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August 31, 2026
I've just come back from the best vacation I've ever taken. In a series of six hikes, we made our way around the Matterhorn, starting from the south in Cervinia, Italy, working around to its east and then ending up to its north in Zermatt, Switzerland. We hiked around the massif of the glaciated Monte Rosa, which contains many peaks over 13,000 feet, and we could see it looming on the horizon. Most of our past vacations were planning-intensive. Finding hikes and peaks on topo maps and mapping the route. Stocking the trailer for overnights or reserving hotels. Planning and shopping for food. Figuring out how to get to the trailhead by 7:30 a.m. These tasks were already done for us with the Ryder Walker Alpine Adventure Matterhorn Trek we took at the beginning of August. Fred and I decided to treat ourselves, since we are both 65 this year and retiring, to a "luxury" Alps hiking tour. A friend had mentioned that we would like the Haute Route, a 12-day hiking trek from Chamonix, France, to Zermatt, Switzerland. Instead, we found Ryder Walker and signed up for their 7-day Matterhorn Trek from Cervinia, Italy to Zermatt. This trek far surpassed our expectations. We trained for it; neither one of us had ever hiked seven days in a row. Everything was planned for us: the hotels, restaurants, and transportation to and in some cases from the trail. Our bags were transported to each four or five star hotel. All we had to do was hike, eat, and sleep. What stands out in my mind is the beauty of the small villages and towns we stayed in, and Alagna, Mascognaz and Macugnaga, Italy were my favorites. Bright red and pink flowers everywhere! The food was so good! Fresh-made breads, seafood, and especially the vegetables and salads. The pizza and pasta lived up to their great reputation. Arriving in Breuil-Cervinia, Italy
On the day before our first hike, we arrived in the ski resort town Cervinia, Italy. I asked the hotel receptionist at the four-star Sertorelli Sporthotel where the Matterhorn was. Earnestly, he stood up and said, "I'll show it to you!" He strode toward the front door, opened it, beckoning us out onto Via Guido Rey and pointed north. There, behind the thick grey clouds left over from a heavy thunderstorm the day before that had caused a heavy debris flow and mudslide, was the grey hulk of the steep southern walls of the Matterhorn. "Oh!!" we exclaimed. There it was, the massive gneiss-topped pyramidal peak that sits on the border of Italy and Switzerland. This is the stand-alone iconic mountain that we would hike around for the next seven days, following some ancient trails through the Alps to end in Zermatt, Switzerland for the classic view of the east face of the Matterhorn. During these magical days we would see so many beautiful sights, many of them in the quaint Italian and Swiss Alps villages nestled in deep valleys. We would see old farmers and old farmsteads in the Walser region, and hear the clanging of the glocken and treicheln (cowbells) as the cows grazed. On three hikes, we walked through a col (pass): Col Nana, Col Pinter, and Colle Di Turlo, the latter being the most challenging hike at 14 miles with a 4,200' gain and a nearly 5,000 foot descent into the town of Macugnaga. The trek's seventh day, in Zermatt, was optional. The guide knew Fred and I liked to do summits, so they made this day irresistible to us by offering to hike the Obberothorn, an 11,200' peak and one of the highest hiking trails in the Alps - not a difficult hike but challenging enough. The views from its summit of huge glaciers and the Matterhorn were stupendous.
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Sue and Fred
Exploration documentaries – "explorumentaries" list trip stats and highlights of each hike or bike ride, and add interesting history or geology. Years ago, I wrote these for friends and family to let them know what my husband, Fred and I were up to on weekends, and also to showcase the incredible land of the west. My favorite websites:
Beyond my Couch Daring Dayhikes Earthline: The American West Glenn Suokko - Vermont Artist MishMoments: Joy of Photography Rangewriter - What Comes Next? Stav Is Lost surgent.net (hiking) |
Matterhorn Trek elevation profile illustrating gains/descents for seven consecutive hiking days. Note: instead of hiking to Schwarzee on Day 7, we summited Oberrothorn at 11,200'. On day 5, we started at a lower elevation and had less descent than illustrated here.
-from Ryder Walker Alpine Adventures website
-from Ryder Walker Alpine Adventures website
We hiked six trails (various colors) around the Matterhorn (red place marker on the left), starting in the south at Cervinia, Italy, and ending at Zermatt, Switzerland where on the seventh day we summited the Obberothorn (red place marker on the right) for a great view of the Matterhorn.
Our tracks in blue on the famous Alta Via 1 from Valtournenche to the Gran Tournalin Rifugio for a cappuccino break, and then finishing at St. Jacques.
View of the south face of the Matterhorn from Brueil-Cervinia, Italy. Our four-star hotel had the best breakfast spread and lobster for dinner!
