Monday August 2, 2021 -- To escape the firework celebrations in our home city of Zug we traveled to Valais on Sunday to a spend a night in a small community where we might be spared the hours of excessive noise. After a 12-km walk on Sunday evening through the Pfyn-Finges forest (photos HERE), we did have a nice quiet night in a rented studio room near Leuk.
There are many hikes in the mountains which we still plan to do in this area, but after all this rain, we were pretty sure that even with the sunny forecast, there would be "fog" on the mountains, which was indeed the case. Our plan was to stay lower down and discover another one of the spectacular irrigation channels which are so much a part of the history of this Canton. Back in 2016 we had walked from St.Léonard to Sion along the Bisse de Clavau (built in 1453), primarily through the acres and acres of vineyards here, which actually depend on the water from this irrigation channel. But there was an entire section of the irrigation channel from its origin in the Lienne Gorge which we had yet to discover. In October 2019 it had been our plan to do this, but a section of the trail was closed. (Those photos are HERE, we hiked into the gorge on the opposite side of the valley along a vertical cliff face where formerly another irrigation channel, the Bisse du Sillonin had carried water). So we finally had the opportunity to do this.
The hike we did started in the village of Botyre (in the community of Ayent), which is home to the Musée des Bisses, an exhibition dedicated to the history of the construction and use of these life-giving channels, and after descending into the gorge and walking along the channel back to St.Léonard, we returned by bus to the museum in Botyre and spent some time learning a few additional facts about these ancient constructions, which cost many people their lives.
In the Middle Ages, the area was mostly used to raise cattle, and the dry climate required a clever solution to transport the water from the higher elevations. Communities got together and built wooden channels which were attached to vertical cliffs, or tunnels and channels were carved directly out of the cliffs. Those who helped received watering rights, and those who didn't had to pay for the right to use the water, which was very strictly regulated according to which families participated in their construction.
There are hundreds of these channels in the Valais, many of them still in active use, and several converted into walking trails. And all of them make for interesting excursions.....
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| Leaving Gampinen (Susten) early morning after spending a night in a rented room here. As we guessed, the clouds were hanging on the mountains although the weather was otherwise good. A bus ride from here to Leuk, then a train to Sion in the French part of Valais. |
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| This whole area is a major wine-producing area. The terraces of vineyards are magnificent. |
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| From Sion we took a bus to Botyre to the start of our hike. Across from this cute chapel is the Botyre "Musée des Bisses" which we returned to visit later on after our hike. (It only opened at 2 p.m., but we did want to start our hike here, so we simply came back at 3 p.m.) |
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| An interesting old house in Botyre |
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| Heading downhill from Botyre toward the Liène River Gorge, our plan is to first climb up that hill for a view. This was the location of the former Chateau d'Ayent, but there isn't really anything of it left worth seeing. |
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| At the top of the small hill we did indeed get a very nice view of the Rhône Valley, and the Clavau irrigation channel below as it heads out of the Liène Valley, turning westward to provide water for all the vineyards between here and Sion. It was a good choice not to go up into the mountains, as the clouds stayed on the peaks for most of the day. |
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| Above the village of Botyre is the recreation village of Anzère, completely invisible in the low-lying clouds. There is one more irrigation channel up there which we have not yet walked along (Bisse de Sion), but this would have been a bad choice for this day. |
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| From the hilltop we can also see up the Liène Valley. From here we are heading down the forested section below those cliffs, to river level at the arrow. And then we are walking out of that valley. The town in the center on the other side is Icogne. |
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| At the foot of the hill is a tiny cluster of houses called "La Place" which invited us for a quick look around before descending to the river. |
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| After climbing the small hill to the site of the former Chateau d'Ayent, we descended into the Liène gorge, then walked along the Bisse de Clavau irrigation channel to St. Léonard. Initially we were going to continue along the channel below Grimisuat to Sion, but we have walked that stretch before. After the hike, we returned via train/bus to Botyre to visit the Museum |
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| A short descent through the forest and we're down near the river. (We did a small detour in the direction of Icogne to where a small bridge crosses the river, but that was nothing notable). To the South is the Bisse de Clavau irrigation channel trail. Initially we were going to walk to Sion, but ended our hike in St.Léonard. |
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| Lush vegetation here at the bottom of the gorge. And a cute butterfly. |
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| An information panel lets us know that the Bisse de Clavau was constructed in 1453 to water the vineyards of Ayent, Grimisuat and Sion. It is 7500m in length and passes through the ravine and the steep hillsides of Clavau |
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| Walking through the Liène Gorge |
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| We always enjoy walking these old irrigation trails, although this one was nowhere near as challenging as some of the other ones we've done! |
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| To the left a steep drop into the gorge. Straight ahead it looks like a dead end. Where does it go from here? Where is the trail? The answer was right behind Urs.... |
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| THIS is the continuation of the trail.... I barely squeezed through, Urs had a much harder time, especially with the backpack... |
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| A short section of tunnel was barely wide enough to turn around in. You have to turn on the lights before you go through, otherwise the darkness is pretty complete.... |
VIDEO:
