Spring I think (and hope) has finally arrived in the Val d’Hérens. The temperatures have gone up significantly in the past few days and the snow is melting fast. Walking season is therefore upon us – though only at lower levels, like under 2,000 metres or 6,500 ft and then, only on the south facing slopes.
For my first walk, I thought I’d play it safe and head down the valley, where I know the snow has all gone. After taking the Postbus to the small village of La Luette, I set off down the east side of the valley, before dropping down and crossing the Pont de Riva and then continuing on the west side of the River Borgne to Bramois, near Sion in the Rhone valley. Over the winter, several stones and trees have fallen, including one massive boulder on what was already a detour of the path to avoid such things. (See pic 5 below). It was nice to see at least 5 different butterflies on the wing, though I only have a very poor picture of one, and to capture some of the numerous Spring flowers – including two I’d never noticed before, which I think are both Corydalis (see pics 16 & 17).
I’ve added some maps at the end so that you can zoom in, or out, on where this walk is in the world. Enjoy! 🙂
Alittlebitoutoffocus 
What a great thrill for you to have the first spring hike, and my goodness, the beauty that abounds! Beautiful Alps. With all the snow you have shown over the past months, I find it amazing that the ground is without it now, and cheerful wildflowers, boulders, and butterflies have appeared in its place. Thanks for the photos, and I also really enjoyed the maps.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed the pictures, Jet. It’s nice to see the flowers and butterflies again. I did get a glimpse of an interesting greeny/yellow bird too, but it was too quick for me to identify. I also took a picture of what turned out to be a Rock Bunting, but the picture quality was so poor (just good enough to identify the bird) I couldn’t include it. I’ll try to include more maps in future posts. 🙂
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I did enjoy your walk. Wonderful views!!
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Many thanks for your comments Hanna, it’s nice to know people appreciate the photos. There will be many more walks to come this summer of course! 🙂
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great! Spring has sprung! And your walk is a great way to celebrate it. Looks like it was great weather, and the photos are beautiful. Shame you couldn’t get more pictures of the butterflies. I like how diverse they are in color, shape and markings (though I know very little about identifying them). Thanks also for the maps-especially the topographical one. 🙂
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Yes indeed and it’s continued over the weekend into today with blue skies. Dare I say it, but it feels almost like summer (but then it’s probably just relative to the cold we’ve been experiencing for 4 months!) I’ve just bought another book on butterflies, so I should have no excuse for not being able to identify them from now on, assuming they stay still enough for me to photograph them. 🙂
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Still, cold or not, one can’t beat the sun! And you need to train the butterflies better! There must be a treat you can put out for them to stay still. 🙂
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The treat is all the wild flowers we have all around. I just need to find them feeding on the nectar and then move very slowly towards them and hope… Sometimes it works, but mostly they fly off.
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