Day 1: Cervinia to Mascognaz, Italy (the blue tracks on left side of map, above)
We began our Matterhorn trek the classic way in the Alps....following the Alta Via 1, used by local farmers for centuries to our first mountain "col," the French word for pass. From Valtournenche, a town in the Aosta Valley, we hiked 8.5 miles to the beautiful hamlet of Mascognaz. At the Col de Nana, our guide made a delicious picnic for us. I spotted a chamois, a goat-antelope at the top of the steep mountain on the pass.
Most of the trails we hiked had rifugios, high-mountain huts serving delicious food and espresso, with lodging for climbers and hikers . On this hike, we stopped at Rifugio Gran Tournalin to have a cappuccino, and then were on our way to finish the hike in the pretty little high-valley town of Saint Jacques, where a rugged taxi took us down-valley to the five-star Hotellerie de Mascognaz.
In Saint Jacques, I snapped a quick photo of the painted mural on the front of the Chapelle de Saint-Jacques d'Ayas, depicting Mary, Joseph and Jesus, with the phrase above it: "God Sees All." We passed an ancient shrine on the trail containing pictures and statues of Christ. All of this in pristine surroundings where you could tell the residents loved their land.
Our trek was the ideal situation, and the weather was perfect every day. Besides two excellent guides, our group included two delightful and fun ladies from the U.S. Our group was efficient at meeting in the mornings for our hikes and at dinner.
We had huge views of the Monte Rosa massif with its many prominent summits to the northeast, hiking by old stone and rock farmsteads, the bells on the cows ringing in the green rock and grass hills.
I imagined the other hotel clients were escaping the hot temperatures in Milan and other cities and towns at lower elevations. We sat back with our beers and a killer view of the snow-covered Alps in comfy lawn chairs in this mountain paradise, looking forward to the next day's hike. I think I could get used to this!
We began our Matterhorn trek the classic way in the Alps....following the Alta Via 1, used by local farmers for centuries to our first mountain "col," the French word for pass. From Valtournenche, a town in the Aosta Valley, we hiked 8.5 miles to the beautiful hamlet of Mascognaz. At the Col de Nana, our guide made a delicious picnic for us. I spotted a chamois, a goat-antelope at the top of the steep mountain on the pass.
Most of the trails we hiked had rifugios, high-mountain huts serving delicious food and espresso, with lodging for climbers and hikers . On this hike, we stopped at Rifugio Gran Tournalin to have a cappuccino, and then were on our way to finish the hike in the pretty little high-valley town of Saint Jacques, where a rugged taxi took us down-valley to the five-star Hotellerie de Mascognaz.
In Saint Jacques, I snapped a quick photo of the painted mural on the front of the Chapelle de Saint-Jacques d'Ayas, depicting Mary, Joseph and Jesus, with the phrase above it: "God Sees All." We passed an ancient shrine on the trail containing pictures and statues of Christ. All of this in pristine surroundings where you could tell the residents loved their land.
Our trek was the ideal situation, and the weather was perfect every day. Besides two excellent guides, our group included two delightful and fun ladies from the U.S. Our group was efficient at meeting in the mornings for our hikes and at dinner.
We had huge views of the Monte Rosa massif with its many prominent summits to the northeast, hiking by old stone and rock farmsteads, the bells on the cows ringing in the green rock and grass hills.
I imagined the other hotel clients were escaping the hot temperatures in Milan and other cities and towns at lower elevations. We sat back with our beers and a killer view of the snow-covered Alps in comfy lawn chairs in this mountain paradise, looking forward to the next day's hike. I think I could get used to this!
Day 1: Our tracks in blue on the famous Alta Via 1 from Valtournenche to the Gran Tournalin Rifugio for a cappuccino break, and then finishing at St. Jacques.
We went over two passes, or "cols" - Col de Fontaines and Col de Nannaz.
We went over two passes, or "cols" - Col de Fontaines and Col de Nannaz.
Passing by old farmsteads on Alta Via 1 with the Matterhorn in the distance. Our group having a great day at Col de Nannaz at 9,000'.
Two beautiful ladies and the perfect hiking companions!
Sue and Fred at Col de Nannaz with Monte Rosa in the Alps on horizon.
Enjoying a picnic that our guides made for us at the Col de Nanna.
At the Rifugio Gran Tournalin - for cappucino. Rifugios have rooms for climbers and hikers (left). Wayside shrine housing photos and statues of Jesus (right).
Dave, our guide, on the left, Fred and Sue. A group is ascending from lower on the trail.
The 5-star Hotellerie de Mascognaz. It was so beautiful!
Hiking down to the Rifugio Gran Tournaline (dark structure upper right).
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Hotellerie de Mascognaz
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"God Sees All"
Chapelle de Saint-Jacques d'Ayas, a Catholic church
Chapelle de Saint-Jacques d'Ayas, a Catholic church