Urs walking along a section of the Clavau Irrigation Channel Trail
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| On the other side of the Liène Gorge is where the old Sillonin Irrigation Channel used to run. We walked along that in 2019, when we were hoping to return along this side. THAT one made me nervous! |
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| Never a boring step on the Irrigation Channel Trails. |
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| Looking back up the Liène Gorge |
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| Up to this point the old irrigation channel had disappeared and we had just been following its original path, but here water is fed into the channels, and the Bisse de Clavau is in full modern use. |
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| For most of the way, the channel looks like this. |
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| A glimpse of one of the vineyards on the steep hillsides inside the gorge. |
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| And sometimes the water disappears into tunnels! |
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| More and more beautiful lush vineyards. |
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| The irrigation channel continues out of the gorge along that line of trees |
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| As we get further out of the Liéne Gorge, we get a better look at the vertical rock face on the other side, where the Bisse de Sillonin originally transported water from the same river to the vineyards opposite... |
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| More vineyards |
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| More vineyards |
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| A look back at the gorge! And the vineyards we crossed, and the hill we first climbed (on the left) |
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| A final look at the vertiginous trail on the other side (additional photos of what that trail looks like close up are at the end of this album). |
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| As we reached the Rhône Valley above St. Léonard where the irrigation channel heads westward, we decided to end the hike here by descending to St.Léonard, instead of continuing along the irrigation channel to Sion. |
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| A final look up the Liène Gorge as we head down to St.Léonard |
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| Heading down to St.Léonard |
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| This hike, including the two detours, did take almost three hours. Walking toward Sion would have been about 30 minutes longer. From St.Léonard, we took the train to Sion and the bus back up to Botyre to visit the Museum |
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| The landmark monument of the city of Sion: The Château de Valère |
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| On the bus ride up to Botyre and the communities of Ayent, a trip we have done many many times over the years, I am always fascinated by these terraced vineyards on the steep hillsides. |
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| Just before reaching Botyre, and out of the bus window, another look at the hill we first climbed, and another irrigation channel higher above the Liène Gorge: That one is part of the Grand Bisse de Lens, one that we walked along in 2020. |
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| This beautiful building called the "Painted House" (La maison Peinte) was built exactly 400 years ago and houses the Museum of the Irrigation Channels (Musée des Bisses). This is a unique architectural monument in Canton Valais. |
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| A panel outside the museum informs us that a "Bisse" is an artificial channel with a very slight slope which transports water from rivers or waterfalls to agricultural regions. |
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| Frankly, the structure itself interested me more than the contents. But Urs has long wanted to visit this museum. Most of the information relayed here we have already learned over the years of walking along the channels. |
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| I found the sign "Attention à la tête" rather amusing.... |
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| Repairing an irrigation channel in 1933!!! |
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| My favourite exhibit: An interactive map which shows all the irrigation channels in Canton Valais. Apparently at one point there were 600 in operation (1800 km). Currently, 200 of these are still in operation. We have walked along many of them on the North side of the Rhone River. |
HERE is a very interesting article from the website https://www.les-bisses-du-valais.ch/ |
| The Musée des Bisses (Formerly "La Maison Peinte"). I was more interested in this building than in the exhibits.... |
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| Lots of many nice details on "The Painted House" |
VIDEO:
On the museum grounds is a sample of such an irrigation channel. As the water turns the paddle-wheel, there is a knocking sound. If the guardian of the irrigation channel heard the knocking, he knew that the water was flowing smoothly. If not, he had to go find out where the channel was blocked, which was sometimes very dangerous work.
This clock in the foyer of the museum has nothing to do with the irrigation channels, but I've never seen anything this unique!!
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| And back down in the Rhône Valley, heading Northeast again from Sion to Visp and then through the mountains to home, we get one final glimpse of the Pfyn-Finges Forest where we had walked the day before. |
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| This map shows all of the irrigation channels we have hiked along in the Ayent region and the Liène Gorge. There is another long trail above the Bisse d'Ayent (Bisse de Sion) which we have not done yet. It was an option for this day, but unfortunately hidden in clouds. |
As a side note, here are a few photos taken two years earlier when we followed the Bisse de Sillonin up the Liène Valley, on the other side of the valley. We had really wanted to discover the back portion of the Bisse de Clavau during that hike (purple line in the map above) but a sign told us the trail was closed, so we didn't go down to river level at the time. But the following photos show today's side of the valley, without the clouds! And also how vertiginous the crossing of the Bisse de Sillonin was!
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| As we walked along the Bisse de Sillonin in 2019, we spotted the Bisse de Clavau below, on the other side of the Liène Gorge. At the time, our plan was to return out of the valley along that trail. But it seems the trail was closed (it was October). |
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