In the Swiss canton of Valais/Wallis
Early winter hike to the Zinal glacier
Short chronicle of a recent hike through rocks, snow, and ice up to the ice cave at the downstream end of this glacier that is quite easily accessible right on foot from a town.
We started this hike from the town of Zinal, above the city of Sierre/Siders where the boundary between the German- and French-speaking regions of this canton stands. In the Zinal area, the language is French. Right on the other side of the mountains the language is German, or rather a (very) local dialect of it. That German valley holds the world-reknown ski resort of Zermatt, with priviliged views of the Matterhorn.
But Zermatt and the Matterhorn are for other (future?) stories. We are here to discover the hike from the town of Zinal, all along the Zinal valley up the Zinal glacier. Once you get to Zinal (one train and two buses from Lausanne, around 2hs and half) you are faced with a hike in this beautiful region, from Zinal town towards the South to the Zinal glacier:
A zoom-out reveals more wonders in the area, where I circled our target:
