Col and Lac de Taney

Some of my favourite climbs are up to alpine lakes. I didn’t know anything about Lac de Taney, except on a map I could see there was a Col de Taney just before. That was enough for me to go take a look. The climb starts in Vouvry, in the Chablais region of Switzerland. It climbs into the Alps in the opposite side of the valley from Aigle.

I brought my Mountain bike, expecting there might be some unpaved stuff (and there was). The first 9 or 10 kilometres are on a big, fairly quiet, well-surfaced road, with plenty of hairpins and views of the valley below.

A little past the village of Miex, the paved road ends. I got confused and headed up a trail that soon became a hiking path. Far too steep to ride. The path bumped into a gravel road that I somehow had missed below (it is hard to miss, just keep going straight when paved road ends). 😉

This road is truly crazy-steep. I struggled to even pedal much of it, pushing most of the way up. The lake is a little past and below the col. It’s small, surrounded by quite a few chalets, and a restaurant.

Steep

Steep

Col de Taney

Lac de Taney

The valley is a dead-end. But you can follow a farm road that seems to climb out of the valley high and up to the right (but to follow it would be quite an adventure). I rode it for a while, but as it became super-steep, and the weather looked ominous, I decided to call it a day.

The unpaved part of the descent was too steep and too poor a surface for me to ride – it just seemed dangerous. Be careful here.

I don’t know, it’s an OK lake but I was disappointed by this ride (yes, I know I am spoiled). While this is a nice climb, there are countless better roads nearby. Many are to bigger, more beautiful lakes. For example, Lac de l’Hongrin or Lac d’Emosson.