Hiking the Swiss Grand Canyon - A picture blog

A Hiker's Paradise

On a recent business trip to Switzerland, I had a day available to plan some outdoor activity. Switzerland, amongst its several qualifications to be rightly adjudged a 'dream destination', has a gazillion options for outdoor activities, and more specifically hiking and trekking. With thousands of carefully marked & preserved hiking trails all over the country, and those that are exquisitely documented in the guides and tourist booklets available freely at all railway stations across the country, the place is truly a hiker's paradise.

Amongst the various options considered, I zeroed in on the Cruex du Van, a trail in the 'Jura & Three-Lakes' region and that is recommended as one of the 20-must-do hikes. Doing the hike solo, I took a break-journey to reach Noiraigue, which falls in the canton of Neuchatel, that also shares its border with France. The type of passengers disembarking in that last stop was indicative of the activity in this sleepy, small town - all were in their trekking shoes, had a backpack and armed with hiking poles! It was a common sight during the weekend train travels across Switzerland to spot people travelling to indulge in all forms of outdoor activity - there were those carrying mountain bikes, skiing gear, trekking boots, camping gear, hiking poles or mountaineering ropes and carabineers. It was also a delight to see people of all ages and often entire families with kids, travelling as a group for such activities. It was perhaps not a coincidence, to not spot too many obese people either.

The climb up to Creux du Van

At the Noiraigue station, I was checking out some helpful route guides available, by which time the station was empty of all the travelers, since they were already up on their way towards the 3 to 4 hiking trails famous in the region. After a 15 minute walk through the tiny town, I was at the crossroads, one of which led the trail up into the forest. Just at the location, I noticed huge, triangular concrete boulders setup along the way, and across the path from left to right. I learnt that these were amongst the primary defences setup by the country against advancing German battle tanks, during the World-War 2. These were built in all the border regions in the country, since Switzerland shares its borders with 4 countries in all directions, and throughout the war it was completely surrounded by Germany (to its north) and its allies from all around. One can find these boulders in most border areas today, and they are also famously referred to as the Toblerone line, since they look like the famous Swiss chocolates of the same name.

Noiraigue town and the station

Creux du Van hike information	'Toblerone line' of defence

A 45-minute walk through the forest took me to a beautiful farm at Les Oeuillons, one that had all kinds of domesticated animals - sheep, goats, horses, chickens and rabbits. Given the proximity to France, the strong French influence was very obvious, with sign boards and conversations with people, unlike the rest of Switzerland that is mostly German.

The road uphill from this point went through 14 zig-zag passes that was a steep climb towards the canyon. I observed a lot of people coming in from the opposite direction, since there was another trail that started diametrically in the opposite direction, from Motiers and ended at Noiraigue, and was a much gradual climb. Hence, this route was most popular with families and kids doing the hike. Gaining the altitude through the zig-zag passes, one starts to get some great view of the hills and mountains on the other side. It was fascinating to see a range of mountains that had leveled-out plains in between, each at varying heights right from the base of the mountain up until the very top. The view was akin to that of a multi-level building, with several floors neatly stacked on top of each other.

Horses in the farm at Les Oeuillons	...and more animals at the farm

The multi-layer cake country-side (note the plains at different heights)

Heavenly meadows

In about 45 minutes, I reached one end of the gorge. Blessed with a sunny day, clear weather and not-too-cold temperature, I got an amazing view of the entire canyon, mountains around and towns in the valley beneath. Walking further, I saw a vast expanse of rolling green hills that seemed naturally manicured to perfection, and peppered with a multitude of small flowers in yellow, white and purple colours, while a small bunch of trees in the distance provided the perfect backdrop. It looked as if I had stepped into paradise! 

'Paradise meadows' at Le Soliat

Walking along the meadows and taking in the beauty of the sight, I came across a lone restaurant serving fondue, a popular Swiss dish with melted cheese, apart from sandwiches and burgers. Sitting on a hand-carved wooden bench and biting into a delicious, freshly prepared sandwich made with local cheese, I feasted on the grand view of the vast rolling meadows ahead of me. I couldn't have enough of the heavenly experience. The restaurant saw frenzied activity, with hikers taking a break and families enjoying picnic lunches while the toddlers and small children chased each other around the trees.

