Day 2 - Don’t Walk to Aigle!

Don’t take the hike down to Aigle unless your downhill muscles are in really good shape. It is a two hour walk, down 800 meters (2,600 feet) on a very steep switchback. We did this hike the second day of our trip. By the time we could see Aigle, my legs were shaking from the steep walk and my toes aching from pressing against the tips of my boots. Steve was not suffering as much, but it was too steep to be an enjoyable walk.

There is a longer and less steep route along the eastern edge of Leysin, down to the valley south of Le Sepey, then along the valley to Aigle. Next time, we will do that route.

The walk was mostly through forest, so we did not have good views over the Rhone Valley, but when we were reached Fontanney, the town above Aigle, we were walking through fields of grapes with nice views to Aigle. We could have given up at Fontanney and got the cog train from there, but after all the pain of the hike, I wanted to do the last thirty minutes and reach Aigle. We walked around Aigle then took the cog train back to Leysin.

When you look at the hiking map and see a trail with an elevation drop of 800 meters, on a trail that runs parallel to a cog train, you know it is going to be steep. They put in cog trains because a regular train can not handle the slope. I don’t know what I was thinking planning this hike! My legs recovered after a couple of days and I learned to love walking uphill because those muscles were not sore.

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.