Raron to Gampel .

Side note: Whereas stork babies are drowning in their nests in the northern part of the country, here the ground is so dry that the pastures were being watered. The construction of the irrigation channels was a necessity hundreds of years ago, and a most dangerous construction as well. Over 100 lives were lost in the building and maintaining of the channels in the Bietschtal Valley where we walked, the most lives lost in any other valley. Many of the channels are still in use today. 

WARNING: Many photos!

 

The fortress church in Raron, a church we see when we pass by here on the train between Lake Geneva and Brig, one I have wanted to look at for a long time now. We planned our route to start here for this reason. Ultimately we are headed into the valley behind it.

Typical village in Canton Valais: Raron

Main square in Raron. That building on the left was built in 1702

Heading up the cobblestoned street to the fortress church, where is buried the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke

A lovely splash of colour

 

View down the Rhone Valley westward toward Lake Geneva

Fortress and graveyard

Valais black-nosed sheep, so cuddly-looking!

A steep uphill climb from here to the first irrigation channel called "NIWA"

The start of the "walkable" part of the irrigation channel. It actually comes out from the back of the valley, but that is not accessible to hikers

We followed the NIWA channel for about one kilometer toward the village of St.German

More lovely sheep grazing on the steep hillsides

Our original plan was also to walk down to St.German, but from up here it looked rather modern and we had a long hike ahead of us, so we skipped that and headed straight up the hill

Another steep ascent to the actual "Sunshine Trail" which runs East to West higher up.

Once we reached the official sunshine trail, this was a good place for lunch and for the views before heading North into the Bietsch Valley

Picnic lunch and a good long rest before continuing into the Bietsch Valley. We had already been walking for about 90 minutes

Heading into the steep and wild Bietsch Valley. There used to be a small-gauge trail running on this trail, for transporting the material required to build the railway bridge at the back. The Bietsch Valley is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Aletsch Arena"

Such a stunning construction

This is the kind of hiking I don't get tired of

Where the construction train used to run

Officially the "Sunshine Trail" continues over this bridge but we have done this before. This time we are hiking further into the valley to cross at a natural bridge and continue much higher up. 

A different view of the bridge from further back in the valley. Last time we crossed the bridge from the other direction, along the lower path.

Exciting trails

This young Alpine Ibex was hiding in the forest quite a way up the hill and was difficult to spot among the trees

Up higher on the other side of the valley, you can see the trail we took toward the back to cross at the natural bridge. (A large stone formation under which the river flows)

And now we exit the Bietsch Valley to continue Westward along the Rhone Valley

Looking back to where we started (bottom right at the church), where we met the NIWA irrigation channel, and where we entered into the Bietsch Valley

Looking down at the Fortress Church in Raron

Fortress Church in Raron

Now we get to the Jolischlucht (Ravine) with the exciting descent to join the next irrigation channel, water diverted out of the river coming out of the back of this ravine

First we cross the suspension bridge...

And then we descend the stairs to the catwalk

And then the trail just disappears into a tunnel, i.e. the water is diverted from the river to create the irrigation channel. 

This irrigation channel is called Stägeru, and it was a real adventure to walk along

These were unusual picnic benches!

Hundreds of years ago they had to access the irrigation channels to keep them clean. I find it amazing that some of these have been converted into hiking trails.

Never really dangerous, as there are cable handholds where the trail is narrow

Another last view up the Rhone Valley to the East

Our original destination at Hohtenn Village, but we were 30 minutes early for the bus, so we walked all the way down to Steg (where the church is below)

Hohtenn Dorf

In 2015 we walked the South Ramp of the BLS railway (also a popular trail) from Hohtenn Station to Ausserberg (from West to East). This time we started in the Rhone Valle at Raron, walked up to meet the South Ramp Trail (also the Sunshine Trail) and walked westward to Steg. 

This 14-km hike took us good 4.5 hours to walk, about 6 hours altogether with all the stops along the way. It was a wonderful hike, perfect weather, and my feet did not hurt at all because there was so much variety in the hike.