Watch out: LONG, bloody long hike.
DAY ONE
After packing our tent and all we needed for our 2 day hike we started before 9 a.m. Starting point: home, target: we weren’t sure how long we would be able to hike with heavy backpacks in really sunny, hot weather. From Broc we took a quite pleasant way through Les Marches (pretty little chapel worth visiting when you have time) and our first stop was picturesque Gruyères. It’s flat and easy. Just before Gruyères you have quite a few steps, but the motivation is a coffee in the middle of the village. Gruyères is a romantic place full of charm, but about that another time. Drank our coffee quickly and continued with our hike. We already hiked 5 km but we knew that’s not all we would do that day. From Gruyères you walk down to village called Pringy and you take a ‘cheese route‘ that takes you up to Moléson.
‘Cheese route’ starts quite demanding. 300 m altitude change from the start. Then it gets easier and nicer. Views are stunning. You can see Moléson, Dent de Broc and all the others around. What really made me happy is when we found Fragaria or wild strawberries as you call them. They’re quite popular in Poland but here in Switzerland it’s a hikers privilage.
We decided not to go to Moléson village since that would cost us quite a few meters down so we continued and made the last stop in Cabane des Clés (1352 m). Ate a soup, drank a beer and it was time to go. We were now about 10 km into our hike and we were feeling good, it was still early so we decided to continue.
When we’ve reached Plan-Francey (1550 m) we took a ‘botanical route’ to reach Moléson. Pretty little way on which you can find little cards with names of flowers. Then it was up..and up and up and the backpacks were getting heavier and heavier.
Since we were still in quite a good form we decided not to go up to Moléson summit (2002 m) but we continued to Teysachaux (1909 m). Just before, I twisted my ankle and decided not to summit, waited for my boyfriend when he climbed his way up.
After leaving his backpack with me he was back in 30 minutes. It was time to start looking for a place for our tent, and eat something so we started descending slowly.
After dinner we fell asleep quickly..it wasn’t even dark yet.
Our first day summary:
- 21,35 km hike
- time: 6,5 hours
- altitude change: 1351 m
DAY TWO
We woke up quite early, had breakfast and packed our things just to start our way down home…We chose to go through La Chia (circa 1300 m) just to make a round and not take the same way back. I was quite happy to be descending this day since my ankle was starting to hurt more and I wouldn’t be able to hike as much as we did the day before. We were looking for a place to stop for a coffee but everything was closed (lots of places are open only on Sunday). Hiking down was quite easy, not many ascends. The only one was La Chia, not demanding really. The views all the time are hard to describe … From Chia we took a way down to Bulle (771 m) which is a capital of district of Gruyère. From there we continued through the forest and found our way home! Perfect two days that made us happily tired.
Second day summary:
- 16,51 km hike
- time: 4,5 hours
Practical information:
Starting point: Broc (718 m)
Target: Moléson (2002 m), Teysachaux (1909 m)
Hike lenght: all in all around 40 km
Tip: Start early, take enough water with you. You don’t need to do the whole round as we did. There’s tons of possibilities to make this hike shorter and as much fun.
Text: Agnieszka Wajs
