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The Swiss Alpine Pass Route – from Sargans to Montreux
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. Click and drag on map above to see area around trail. Click here for large zoomable map. The third section of the H2H follows the classic traverse of Switzerland – the Alpine Pass Route. Just as Switzerland is the heart of the Alps, this section is the heart of the H2H. France may have the highest peak in the Alps, Italy may have the greatest percentage of the Alps within its borders, but Switzerland is almost all Alps, and will always be synonymous with them. The Alpine Pass Route is simply glorious. I should wax lyrical about it, but others are better at it than I am. For beautiful descriptions of this section of the H2H, or of the pleasures of hiking along it, one of the best sources is Kev Reynolds in his book “Alpine Pass Route”. Here’s an excerpt from his introduction: "Every <stage> lives up to its promise. Each day begins with the prospect of wandering for hour after hour through valleys coloured by wild flowers, streams, crags and waterfalls, cowbells and birdsong, remote farms and hay barns, pasture and woodland flanked mountains whose sheer scale tends at times to catch your breath with a sense of wonder. The scenic diversity is astonishing. Some of the valleys glisten with tarns. Some are backed by glacial tongues that project from mountain recesses; others are crusted with moraine deposits left by retreating ice-sheets a thousand years and more ago. Some of the valleys are gentle, pastoral swathes – great grass-bedded hammocks slung between mountain ridges – while some have been scoured by ice into deep U-shaped trenches, like that of the Weisse Lütschine; an incredible sight that comes as a surprise no matter how often one has seen it. Practically every one of the passes crossed by the APR <Alpine Pass Route> is a pass worth aiming for and worth reaching. Each one is different. Each has its own special attributes; from the remote slender crest of the Richetli to the broad tourist-thronged Kleine Scheidegg with its direct view of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau; from the narrow rocky cleft of the Bunderchrinde to the open grass saddle of the Blattipass whose vista surveys giants of the Bernese Oberland; from the Hohtürli with its plunging depths and glaciers nearby, to the final Col de Chaude which overlooks the Lake of Geneva far, far below. And it’s not only the valleys and passes that make this route so memorable, but the villages visited on the way. These also add their own individual character to the journey. Switzerland is not, of course, a wilderness land, and the little clusters of habitation are as much a part of the landscape as the snow-draped peaks and glaciers. So you come down at the end of a day to such delightful villages as Weisstannen and Elm, to Griesalp or Gsteig; flower-decked villages whose balconies gaze on mountains you’ve been metaphorically rubbing your nose against all day long. Villages set in a pastoral land where men and women toss hay with long-handled forks, or drape newly-cut grass to dry on timber cross-frames, which from a distance turn hillsides into parade grounds of hairy elves. There are marmots in the pastures and chamois on the screes. There are deer and squirrels in the forests, buzzards and eagles overhead, and a million crickets buzzing like fury in the warm summer grasses at your feet.” And so it goes. It is impressive, but I’m no good at writing like this. I’ve tried, but it isn’t me and it just doesn’t flow. My preferred writing style is more like John Travolta in “Get Shorty” who, when asked not to say too much, replied “I’m only going to say what I have to, if that”. I like to be clear and concise. I like to give information that will enhance a reader’s experience when on a hike. But as for me painting the hike in words… well, all I can say is thank goodness for pictures. However, even if I don’t, you should know that the Alpine Pass Route is the sort of trail that other people do wax lyrical about. Moreover, de gustibus non est disputandum, and hence the extended quote above. If Kev’s words make you more interested in coming along on the H2H, then great, and I encourage you to buy his book! For myself, I’ll just add that if you like mountains and hiking, then you owe it to yourself to do the Swiss Alpine Pass Route at some point in your life. It really is that good. For more information on the Alpine Pass Route, the best online resource I’ve found is The Activity Workshop. The Via Alpina is good too. Stages
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H2H: The House to House Hike
