Adventures in the Swiss Mountains - Part 2
As I mentioned in Part 1, I love doing hikes that are more isolated and remote. So a group of friends and I started to follow this formula:
Look for a Bivaco hut. These huts are listed on the SAC website; they’re unwardened, so you won’t be served breakfast and dinner, as is the case in the wardened huts that can sleep up to 200 people… the bivacos are often intended as an intermittent shelter, used by climbers who want to summit nearby peaks. They might have basic facilities, usually an outhouse, and if you’re lucky, a stove with gas (although I never relied on it). No running water, so keep an eye out for nearby streams as you hike up.
Secondly, since hiking is a hobby, we can’t just go hiking on a weekday, so we usually try to take a Friday off. Most people who hike will go on a Saturday or Sunday. You can see if you try booking a SAC weekend hut for a Saturday night between June and August. Good luck! Unless the weather is expected to be bad, you’ll have a hard time finding a reservation.
So we started going for hikes, leaving Zurich early Friday morning and coming back Saturday. That meant finding Bivacos that are between 1.5 h and 4(max) hours away from Zurich.
With that said, let's get into some bivacos
Fusshornbiwak (2780 m)
In my top 3 Swiss huts, I almost didn’t want to share it… It's such a great spot. It's so cosy inside; they have proper duvet blankets and were recently renovated (hello, upgraded toilet —I saw them fly this in, not pictured).
It's listed as a T4, but it's not as sketchy as other T4 hikes I have done (Not sure what this means?). You’ll need to reserve this online and make sure you pick up (AND drop off) the key from the tourist office. Route details here.
Refuge-Igloo des Pantalons Blancs (3280m)
Beautiful hut. It's a T4, mainly because you have a small section that will cross over a glacier before you reach the hut. But we found it relatively easy when we did it (July). It's right under the hut so that you can see the finish line. Route details here. You’ll start your hike at the Grande Dixence Dam.
At 285 m (935 ft) high, it is the tallest gravity dam in the world, seventh tallest dam overall, and the tallest dam in Europe
A wonderful hike, from start to finish.
Salbitschijenbiwak SAC (2400m)
This one is fun. It's not so demanding and includes a fun bridge crossing. We brought a drone for the first time and managed to get some nice perspective shots of the route & hut. Route details.
That's it for Part 2. Coming up in Part 3 — A hut that looks like an orange Sumbarine.
Thanks for reading, and happy hiking!