A 17-km Stretch of the "Chemin des Bisses" from Haute-Nendaz to Veysonnaz

Thursday August 31, 2023 -- After many days of rain (and in some regions so heavy there were landslides and flooding, plus snow to 2000 meters in the mountains), the weather forecast for Canton Valais/Wallis was showing an improvement for the coming weekend.

We have long wanted to do a very long hike in the Baltschieder Valley near Visp, and the idea was to spend three days in the region, and tackle this hike on the first day, as we could reach the starting point of the hike in just over three hours from home. On day two we would do an irrigation channel hike in the Haute Nendaz region, which takes so long to get to that we cannot do this in a day trip. But we suspected that after so much rain, there would still be too many clouds in the mountains, and for the Baltschieder hike we needed perfect weather. 

So to be safe, we did the irrigation channel hike first, traveling over four hours to get to the starting point of our hike in Haute-Nendaz. Our suspicions were confirmed in that the day was fully overcast, and also quite cold still. (In that case it was still better that we walked at a lower elevation). Even though the 4½-hour and 17-km hike to Veysonnaz along two separate old irrigation trails (first the "Bisse Vieux" and then the "Grand Bisse de Vex") was mostly through forest, I had hoped for a few moments of sunshine to better photograph the views we had into the Rhône Valley. Furthermore, most of my photos along the way turned out dark and blurry.

We had reserved a hotel in Brig for the night, having to travel 1 hour and 20 minutes from the endpoint of our hike. We were pleased with the hotel room, relatively close to the train station and right next to the Saltina River, so we could hear the rushing water at night. It was a shame that the hotel was booked out for the next night as we would have liked to spend the second night there as well....

We left home at 5:40 in the morning, as it was over four hours of travel to get to our destination. When we got to Sion at 9:00, the day was actually looking pretty promising. This is the Basilisque de Valère which reigns over the city of Sion. 

A view over the city of Sion as we head up the mountain to Haute-Nendaz

A look down at the Rhône Valley, and into the stunning side valley down which flows the Lizerne River. We walked out of that valley from Derborence almost exactly five years ago in August 2018, those fantastic photos are HERE.  In the meantime, that trail is no longer passable.

Haute-Nendaz is not as busy in summer as in winter. Because of its popularity as a winter resort town, there are lots of vacation apartments here. These ones had some nice balconies.

We spotted a lovely Eurasian Jay

From the bus stop at the cable car station we had about a 15-minute walk to the west end of the first irrigation channel we were walking along. This is a look down at Haute-Nendaz from the level of the irrigation channel.

Bisse Vieux (translates to "Old Irrigation Channel") ends here at Haute-Nendaz, having its origin in the Nendaz Valley near Planchouet. It is 7 km long and was first created before 1658! It still transports water to the farms in the Haute-Nendaz region. Trail no.58 is a 105-km regional themed trail called "Chemin des Bisses", or "Irrigation Channel Trail". 

This is the entire 14-km stretch we walked, starting with "Bisse Vieux" in Haute-Nendaz (end of the channel) to Planchouet, where we then followed the "Grand Bisse de Vex" to Veysonnaz. The second part of the hike was the more interesting one. We started at 9:50, and caught the bus back to Sion at just after 4:30 p.m. 

PART I:  First section was about 6-7 km along the Irrigation Channel called "Bisse Vieux" to a small hamlet called Planchouet further back in the "Val de Nendaz" . We took a break in a restaurant there and had a cup of coffee, desperately necessary as I was falling asleep from the long trip and not having had coffee before we left!

Starting off along the Bisse Vieux

This is pretty typical of most of the irrigation channels we have walked so far, which are many. 

Along the channel are sluice gates, which are used to control which pastures receive water. Back hundreds of years ago there were strict regulations for the use of the water, as this region is very dry and lacks water. Building these channels was dangerous work and many lives were lost in procuring this precious commodity. (On this stretch not so dangerous). 

As we round the corner, we now start heading into the Nendaz Valley. At the back of the Valley is the reservoir lake called "Lac de Cleuson", which we walked around in August of 2021.

A close-up look at the back of the Nendaz Valley to the Cleuson Dam. In 2021 when we walked around that lake and down to Siviez, we had much better weather and there was no snow like this in August! Those photos are HERE.

Easy walking

A look out of the Nendaz Valley toward the Rhône Valley. On the other side is the town of Veysonnaz, which we will walk past (above) later.  

The most interesting part along this irrigation channel was this section with the steps. 

There is a wood carving of a hand catching a section of "detoured" water here and releasing it back into the main stream, suggesting that water is just a borrowed commodity (so read the sign next to this art piece). 

Looking down the steps

Another small interesting section. 

The rest of the way to Planchouet was pretty standard irrigation channel 

We often encounter sculptures created by locals out of cut tree stumps

These are small dwarves!

