Uly to Swiss Alps, last moto camping trip of the year (October 2023)

[dolomoto]

I got a record third kitchen pass for a moto trip so I loaded up Buell-ah and headed to the mountains. I picked a campsite up a dead end valley (Val Ferret) on the NE side of Mont Blanc and just south of Martigny, Switzerland.

I arrived around 1600 and the sun was already setting behind the mountains...nice glacier view from the campsite.



for dinner, I made a nice one skillet meal with a pork cutlet and a packet of "mexican" blend vegetables that I picked up at a local grocery store.



Nice Alpenglow.



During the next morning's pre-ride walkaround, I noticed the front muffler strap had broken. I took the chin fairing off and removed the broken strap.



A quick internet search turned up a local independent "custom cycle" shop that also turned up when I searched for "Buell mechanic".



the good folks at the family run "Champion Cycles" had 6 Buells in the shop and stock lots of common parts, including the front muffler strap...score!

https://www.customcycles.ch/

 

[dolomoto]

I got the new strap installed in about an hour with my tool kit.



By the time I got cleaned up, it was nearly noon and I had to revise my route but the riding was still nice.






the view for the middle of the night nature call was spectacular.



I decided to ride back into Italy and up to the Matterhorn. the closest Italian town to the Matterhorn is Brueil...ugly ski town with no good place to get a nice view of the mountain as just about everything is closed. It's between the summer tourist season and the winter ski season.

So I found a suitably curvy road and found a nice spot for a pic of the Matterhorn.

 

[dolomoto]

I left the Matterhorn behind and rode back across the St Bernard Pass (the old road).



Swiss side of the old St Bernard Pass rode...it's seen better days.



The next day, I rode thru the Rhone Valley from Martigny to Andermatt; there were lots of scenic villages.





Once thru Andermatt (another great area to ride), I rode thru Neufenen Pass. In the pic below, the road goes over the pass to the left of the windmills.



Another pic of the Matterhorn, this time from the Swiss side.



And a view of the glacier at the top.



Glamour shot...lol.

 

[dolomoto]

My last night camping was in Splugen, Switzerland on Spulgen Pass. there's a nice, high speed tunnel thru the pass but the moto's should take the old pass road thru the canyon.



the last night's dinner was some local sausage and some vegetables because my wife says I should eat more vegetables.



the next morning, I got all packed up and hit the road.



the italian side of splugen is ribbons of asphalt up the mountain.



I took it easy as I always do when I'm RTB and I had a long-ish day of riding ahead of me.



Once back in Italy, I avoided the main roads and took the secondary roads all the way home. Nice pic of a lakeside castle.



And now I'm onto planning next years trip...corsica? sardinia? pyrenees?

too many choices...lol

 

[c3powil]

Wow! I hope I am lucky enough to have such a trip one day. Amazing pictures.

 

[TheWood]

Spectacular trip & pic.'s! Thanks for sharing this. Vicariously participating.

 

[Cooter]

Oh wow thats such beautiful landscape!
Heres a "pic of a lakeside castle" isn't something us 'Muricans get to say a lot, :adoration: You're definitely doing my bucket list things! Thanks so much for the inspiring photos:angel: