On foot · Val d'Illiez · August 2016
Lac de Soi via the Anthème hut
Nineteen kilometres below the Dents du Midi, via the Anthème hut to Lac de Soi. Pure joy in August, and an ice rink in October.
- Date
- August 2016
- Distance
- 19 km
- Return visit
- October 2016, lake frozen
The route · indicative
August
A mirror under the clouds
The loop climbs through the pastures to the Anthème hut, then heads on to Lac de Soi. The water is so still it doubles the clouds, cotton grass makes white tufts along the banks, and dry-stone cairns stand in the middle of the lake like sentinels.
On the way back, a waterfall tumbles into the gorge. Nineteen kilometres of walking, and the urge to come back.
October
The Soi ice rink is open
Two months later, back at the same spot under a first snowfall. The Dents du Midi are dusted white, and the lake has frozen from shore to shore.
Above the Rhône plain, someone has traced two words in the fresh snow: be happy. Advice taken.
