Hiking to Chalavornaire with its beautiful view over the Lake Geneva

Since the beginning of the year 2020, we moved to the small village of Morgins in Switzerland, a stone's throw from the French border (it's literally 300m from our apartment). We will unfortunately remember this spring 2020 mainly for this damned Coronavirus... Even if we have to admit that we were very lucky to go through this period in the mountains and in Switzerland! Compared to our French neighbours, the Swiss containment measures were less strict... i.e. even if we were advised to stay at home as much as possible (which we obviously did), we were still encouraged to go out close to our home to get some fresh air as long as we could respect the safety distances.

So we took the opportunity to go out 1-2 times a week to discover our beautiful region of the Swiss Chablais while hiking. And the Chablais is precisely a region that lends itself very well to spring hikes. There are a lot of mountains that are not too high in altitude, with beautiful views of Lake Geneva. Perfect to get some fresh air close to home while the mountain tops are still snow-covered.

Today we bring you with us on a nice walk starting from the village of Les Evouettes, which goes up to the Chalavornaire mountain pasture (with a beautiful view of the Rhone delta and Lake Geneva) and then down through the Bouveret.

Ascent from Les Evouettes

We let the car at the small car park in the center of the village of Les Evouettes and we start by going up above the village by a small road. We take the first path that cuts through the forest on our right. The first thing we say to ourselves is that it smells really good!!!! Well yes it is springtime and therefore the season of the wild garlic... and the path crosses a forest covered with wild garlic. Miaaammm! From the top of the village, we already have a nice view on the Rhone plain and the Dents de Morcles in the distance.

That's when it starts to climb quite steeply... a 600m climb in less than 2kms! Nothing like that to warm up the legs. But the view from the Chalavornaire mountain pasture will be even more appreciated after a good climb.

The path cuts a track that winds its way up to the mountain pasture. Fortunately, the path is well shaded by the forest almost all the way to the top. And as it is spring, we enjoy all the pretty flowers along the path.

The Chalavornaire mountain pasture

After sweating a lot, we slowly make our way out of the forest to reach the Chalavornaire mountain pasture. Behind us, we have a magnificent view of the Rhone plain and the old Chavalon power plant, which has been at a standstill for over 20 years.

This mountain pasture is especially renowned for its "buvette" and its shepherd Jean Brügger who is well known in the region for his good food and especially game meat in autumn. Moreover, to make your mouth water, we share with you this nice RTS TV show about Jean Brügger (only in french) which will certainly make you want to meet this colorful character and eat at his place 😉

Anyway, because of coronavirus, the place was closed when we passed. We'll be "content" with a little picnic with good homemade sandwiches and especially the view of Lake Geneva and the Rhone delta. But we will come back for sure.

Note that from the Chalavornaire mountain pasture, it is also possible to go up to the lake of Taney and even directly to the Grammont (one of the summits which has one of the most beautiful panorama on the lake of Geneva). We have never yet climbed from this side... one more reason to come back 😉

After this pretty little picnic with a view, we set off again to begin the descent towards Le Bouveret. The path is quite wide and goes down quietly in a twisting path to Le Bouveret. For running enthusiasts, there is the 2 lakes race (Lake Geneva and Lake Tannay) which passes through this trail. Good to be told, it is not an easy race since there is at least 1000m of climb to go up to the lake of Tannay from Le Bouveret 😉

Once in Le Bouveret, we went down to the canal Stockalper to return to Les Evouettes by its left bank (not the most exciting part of the walk but well...) and finish the hike. Undoubtedly a very nice loop perfect for spring and to pick up some wild garlic 😉