High Trail from Grande Dixence Dam to Les Collons, Val d'Hérémence

(This post done on September 11, 2021)

Thursday August 26, 2021 -- This was Day 4 of our 5-day trip to Canton Valais. For a long time now we have wanted to visit the Grand Dixence Dam, which is the world's largest gravity dam, and the fifth highest dam in the world! But it is far back in a side valley South of the Rhône Valley (Val d'Hérémence) and certainly not possible for us as a day trip, but from our little rented studio in Saxon, only a 90-minute trip!

(Side note: Lac des Dix, created by the Grande Dixence Dam, as well as Lac de Cleuson which we had visited two days earlier, are both part of the Grande Dixence complex which includes four pumping stations and three production plants, producing 20% of Switzerland's storage energy.)

We had first laid eyes on the dam in August 2018 when we also spent a week in Valais discovering side valleys, and we had done a hike on Mont-Rouge (Thyon), which is also part of 4-Vallées and on the ridge that separates Val d'Hérémence from Val Nendaz (where we had been two days earlier). [Those photos are HERE]. 

Our plan was to start at the Grand Dixence Dam (another fabulous bus ride on a winding road to right below the dam, from where we took a short cable-car ride to the top) and walk along the entire high trail high above Val d'Héremence and back to Thyon. It was going to be a hike of over five hours (in the end, more than 17 km) and we were not able to return to our little studio for the fourth night (to our great disappointment, it was already rented out for that night), so we found a hotel right at the very end of the trail in Les Collons, where we could end the hike without having to take public transit! 

This was the first day where we had no clouds at all and the weather was perfect for this hike. But in the end, the distance did start to take its toll, and as it was getting late in the afternoon we also ran into cold and shady sections. But then all the fatigue disappeared when we rounded a corner to find THREE ibex on or near our hiking trail! We stood still and watched them, and even though they had seen us come, they didn't move from their grazing. That is an advantage to hiking later in the day: The wildlife comes out to graze. That was definitely the highlight of this trip!

As we head to the back of Val d'Hérémence by bus from Sion, we are pleased that we finally have a day without cloud cover!

After another one of those bus rides along hairpin turns to the base of the dam, you can either walk up to the top of the dam (40 minutes) or save yourself 230 uphill meters by taking the Grande Dixence cable car! It transports only 8 people at a time, and we were very lucky because right behind us was a tour bus full of older gentlemen, probably coming for a tour of the inside of the dam! (It was a 4-minute ride....)

On our way up to the top of the dam with the Grande Dixence Téléférique

At dam level, we watch as the next group comes up by cable car!

A short walk behind the dam to see the lake. It's a very big lake and we cannot see around the corner

Information panels on the dam indicate that it is 200m wide at its base, and almost 300m high! And it required 6 million cubic meters of cement to build. (Built between 1951 and 1961)

And we're off to Les Collons where we had reserved a hotel room. Minimum 4.5 hours. But with a couple of detours and retracing our steps to a restaurant at the end, we walked over 5 hours this day!

Watching the Grande Dixence cable car arriving at the summit station

It only took 90 minutes to get from our accommodation in Saxon to the the Grande Dixence Dam. We walked at least five hours and 17 km to our hotel for the night in Les Collons. 

Heading off down the valley now, this is one of many looks behind us at this fantastic structure.

Panorama view of the Grand Dixence Dam, Lac des Dix, and the Hotel/Restaurant at the base of the dam, from where we took the cable car up to dam level. 

Up ahead is the long Val d'Hérémence, and we are walking all the way to that arrow down there, which is about 16 kilometers! (You can see part of the trail below, which first goes into a side valley to the left, before continuing ahead. 

At the back of this side valley, called Combe de Plafeuri, is a Swiss Alpine Hostel 

I had to try to get a self-timed photo of us with the magnificent dam in the background. 

Close-up view of the Grande Dixence Dam

Every time we looked behind us, I took photos! You can see the trail we are following. A very good trail and easy to walk. 

Ahead of us the view is also always basically the same. We were particularly glad that we had no clouds here, whereas on the range on the North side of the Rhône Valley, the clouds are once again hanging on the peaks. 

Even though the trail was long and always in the same direction, there were plenty of interesting sections to cross. 

It's always nice when we run across alpine flowers at these high altitudes!

A short stop to have a picnic lunch and massage my feet, then off we go again!

Another look back towards the dam

Zoomed view of the dam. The photo quality is not good with my camera, but it was impressive to see the glacier appear. We did not see this angle from the dam itself. 

Here we reached the Cabane d'Essertse where we really would have liked to support the owner by stopping for refreshments (no other patrons at this time), but it was already 4 p.m and we still had 90 minutes to go to get to our hotel, so we had to push on. 

Another look back up the Val d'Hérémence, and the Cabane d'Essertse which we just passed on the right.

Another close-up view of the Grande Dixence dam and the Vallée des Dix behind it. 

We came to an interesting section, a large steep hillside covered in avalanche fences, and made our way downhill winding in and out among them. We had a lot of late afternoon shade here!

I think daisies are such a happy-looking flower. 

AND THEN WE ROUNDED THE CORNER and discovered this beautiful ibex on the trail (usually it's cows!). It saw us, but did not run away. Simply crossed and made its way into the brush below the trail. This was surely not more than 10 meters away. 

A beautiful ibex on our hiking trail, not more than 10 meters away. By the ridges on its horns, this one is about 8 years old. 

And right below the trail, even closer, was a big male almost hidden in the brush! What a fabulous experience to be so close to them! They knew we were there, but did not run away. This is the advantage of hiking in early evening, when the wild animals come out to graze. 

See, he noticed us. Kept right on grazing. By the ridges on his horns, he would be at least 12 years old. 

The ibex from the trail came to join the larger one in the brush

And then we spied another one just above us, looking down at us! This is a much younger one, about four or five years old!

VIDEO:

Three ibex were on or near our trail, grazing in the cool early evening!

What a fantastic experience to watch them. The best part of this day's hike. 

(This is my own video, can be watched in YouTube)

     

As we then moved on and looked back, we saw the beautiful ibex further down the hill. What fantastic horns those are!

The last section of trail before reaching the paved road in Les Collons

And then Urs also spied a female deer on the steep mountainside. This is the large variety of deer called "Hirsch", which you apparently don't see often in Switzerland. The smaller deer which we sometimes come across are called Roe Deer.  

A surprising final look at the Dixence Dam (Zoomed view) in the evening light. (This must be 16 kilometers away!)

More than five hours and 17 kilometers, we reached our hotel (more like an inn) called "Auberge de L'Ours" only to find they weren't serving dinner, and we had to go back up the road again to find an open restaurant! The hotel room was quite old and shoddy, needed lots of renovations. Was also very poorly insulated and Urs could hear the other guests... except I did not, as I slept quite soundly that night!

How the front of the dam looks on Google Satellite Maps

In this region of 4-Vallée we did the "Tour du Mont Rouge" in 2018, which is how we knew of both the Val Nendaz and Val d'Hérémence, both of which we visited during this 5-day trip. 

This photo which is NOT mine, is used by license from Wiki Commons, photographer is Jeremy Toma. This shows what the dam looks like face on. It is a fantastic structure.