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Dent de Lys, Les Paccots

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Small parking before Refuge La Saletta (approx. 1,400 m) Highest point: Dent de Lys (2,014 m) Total elevation gain: 650 m (from the described start) / 900 m from Les Paccots Total distance: Approx. 7 km round trip (from 1,400 m start) Total time: 3h–3h30 round trip Technical difficulty: T3, with short exposed sections and chains near the summit Download GPS file You can start the hike to Dent de Lys from several locations, either from Montbovon or Les Paccots. From Les Paccots it is easier to reach from the highway and there are paved roads up to around 1,600 m, allowing you to decide how long you want to make the hike. To get to the trailhead, continue beyond Les Paccots and then turn right towards Refuge La Saletta. Before reaching the refuge, the path starts at a bend in the road. As parking spaces are limited, I started from a small parking area a short distance before that, at around 1,400 m altitude. After the first 100 m on the road, a path bra...
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Gastlosen from below

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Jaun lift parking (1,030 m) Highest point: Gastlosen ridge (1,940 m) Total elevation gain: ~910 m Total distance: ~14 km Total time: 5 h (from the valley) / 3.5 h (using the lift) Technical difficulty: T2–T3 (short exposed sections, one chain-assisted passage) Download GPS file The Gastlosen tour is a classic in the Fribourg region that can be done in many different ways. Starting in Jaun, the only German-speaking commune in the Gruyère district, you hike around the impressive rock ridge of the Gastlosen. You can do this hike either by taking the lift or by starting all the way from the valley floor. It took me about 5 hours from the bottom, including lunch. Starting from the lift would reduce the hike to around 3.5 hours. In this post, I will focus on the longer version. I started the hike at the lift parking (1,030 m), where a gravel road passes the station and continues toward Jaun. After a while, it becomes paved. About 10 minutes later, you reach...
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Location: Jaun, Switzerland
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Simmefälle and Siebenbrunnen, Lenk

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Simmenfälle parking (approx. 1,100 m) Highest point: Siebenbrunnen (approx. 1,400 m) Total elevation gain: ~300 m Total distance: ~8 km round trip Total time: 2–3 hours walking time (5h30 including breaks) Technical difficulty: Easy (some steeper and uneven sections on the path to Simmenfälle) Download GPS file The hike to Simmefalle and then to Siebenbrunnen starts at the end of the valley after Lenk, at about 1,100 m altitude. There is a parking area next to the restaurant, and you can even get there by bus. At the end of the parking lot, a path starts along the river, which already roars at this point. After a short stretch, you can choose whether to climb via the road on the left or the path on the right. I took the path and, to ease the flow of hikers, keep in mind that it is marked as a one-way trail and can only be used uphill. The first part of the path is the most beautiful. It runs right along the river, which has several rapids and small wa...
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Location: 3775 Lenk im Simmental, Switzerland
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Via ferrata Planpraz, Leysin

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Feydey (1400 m), above Leysin Highest point: Approx. 1550 m Total elevation gain: ~150 m Total distance: ~4 km Total time: ~2 h Technical difficulty: K5 (very athletic via ferrata) Download GPS file The via ferrata Planpraz is probably the closest to a village I’ve ever done. It is located just above Leysin . To get there, we left the car in Feydey (1400 m), which can also be reached by train. From there you continue uphill on the road. Where it bends, you can go both ways: on the left around the church or on the right via a shortcut uphill (see GPS). In about 10 minutes, signs indicate a path on the left side of the road. It is the same path leading to La Berneuse at the beginning, but after a couple of minutes you reach a crossroads where the path to La Berneuse goes left and the via ferrata, clearly marked, continues straight uphill.  Another 5–10 minutes on a rather steep path lead to the start of the via ferrata.  The via r...
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