Getting closer to Planchouet, there are many chalet-style houses along the way

Trail no.58: "Chemin des Bisses", and here in particular "Chemin des Bisses de Nendaz". From here there are four separate irrigation channels you can walk along: "Old Channel", "Middle Channel", "Lower Channel" (those three all lead to Haute-Nendaz or Basse-Nendaz) and the "Large Vex Channel" leading to Veysonnaz (which we are following next). Further up the mountain here is a fourth channel which starts in Siviez toward the back of the Nendaz Valley. It is called the "Grand Bisse de Saxon" and is the longest irrigation channel (26 km) in Canton Valais. (Nicknamed the "Roi des Bisses", or "King of the Channels") 

Just across the Printse River is the hamlet called Planchouet. We took a small detour from the official trail to stop at the restaurant in the center of the photo. 

"Restaurant des Bisses". We stopped here for coffee. We sat inside, because without the sunshine, it was actually too cold to sit outside!

This is my dream home: Small, and in the middle of a meadow. 

Down the road from the restaurant, before getting back on the trail, is a small chapel we wanted to visit. There was a class outing on this day, lots of kids here!

It's not an old chapel, built in 1931, but all the wood details were pretty. 

On this side of the Printse River, besides the "Grand Bisse de Vex", there is another one higher up the mountain called the "Ancien Bisse de Chervé" which is the one we walked along two years ago. Later, further down below Veysonnaz is another one called "Bisse de Salins". This region is the Eldorado of irrigation channels. 

PART II:  From Planchouet we walked another 10 kilometers (2½ hours ) along the "Grand Bisse de Vex" which also has its origin from the Printse River. We walked past Veysonnaz right to the end of the channel at Mayens-de-Sion, where we caught a bus back down to Sion. This irrigation channel was one of the more interesting and varied ones we have walked (if not as vertiginous as the ones on the north side of the Rhône Valley).   

Grand Bisse de Vex, built in 1453, is 12 km long. It was abandoned in 1971, but through the hard work of an initiative committee for the reconstruction of this irrigation channel, there is water flowing all the way to Veysonnaz and past it to Mayens-de-Sion (we walked right to the end). This was one of the most varied channels we have walked along. 

The trail starts on a wide road but soon changes to a narrow path. 

A look behind us again into the Nendaz Valley

Already the first interesting section, wooden troughs on stilts, to make sure the water flow has the right slope (it is fascinating how the channels are built so they seem level, but have just the slightest slope along the entire stretch to keep the water flowing). 

On the other side of the Nendaz Valley the mountain is full of vacation houses mostly. This is "upper" and "lower" Nendaz (Haute-Nendaz and Basse-Nendaz)

Ahead of us we get a glimpse of Veysonnaz and the Rhône Valley below.  

In some places the water is directed through pipes, plastic or concrete. 

A few other people were walking this trail, but not many. 

Different types of channels (wood, plastic, steel) and sometimes hanging from bridges

It gets interesting near the cliffs, when you imagine that this rock had to be chiseled off with hand tools (before dynamite and gunpowder were invented). 

More interesting sections

Some sections receiving an upgrade!

VIDEO:

A 3½-minute video as we walk along some of the sections of the Grand Bisse de Vex.

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Across another small side valley is a tiny hamlet called Verrey. Our trail is below it. 

Close-up look at Verrey. Unfortunately our trail didn't pass through this hamlet. 

My favourite section!

We are now passing above Veysonnaz, with a look across a at Haute- and Basse-Nendaz and the Rhône Valley below.  

We could have caught a bus in Veysonnaz, but wanted to walk all the way to the end of the irrigation channel in Mayens-de-Sion (another 30 minutes) 

A small church (Chapelle des Mayens-de-Sion) tucked away in the forest across from the bus stop. But it was locked, so we didn't get to look inside. 

The region around Val de Nendaz and Val d'Hérémence is called the "Quatre Vallées", or "Four Valleys". These are the hikes we have done to date in this area. 

On the bus ride down the mountain along a winding road and through these very narrow village roads!

Heading back down to the city of Sion

Urs had noticed these paintings on a building on the way up and pointed them out to me. Clever painting to make flowers and trees and birds and butterflies look like faces. 

Once again a nice look at the Basilisque de Valère

Also on the same hill above Sion are the ruins of the "Chateau de Tourbillon"

PART III: Trip back to Brig for our first overnight in Canton Valais, in preparation of our very big hike the next day. We stayed at a different hotel this time, the "Good Night Inn", close to the train station but no through traffic. We had a room above the Saltina River, and although I love the sound of rushing water, we had to close the window in the middle of the night as the sound was too loud! We wished we could have stayed both nights here, but the hotel was booked solid for the weekend. 

After our hike was finished and we were on our way to Brig, that's when the skies cleared and we had sunshine! This is the Pfyn-Finges Forest across from Leuk, one of the largest coherent pine forests in the Alps. We walked through here on Aug.1, 2021, those photos are HERE

Pretty flowers in the city of Brig, on the way to our hotel (town center). We've been here many times, so we didn't do the city visit this time. 

We found a nice restaurant for our dinner

This was our hotel (outside photo from their website), and the view down to the Saltina River and across Brig to the Stockalp Palace. 

The hotel apparently has a very nice model railway display, unfortunately only available for group viewing (would have been nice for Urs). But they had several displays of very intricately-built models of relevant historical buildings in the region. One can only imagine how intricate the model railway display is! (Stockalp Palace top right and bottom left, the main building of note in Brig). 

The price of the room included a substantial breakfast buffet! It was really a very good deal!

Location of Nendaz in Switzerland