Author: rjfmac

We have finished the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. We did roughly 85 miles over the past nine days, our longest day was 14 miles and we usually did 9-10 but that really doesn’t mean much – what really mattered were the climbs and the passes or cols we had to transit each day. We ascended more than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), some of it quite steep.

The views were stunning – words really don’t do it justice. We spent most nights in hotels in small alpine villages or ski resorts but also two nights in mountain huts. Very few people use tents, not sure if that is discouraged or just not done. Pretty much everyone stays in the huts on those sections where hotels/hostels are not available. The huts have big dorm rooms (10-16 beds per room), a flush toilet (or two) and a single shower (or two).

The huts we stayed in can sleep 50-60 people and were very nice. Our group consisted of 12 hikers and 2 guides, though one of our group decided not to hike after the second day when he realized he could not keep up.

A note on the “Haute Route”. There are really many variations. Some people hike every mile from Chamonix to Zermatt, about 110 miles. This takes most people 12-14 days (at least). The Alpenwild variation has all the major passes (or cols) and most of the great views, bypassing some of the valley slogs, and using some conveniently placed chair lifts and gondolas (a good part of the route is in ski country) to get the hike down to 11 days (9 hiking days, an acclimation day at the start and a rest day at the end).

And, of course, the big plus using a guide service was that our bags were ferried from hotel to hotel. So, except for the hut nights, we only had to carry our foul weather clothing, water and snacks. Speaking of weather, we had nine glorious days – sunny or partly sunny the whole way.

As I type this in Zermatt it is raining and 49 degrees (with a chance of snow this weekend!), so we were very fortunate. And it is hard. We had a pretty fit group and the tough climb days (>3500 feet) were tiring. Our age range was 55 to 70 with most of us being around 60. We were mostly Americans, with a couple of delightful Aussies thrown in for variety. Most of the passes were 9,000 to 10,000 feet and most nights were spent below 7,000 feet.

We joked that the Swiss have yet to discover switchbacks. And 90% of the trail is either ascending or descending, there are almost no flat sections. Everyone was tired but the time we got to Zermatt. We ate breakfast/dinner in the hotel/hostels/huts and lunch was usually a wonderful picnic supplied by our guides (cheese/meat/bread/fruit/chocolate) and we ate a lot – hiking 6-8 hours a day burns a lot of calories.

Water was plentiful (most of the time) and we drank it straight from the streams/rivers without treating or filtering. And there were (almost) no injuries!

Sadly, after 12 weeks we are back in Joigny to begin cleaning up the boat and preparing to move on…..

The day started cold and foggy (49 degrees in August!) for our short motor to Joigny. We were joined in the last locks by two other boats, what looked like a converted barge (more on that later) and a Le Boat rental. The last lock was fun…when we noticed as we were locking down that the Le Boat seemed to be hung on the bow. We tooted our horn to get the lock keeper’s attention before their stern went under water (at which point, the boat sinks and we all are stuck for a good while).

So, the alarmed lock keeper closed the gates and cycled the lock again to float the boat off.  All went well and the boat came clear but as we started to cycle down again they appeared to be doing the same thing before the lock keeper came up and explained that a stern line was needed as well as a bow line and basically stop being idiots.

The other boat in the lock was a custom barge owned by a South African couple and they are looking to sell.  We had time to talk as the lock was re-cycled.  They are asking 195,000 Euros and they invited us to stop by and see the boat in Joigny. Lovely but maybe a bit big for us (20 meters).

After nearly 12 weeks, 1500 Km and 640 locks we are nearing the end of our Burgundy barging adventure.  Amazingly enough we have followed the plan we created many months ago, covering nearly all the navigable waterways of Burgundy. Also amazingly, after living for 12 weeks on a 11.6 m by 3.8 m boat we are still talking to each other and are sad to be leaving “Bray Sur Somme”.

We did the Canal de Bourgogne, the Canal du Centre, the Canal de Roanne, the Canal lateral a la Loire, the Canal de Briare the Canal du Loing and the Canal du Nivernais (twice), along with bits of the Yonne, Seine and Saône rivers.

