Here's a bivouac spot that's been on my list for a long time! We were lucky enough to be able to plan this trip on one of the most beautiful weekends in July.
Start of the hike
The starting point for the bivouac is the Parking du Flon in Vouvry. The car park is quite small, so I'd advise leaving either very early or late in the afternoon. We opted to leave at the end of the day to avoid the heat of the day, for us but especially for the dogs who would have suffered too much. Indeed, given the steep climb in full sun, we certainly couldn't have made the ascent in the middle of the day.
The climb
The climb to the summit is 6km with a difference in altitude of 1100m (around 2h30 of ascent). In a nutshell, it's short but steep all the way. The first part up to Lac de Tanay is a section through the forest that follows a path where cars can drive up. We tied up the dogs in this section to prevent them from coming onto the road, but also because of the cliffs at certain points on the climb.
Arrival at Lac de Tanay
The arrival at the lake is good for the legs, which didn't really have time to warm up before the climb.
At the top, the view is like a postcard, with mountains, valleys, and Swiss chalets with red shutters and Swiss flags.
Because of the timing, we couldn't stop at the lakeside as we had to reach the summit with the sun to pitch our tents and warm up.
At the top of Grammont
It was almost a race to get there before sunset. With our heavy packs on our backs, the last few kilometers were tough.
But our arrival at the summit was our greatest reward! Families of chamois and ibex await us at the top of the climb, below the Deux Jumelles. From here onwards, it's imperative to tie up your dogs because of the animals and, more importantly, the cliffs.
The view over Lac Leman is spectacular. Beware of those who might be afraid of heights as the cliffs are very impressive.
We pitched our tent on the flat area at the bottom of the summit as there were already a few tents at the top. We have a little time to set up our tent before sunset.
Our equipment
As we only did one night and the walk only lasted 2h30, we didn't pay much attention to packing light.
We took our two +35L bags with us:
A tent for two
Two inflatable mattresses
Two warm sleeping bags (it can be cold and wet up there)
A gas stove, two pots, two glasses, 1 thermos flask
Swiss Army knives, matches, torches, cutlery
A (large) bag of food: noodles, cervelas, cheese, etc.
3 litres of water, including water for the dogs (as there is no water at the top)
Warm clothes and spares: leggings, down jacket, jumper, woollen socks, hat
1 bowl and a first aid bag for the dogs
Waking up
We didn't sleep very well, as our tent had a slight problem with humidity.
Around 6 am, as soon as the sun came up, we packed up and headed back down to Lac de Tanay, where we stopped for breakfast at the Refuge du Grammont. After a good meal and warming up a bit, we went to the banks of this magnificent lake, where the dogs could finally have a swim.
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