Tour de L'Argentine
I did this hike together with a friend on the 31st of July, 2022. We were gonna celebrate the 1st of August with a brunch in the salt mine in Bex, and decided to do a hike the day before, with a stayover at a campground. After looking at Switzelrandmobility, we decided on Tour de L’Argentine.
Full route: Swisstopo
We travelled from Zürich by train to Lausanne and Bex, from where we took a bus to Gryon and the start of the hike. It was a very nice day and we quickly made it out of town, through some forest and above the tree line. The trail initially followed a gravel road, but quickly turned into a regular hiking path.
The higher we came, the more the landscape opened up and the views were really great. We had started rather late because of the long travel from Zürich, but the trail was surprisingly empty, which we enjoyed.
During the first part of the hike above the tree line, you walk under and in front of Les Diablerets, a really beautiful mountain massif with peaks rising just above 3000 m. The scenery was amazing, with the lightly spaced clouds and green, grey and blue colors.
As we made it to Col des Essest, a small pass we would hike over, we decided to stop for our lunch break. We found a perfect outcrop with views to the many mountain peaks around us and stayed for a while.
After lunch, we had new energy and continued the hike with the first descent of the day. Walking along this part of the trail, the views slowly opened up in direction southwest, and we could see some of the larger mountain peaks in the distance.
After a while, the trail split in two and we left the down going part and instead continued up on the second ascent of the day. Walking here, we had perfect views to Gran Muveran and the mountains around. There is a multi-day hike, Tour des Muverans, going around all of this massif, which I would like to do at one point.
The ascent was not too long or steep, and we made our way up, walking just below Lion d’Argentine, for most of the way. Despite it not being a difficult part, we were still glad when we made it to the top at La Motte, as it had gotten quite warm.
After passing La Motte, we started the second and last descent of the day. It was a really lovely part with stunning views. After some time, we made it back down in the forest, and decided to take an afternoon cake break in the shade. The last part back to Gryon was easy and mainly on gravel road, and we made it to the campground in the late aftenoon.
After a great nights sleep, we woke up to a beautiful sunny 1st of August, and had our own little morning celebration, before we packed together our things. We took the bus down to Bex, from where we continued towards the salt mine, where we attended a really interesting tour of the mine followed by an amazing brunch.
