Toules Dam and Durnand Gorge Switzerland

D72/Switzerland 2

Travelled: 102km to Toules Dam, Durnand Gorges (CHF9pp) and picnic area on the Col des Mosses (46.4079, 7.1023)

The Col de Great St Bernard looked different in the clouds this morning. 

But it didn’t take long for the clods to lift and we had clear views of Switzerland as we descended into the valley.

Just after we merged with the tunnel from Italy, we picked up a hitchhiker (a hiker that wasn’t too interested in walking this part). We dropped him off at the turnoff to Toules Lake, on the outskirts of Bourg Saint Pierre. We drove up to the top of the dam wall. 

We saw a marmot.

We had breakfast and at 8:30 we called to see if we could do the free tour of the dam wall. Luckily we got the last 2 spots, making a total of 10. So at 9am we drove down to the base of the wall and began our tour by signing a waiver… we entered the wall through one of the doors. It was Switzerlands first arch dam finished in1964 and is 84m high, 460m long, 20.5m thick at base and 4.5m thick at the top. The lake holds 20million m3 of water. 

As we descended into the middle of the dam wall, the guide showed us several of the 700 gauges they have to monitor the movements, temperature and leakages. They do monthly checks, as well as weekly visual checks on the wall. The hydro plants that are linked to the reservoir are also maintained. The main problem being the silt in the water coming down from the glaciers.

 We walked over the wall that had illegal fishermen on it but the guide did not seem particularly worried.

 

We stopped for a coffee break before descending down the road to the next entrance inside the wall to exit where we originally started. We finished the tour by walking through a tunnel in the bedrock to the turbines.

Our next destination was further down into the valley to the Durnand Gorge just before Martigny, rating  as one of Europes most beautiful gorges. We managed to get a parking spot and purchased our tickets at CHF9 pp. The gorge itself extends for about 1km which is viewed via a boardwalk that includes 330steps that was first built in 1877 and later renovated in 1987. Below our feet the river gushed and swirled over 14 waterfalls. 

Unfortunately when we reached the end we thought it would be easier to get back to Bluey via the forest track. Little did we know we had to climb up more steps and then follow a zigzag path slowly back…Relieved to have finally reached the end we set off a further 55km via the valley and then up to the Col des Mosses where cooler weather greeted us (hail and thunderstorms).