On foot · Tseuzier, Valais · August 2023
The Cabane des Audannes and its limestone pavement
From the Tseuzier dam, a tough loop via the Cabane des Audannes, the limestone pavement and the Col des Eaux Froides. 1,200 metres of climbing, about 17 kilometres, and real pride at the end.
- Date
- August 2023
- Distance
- 17 km
- Elevation gain
- 1,200 m
- Stop
- Cabane des Audannes
The route · indicative
The climb
Above Tseuzier
Lac de Tseuzier is emerald green, edged with fireweed. The path climbs the slope and the lake shrinks at every bend, resting at the bottom of its valley.
Higher up, the landscape turns mineral: limestone hollows, a small lake in a grey cirque, and the beginning of the great limestone pavement.
The pavement
A former glacier
We have to cross what was once a glacier: sculpted, cracked, endless slabs. On the pavement, Emmanuelle wasn't feeling so clever, and it went on and on.
Lac des Audannes, streams in the hollow, flowers in the cracks, then the descent beneath the great cliffs. It had been a long time since we'd done anything this tough. Pure happiness.
