We left Lyon early one Sunday morning on a bus full of Romanians. We needed to get to the Swiss alps, but no trains leave Lyon for Geneva until after 3 in the afternoon. So we bought tickets on the early Eurolines departure that leaves Lyon at 8:30 in the morning and continues on to Bucharest. That trip takes almost 20 hours, but our journey to Geneva only took two.

From Geneva we took the train to the town of Sion and then we hopped on a Swiss city bus up the mountain and into the small resort village of Anzère. A sleepy place in the summer, our apartment has a great view of the mountains (when it’s clear, anyway, which isn’t often).

When the snow is gone, the area is known for its dozens of hiking trails that lead up into the western Bernese Alps and the nearby peak named Wildhorn. One sunny and warm day we hiked to Lake Tseuzier and its dam, which helps supply the region with fresh water and electricity. We covered almost 15 miles and gained/lost 1,775 feet of elevation.

Most of the trails we followed up and down the mountain were next to the small canals known as bisses that channel snowmelt into the farms and houses of the region.

Here’s just a small part of what we saw on two different days of hiking.

 Click here to view these on a map