I walked this during early September 2010

Samoëns

Try not to stay in Samoëns. It is a tourist place and prices are accordingly. The free Alpine Garden is worth the climb however. About twice daily a bus to the nearest railway station EUR8

• Gite d'Etape le Couadzous is always full
• Hotel le Tuet is the cheapest in town

Refuge de Bostan

has a very friendly warden. He let me try a local Edelweiss-liquor while the marmots were crawling around the house in the evening.

Bonaveau

I was warned that Susanfe was full -it often is. Heading east, I tried Bonaveau. A very pleasant place run by Chistine and her entirely female crew. The place is very tidy and the a la carte meals well prepared. Have a look at their natural refrigerator.

Salanfe

Auberge de Salanfe is far less horrible as it looks from he outside. When the day-tourists leave staff turns very friendly. They give you seconds at dinner. There are a huge number of dorms (CHF 59). Use this as an alternative to Vernayaz. At Van d'en Haut there is a mini-bus that bring you to the valley (or vv: up), saving you a boring hike through the woods.

Vernayaz

Ugly Varnayaz has a supermarket, post office and a bank. The Cascade hotel, 1 km north, charges CHF 80 per night. The station near the railway station looked cheaper, but had its resting day when I arrived.

Col de Demecre

A little off the track is Cabane de Sex Carro. In the mist I passed this mini-refuge and the warden hailed me in, warmed me up with a cup of coffee. He pointed me the peak of the Mont Blanc as it appeared between the mists for a couple of seconds. Watch his doggy who gets over-excited when new guests arrive. He has a 10 bed dorm (CHF 10). Use this as an alternative to Vernayaz.

The relatively new Col de Demecre Refuge used to be an army barrack for soldiers who manned a gun to shoot off enemies rowing up the Rhone. There seems to be an advanced tunneling system under here. Now the refuge is proudly build and run by a local community. During winter you must enter the building by the roof! There is NO running water in or near the hut.

Between Dzéman (spelling!) and Rionda we follow the Rhone way up. This is a spectacular view, the Mont Blanc and the other end the Geneva Lake. On the other side Les Dents Blanc which we passed the day after yesterday (or tomorrow). Rionda is an abandoned military barrack where you can get water. (last waterpoint until Demecre (included))

Pont de Nant

The valley of the Nant is very spectacular in beauty. The military wanted to make this an artillery testsite, instead it was turned into a natural reserve. Going south, it first looks easy but the climb to the Col des Perris Blancs steadily gets steeper. Watch the old army barrack near the col.

I stayed at Pont de Nant (Dorms), which is very comfortable, but has uninterested staff and a generator running all night. But OK if the need a showed or electricity to charge your laptop. But I passed le Richard (which has dorm too), and would have liked to stay there! They sell cheese at le Richard too.

La Vare looks OK too. When you pass there you feel you are back in Mongolia.

Derborence

Privately owned Auberge de Derborence has one big dorm, but is overpriced at CHF 35 per night. Dinner a la carte, but will be served with gaslight.

Lauenen

In Lauenen, the Wildhorn Hotel there is a spare room which will cost CHF 65. Ask for it because the other rooms are sold first. I was told that the Geltenhorn hotel would be cheaper.

Lenk

Hotel Garni Alpenruh (SF57) is OK, friendly young warden.

Adelboden

For the lazy among us, From Adelboden you could take the cable-car all the way up and down to Bühlberg, and from there take the bus to Lenk.

The tourist information in Adelboden is very helpful finding accommodation. Try Bernerhof first. They have dorms.

Pizzeria Bodehüttli in Boden (zuidelijk) (CHF 70)

Watch that sometimes Chindbettipass is written as Kindbettipass.

Albinen

Hotel in het centrum heeft kamers voor CHF 70.

Gampel

Hotel Garni de Rhone, Bahnhofstrasse, 027 932 2525, CHF 68

Aussenberg

In Flaschen I saw a bit sign saying LAGER, which in this case means dormitories. They sell beer too, btw.

In Aussenberg near the train station there is a hotel with dormitories. In the center of town at Pension Lötschberg there are some rooms for CHF 65.

Pension Lötschberg CHF 65

Mund

The only hotel at Mund closed down. But don't worry: below the church there is a sighn saying 'Zimmer' and you will be welcomed by a friendly couple. CHF 50. Gmap:46.3154,7.9428

The 1.5 km long watertunnel with footpath cuts off a very fantastic part of the route. Steep slopes along a at parts very narrow path along the Suonen (water-canals). Beautiful views. I saw some wild mountain-goats here. Imagine the amount of labor those 14th century mountain people had to do and the dangers they had to face, just to bring water to their village.

Blatten

You can easily skip Blatten. Its hotels are expensive. Instead go from Riederalp directly to Belalp, passing the miraculous 124m hanging bridge across the Aletsch-river. Hotel Masse kostte SF 90.

When I was at the newly renovated and pleasant Märjela hut (4 dorms), there was a party of hunters, proudly showing their prey piled up near the entrance.

De kabelbaan naar boven kost CHF 12 (enkel)

Fiesch

Pension Restaurant Hirschen Single CHF 40, OK! http://www.fiesch.ch/hirschen

Basel

The tourist info at the station is very helpful

YMCA Hostel Basel, Gempenstrasse 64, CH-4053 Basel, CHF 36, dorm, http://www.ymcahostelbasel.ch , just south of yhe station