The long way to Zermatt

Actually, Zermatt wouldn't be far away from the Aletsch Glacier. Taking a direct route down the Rhone Valley, it would have been easily achievable in one day. But it took me 4 days to get there. On the other side of the Rhone Valley, there was a much more pristine and less crowded region to explore - the Binntal Landscape Park and the other side valleys to Visp.

So, I set out to cycle up to the Binntal. Hidden away through a gorge, the small, somewhat sleepy village of Binn is nestled in a high valley east of the Rhone. If you were to remove the parking lot, the post bus stop, the few hikers, and the small Volg supermarket, you would feel transported back to the 18th or 19th century. A bit further down the road, almost at the end of the world, I found an idyllic campsite.

The best thing for me about this campsite was the washing machine. Despite my extraordinary endurance, I had reached a point where I simply couldn't stand being in the tent with myself anymore from an olfactory point of view. For days, I had been searching unsuccessfully for a way to wash my limited and therefore already worn clothes. So, I was highly motivated to gain control over the only machine at the campsite. After a hard fight, I achieved this goal in the late afternoon.

So, the next morning I continued, smelling fresh. An almost endless climb led me on good, not too steep paths to the Saflischpass. With a magnificent view of the surrounding 3000 and 4000-meter peaks, I left the landscape park here and could therefore set up my tent shortly after the pass. Quite windy and slightly tilted due to the uneven slopes, I spent the night here with anticipation of a great trail downhill.

The trail fulfilled all expectations. First, it continued smoothly along the slope to the mountain village of Rosswald, and from there down the highly praised 36-hairpin-turn trail to Brig. The only drawback were my squeaky brakes. I have no idea why they chose to express their displeasure specifically here. The cacophony of sounds certainly scared away any other forest visitor within several kilometers.

With ears buzzing now, the next ascent followed immediately. I pushed my bike up the Stockalperweg to the Simplon Pass. An old mule track that led to Taferna over numerous small bridges that were barely wide enough for my bike, a dilapidated inn formerly run by the hostess Johanna Fy. According to legend, the good woman has been paying for diluting the wine with water for passing travelers since her death in the cold water glacier. Well, with such a tough regime, half of Switzerland would probably be locked up in the glacier nowadays, judging by the development of restaurant prices and portion sizes since the time of dear Johanna.

Then it continued to the bustling Simplon Pass, and after a short break towards Bistinepass, my planned second night in the open. From here, the most impressive part of these four days followed in terms of landscape. The path circled around the basin of the steep Nanztal without much loss of altitude. At the very back of the valley, you reach the Obere Fulmoos, a small plateau with several lakes below majestic glaciers. The perfect camping spot, if only I had known it in advance. While the path was still quite rocky and exposed up to that point, it now continued to the exit of the valley in the finest single track, first to the pass, and then 1500 breathtaking vertical meters down to Visp. Already quite exhausted and suffering from acute civilization shock, I had to grit my teeth to cycle the remaining 30 kilometers or 1100 vertical meters up to Zermatt in scorching afternoon heat - the first major milestone on the way to Nice.