VIEUX EMOSSON DINOSAURS
Discovered above the southern end of the Lac du Vieux Emosson by a French geologist in 1976, a group of fossilized tracks has been identified as those belonging to dinosaurs that lived around 240–65 million years ago. The rock slab in which the surprisingly small footprints are embedded, was once part of a sandy beach frequented by the herbivorous creatures. Laid down in shallow water during the Triassic period (about 230 million years ago), the sand and sediments were compressed and hardened as earth movements led to the disappearance of the ocean with the collision of continental tectonic plates. As the African plate shunted against its Eurasian neighbour, so the Alps were born, and rocks that had been formed below sea-level were thrust up and outward to reveal evidence of creatures that roamed long before the mountains came into existence.
The dinosaur footprints are only a few centimetres long, and as the site is the most important yet found in Europe, it is protected by chains to prevent visitors from clambering over it. Further information is available at the tourist office in Finhaut (www.finhaut.ch), and at the Vieux Emosson refuge.
Carrying the Franco-Swiss border, the combe containing the Vieux Emosson lake and the dinosaur prints is formed by a rocky crest, much of which falls on its west flank into the Giffre valley, and which runs from Point de la Finive in the north across the Tête du Grenairon and Le Cheval Blanc to the Pointe de la Terrasse above the little Val de Tré les Eaux in the south. Within that crest will be found several crossing points, among them Col du Grenairon (2685m), Col du Vieux (2569m), Col des Corbeaux (2603m) and the 2645m Col de la Terrasse, which lies northeast of Pointe de la Terrasse. But it’s also possible to cross the ridge over Le Cheval Blanc, as is the choice of the Tour du Ruan. However, not all these crossings are straightforward, and concentration may be required to find the way – especially in misty conditions.
An interesting return to Col de la Gueulaz and the Lac d’Emosson could be made by crossing Col de la Terrasse, descending on the French slope to the Chalets de Loria above Vallorcine, then making a long contour north across the steep hillside on a path which leads directly to the Emosson dam. An easier alternative is to follow the clear path round the north shore of Lac du Vieux Emosson, pass through a short tunnel at its eastern end and descend to the road at Refuge Vieux Emosson. The metalled service road which dates back to the building of the dam nearby, can now be followed down to Lac d’Emosson, or you could take the path which drops below the hut, goes through the Gorge du Vieux and brings you onto the road at a hairpin bend above the lake’s western end.
The Upper Vallée du Trient
To conclude our survey of what we loosely term the Chablais Alps, we stray south of the Gorges du Trient to the very edge of the Mont Blanc massif where the upper reaches of the Vallée du Trient are neatly contained by clearly defined ridges; rocky and uncompromising in the southeast (the highest point being the 3540m Aiguille du Tour), but steeply wooded where they spill down towards the gorge at their northernmost limit. The French border traces the most westerly of these ridges, but only as far as Col de Balme. Here the ridge kinks northward from its former northwest alignment, but the frontier line ignores this slight change of direction and cuts straight down the slope to the Eau Noire stream and the Barberine chalets, before climbing the opposite slope to Lac d’Emosson.
Col de Balme is the only obvious crossing point in this westerly ridge. A broad grass saddle at 2204m, it is a justly famous vantage point with a direct view of the Aiguilles Verte, Drus, Charmoz and Blaitière, the graceful snow dome of Mont Blanc with the Chamonix valley below, and the Aiguilles Rouges forming its right-hand wall. Baedeker called it ‘a superb view’, while alpine connoisseur R L G Irving summed it up with the words: ‘if that view does not thrill you you are better away from the Alps.’ It’s a view known to thousands of skiers who throng there in winter, and to the countless trekkers who make the crossing each year whilst tackling either the Tour du Mont Blanc or the Walker’s Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. On the pass itself stands the solid, gloomy, and privately owned Refuge du Col de Balme, which is manned in summer and has 26 dormitory places (tel 04 50 54 02 33).
The Trient glacier retreating into the upper reaches of the valley
Reached by a good path in little over an hour from the col, another refuge stands on the Swiss flank below the Glacier des Grands at 2113m. Refuge Les Grands has 15 places but no permanent guardian; self-catering facilities are adequate but visitors need to provide their own food (for reservations tel 026 660 65 04). There are no views of Mont Blanc from here, for the hut has its back to the mountains and instead faces the valley’s east wall across the deep trench scoured long ago by the receding Trient glacier. Of a summer’s evening the sun’s glow lingers on the Pointe d’Orny and the rocky needles that spread from it, and the only sounds to be heard are those of running streams and the occasional rattle of a stone falling through a distant gully.
Despite foreshortening, a wildly romantic scene is crammed with rocks, shrub-carpeted hillsides and glacial remnants immediately above the hut, which occupies the site of a one-time alp. From it a path descends steeply into the valley where a footbridge offers a goodly choice of walker’s routes. You could cross that bridge to a little buvette (the Chalet du Glacier) in view of the Glacier du Trient, then climb first alongside, then above the glacier to reach the rocky gateway of the Fenêtre d’Arpette (2665m) which gives access to Val d’Arpette and Champex described in the Pennine Alps chapter (2:1); or you could turn left by the buvette along a near-level footpath that accompanies the Bisse du Trient across a wooded slope to Col de la Forclaz (see box). Or you could do neither of these things, and instead of crossing the footbridge simply turn left and wander downvalley between pastures to Le Peuty and Trient.
On the east side of the valley the Fenêtre d’Arpette is of course a crossing for mountain walkers, while the 1526m Col de la Forclaz carries the road from Martigny after labouring through vineyards and up a series of hairpins out of the Rhône valley. Beside the road on the col stands the Hotel du Col de la Forclaz (35 beds, 40 dorm places plus camping; www.coldelaforclaz.ch) almost opposite the TMB path that goes to Champex via the Bovine alp.
Having gained the col from the northeast, the road now slants down into the Vallée du Trient and bypasses both Le Peuty and neighbouring Trient on its way to Le Châtelard and the French border. For those who plan to stay overnight in the valley, however, simple gîte accommodation is available at the Refuge du Peuty (40 dorm places, open June to mid-Sept; tel 027 722 09 38), while in Trient itself the Relais du Mont Blanc has 80 places (open all year; tel 027 722 46 23), with another 21 dormitory places to be found at the Gîte La Gardienne, which is also open all year (www.largardienne.ch). (For further information go to www.trient.ch)
Although there are a few local valley walks, in summer Trient is mostly used as an overnight halt by trekkers passing through. There are no climbs easily accessible from the valley, for the main peaks of interest are approached from huts such as the Cabane du Trient under Pointe d’Orny at an altitude of 3170m, and the shortest route to that takes 5½–6hrs from the village. But in winter the upper Vallée du Trient can be explored on snowshoes and cross-country skis, while low-key ski tours are promoted on the Croix de Fer above Col de Balme, the Pointe Ronde massif southeast of the Col de la Forclaz and, of course, on the Plateau du Trient and Aiguille du Tour. The classic Haute Route ski tour avoids the Vallée du Trient by descending from Cabane du Trient into the Val d’Arpette by way of either the Fenêtre du Chamois or Col des Encandies, but in summer trekkers following the Walker’s Haute Route pass through the valley by a choice of routes, as do those tackling the ever-popular Tour du Mont Blanc. In addition, a third multi-day trek comes
