Stage 7 – La Fouly to Champex

Start: Hotel Col du Fenêtre in Ferret (La Fouly)
End: Hotel Mont.Lac in Champex
Time: 5 hours (including a break for a snack)
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

This is definitely the easiest stage of the TMB. The only part that made it a bit moderate for me is that the uphill came at the end of the day and therefore it was quite hot.

A lot of people I talked to planned on skipping this day and just taking the bus to Champex. This was based on the reputation of this leg for being boring compared to the other legs. I was told it would have a lot of road walking. Luckily the road walking only comprised a minimal portion of it. I found that the easy forested trails, waterfall views, and walks through the little villages along the way were actually a nice change of pace from the stunning mountain scenery of the other days. So I recommend this leg.

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The day began with an easy walk down to the main part of La Fouly. While it seemed like a nice town, the relative brevity of the walk this day reinforced my decision to stay in Ferret (in addition to the great vibe of Ferret itself).

The subtle descent continued for the first 3 hours of the walk, only going up temporarily every now and then. The trail passed rivers, waterfalls, and then ended up tracking up the side of a small mountain. From there were the most memorable views of the day for me: little villages in the valley depicted in an image above. Some of the trails were a bit narrow with a steep drop-off so those afraid of heights should be aware of that.

Eventually the trail passes through the towns of Plaz-de-Fort and Issert. I got a little bit confused where to go at times during this section, although maybe I was just distracted by how cute the towns were!

After passing through Issert, the ascent up to Champex began. Despite being a modest ascent of 500m (by TMB standards), it came during the heat at the end of the day and was a relatively monotonous series of forested switchbacks, so it felt like more of a slog than I expected.

Luckily the Champex Mycological Society kept the trail entertaining with a constant stream of wooden statues of forest creatures. Apparently Charlotte La Mormotte is their mascot. This added a fun element of whimsy, and I was impressed by the extent of their dedication. We must have passed at least 20 statues from them.

Finally the ascent ended and I got to Champex, a beautiful town on an alpine lake. This was a very relaxing and beautiful place to hang out. Some of the stops on the TMB seem primarily dedicated to serving TMB tourists. Champex on the other hand felt like an independent destination, despite its small size. Lots of people paddle boarding and swimming in the lake, which must have been freezing!

I ate lunch and dinner at Mimi’s Bistro, which was good despite Switzerland prices giving an initial sticker shock compared to Italy. I found that almost everywhere took Euros 1:1 with the Swiss Franc, which was a good proposition for the businesses, given that at the time, 1 Euro was about ~$1.10 and 1 Swiss Franc was about $1.

I stayed at Hotel Mont.Lac and was happy with my room as well as with the breakfast they served.

Previous: Stage 6 – Rifugio Bonatti (Val Ferret) to La Fouly
Next: Stage 8 – Champex to Trient