A walk by the Canyon's cliff

Walking back to the outer rim of the asphalt-white mountain, the canyon's semi-circular, amphitheatre-like formation, and the deep-drop cliff overlooking the green valley was a sight to behold. Clicking some pictures over the cliff, I met a guy operating a drone, who was flying the small object that buzzed like a mosquito and flew all around the canyon. Completing his 20 minute flight, he explained that he was actually filming HD videos on scenic spots around the region and was covering the Creux du Van as well. Taking the drone back into his hands, he gave a quick run-down of the controls and his experience of filming in some city landmarks wherein he had some close encounters with helicopters.

Drone-guy!	View of the restaurant at Le Soliat

Completing the walk around the gorge, I reached a point where I chanced upon the alpine ibex, a rare species of wild goat that have unique curved horns, and were introduced into the Creux du Van in 1965. It was a lucky sighting from up-close, since its reported that there are only 15 to 20 numbers of this species and they come out into the open only at specific times.

Semi-circular view of the canyon	A sign board at the canyon

Perched on top of the canyon	The alpine ibex spotted

Getting ready for the descent back, I felt there was enough time for some additional activity since it was just 5 PM and the summers in Switzerland are blessed with bright daylight until 9.30 in the night! Another popular hike in the region was the Gorges de l'areuse, which had some scenic views of mountain streams gushing through the gorges. The starting point for this hike was also from the train station at Noiraigues, so after checking the map, I decided to hike down to a point mid-way where the road from the station would converge with the trail. However, there was no map route available from the Creux du Van since people never do both the hikes together, but I decided to give it a try.

Panaroma shot of the entire canyon at Creux du Van

The descent towards Gorges de l'areuse

To save time, I took the steeply-descending route down through 'Sentier du Single' and towards 'Ferme Robert'. Midway, I was joined by a French couple who were the only travelers in the route at that time. While the girl was in the pharma industry, the guy worked with the super-premium Swiss watchmaker Blancpain. It was fascinating to learn about the watch-making industry and what goes into making a typical Blancpain watch, since every one of their watches are hand-made and each piece takes over 2 months to create, while each could be worth over $50,000! Walking with the couple until Ferme Robert, I bid them goodbye and continued down the path to join the trail that would take me towards the Gorges de l'areuse, in the direction of Boudry. 

This turned out to be the tough part of my day's journey, since there were fewer sign boards in the trail as it was not a regular route, and there was not a single soul to be found for the rest of evening. I had to trust my basic navigation skills to guide me towards the river stream and I had to stay in a North-Easterly direction through the forest. At 6 PM, I had a couple of hours at max to move out of the forest and get to some connected area, before it got dark, and to catch the last train back home.

I kept going for about an hour of what seemed like a never-ending walk down-hill, and I crossed the tar-paved road at several points. Moving from woods to the next set of woods, amidst some frenzied chirping and calls of different birds, finally, I could make out a faint sound of the river stream at a distance, which was a big relief and a reinforcement that I was moving in the right direction. After 10 more minutes, I reached the narrow gorge where the stream from the mountains descended with high velocity into a small, crystal-clear white waterfall. Just a few metres from there, I could see the water going under a stone bridge and turning blue. This incidentally was also the iconic picture seen on hiking guides talking about this trail. I had converged this trail, and at the right spot.

Iconic stone bridge	...and a view of the stream, turning green at Gorges de l'areuse

Sighting the gorge

I sat on the stone bridge overlooking the waterfall, drinking some water and munching a nectarine. I also saw human activity, with a photographer taking some shots of the bridge using a tripod. Walking further down the trail, by the river's track and it was a surreal experience to trace the flow of river through pristine, undisturbed and beautiful landscape. The river continued to take on a myriad of colours by enmeshing with the changing backdrop of trees, black boulders and asphalt mountains. In the clear transparent stream, the white rocks and water bed was fully visible and one could count the fishes moving around! 

Stream flowing on..	...and the crystal clear waters

A house close to Champ du Moulin	The Champ du Moulin station

After an hour of walking by the river, I came to the Champ du Moulin station, which was on the route to Neuchatel. With the reduced frequency of trains on Sundays and the slowly reducing day-light, I decided to conclude my hike at this station and take the next available train back, which was an hour away. I sat in the empty station in yet another tiny town that had only a handful of houses visible, and no human activity on the roads. Waiting for my train, I reminisced the great sights and experiences of the day and how it had all unfolded. It was another thing that the train back home that night was delayed en route and I had to wait for over 1.5 hours in several stations. However, for a day that had turned out so favorably and made the hike thoroughly enjoyable, there were absolutely no regrets, but only a thirst for more.