Our biggest concern now is that we appear to have a goodly amount of quality wine that must be enjoyed before we leave the boat. How will we manage to fit Martini Night in?

Thought I would do a post about locking since it is something most people are unfamiliar with and we get a lot of questions about it…

The locks allow canals to traverse varied terrain in a controlled manner.  The canals connect various river valleys (i.e. the Canal du Burgogne connects the Seine with the Saone) passing over the intervening hills. The locks allow boats to climb mountains!

Each lock consists of two sets of doors and two sets of gates, usually part of the doors,. The doors allow the boats to pass, the gates allow the water to pass. To ascend a lock, with both sets of doors closed and the lock full, the lockeeper will open the lower gate allowing the water to flow out of the lock. When the water in the lock has reached the lower canal level, the lower doors are opened allowing a boat to enter the lock. The lower doors and gates are then closed and the upper gates opened, allowing water to flow back into the lock from the upper canal. When the lock level reaches the upper canal water level the upper doors are opened allowing the boat to exit. The process is repeated in the opposite direction to descend.

Some of the locks are completely manual, with the lock keeper (with sometimes help from a boat crew member) cranking open the doors and gates. Some of the locks have hydraulics to open the doors and the gates are manual. Some have manual doors and hydraulic gates and yet others are fully hydraulic with the lock keeper standing at a control panel. And yet others are completely automatic with no lock keeper present, relying on the boat operators to initiate the lock cycle (usually with a pull cord located outside the lock to request access and another pull cord inside the lock to begin the cycle). You really never know when approaching a lock what you will find.

A lock cycle can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes (or sometimes much longer if there is a line of boats waiting or you have a particularly loquacious lock keeper).

A word about the size of the locks  in Burgundy. They vary in length in the canals, from 30m long in Lock #15 on the Canal du Nivernais up to 40m on the Canal de Roanne, but most are a “standard” 38.5m (126 ft). The widths are all about 5m (16.4 ft).  Our boat is 11.6 meters by 3.8 meters. We have been in locks where the lock keeper squeezed in three boats our size – 35 m of boats in a 38 m lock!    The picture shows our boat to scale in a standard lock.

In the rivers the locks are much bigger because there is still significant commercial traffic. The biggest lock we have been in was the Seine Varenne lock, 220m long by 17m wide. The second figure above shows a to-scale plan of the Seine Varenne lock and our boat.

The depth of the locks (how much the boat rises or lowers) various dramatically. We have been in the 10.7 meter (35 feet) Canal du Centre lock off the Saône and in a 0.48 meter (1.5 feet) lock in the Canal du Nivernais but they are typically 2-4 meters. In the deeper locks, going up, the lock keeper usually lowers a hook to take your line to attach it to a bollard on the surface. Some of the deep locks have floating bollards that go up with the boat.

Locks are really very simple and quite safe. The only really bad thing you can do is tie off your line to the boat (rather than holding it loosely). When locking down, if the line is cleated, the boat will “hang” as the water level drops. I’ve seen this happen and it is quite scary. The boat ends up hanging off the line until either the line is cut, breaks or the cleat pulls out of the boat. The boat then drops the 5-10 feet to the water. Once the boat starts to hang, the line cannot be released, it has to be cut. Most of the regular cruisers carry knives for this purpose or have one very handy.

Here is a sequence of a boat locking up (ascending from a lower canal level to a higher canal level):

Lower doors open, boat enters lock.

 

Lower doors closing behind boat(s)

 

Upper gates open, lock filling.

 

Up lock doors open, boat exits lock at the higher level.

And here is a sequence for locking down. Note that this is an “automatic” lock – there is no lock keeper.

Approaching automatic lock, cord (~100m from lock entrance) is pulled.

 

Doors open and boat enters lock

Crew jumps off boat, after securing line, pulls the lock initiation cord.

 

Upper doors close behind the boat(s).

 

Lower gates open, lock empties to lower canal level.

 

Lower doors open, boat(s) exit lock.