Stage 51 and 52: Aigle to St Maurice – 25 km; St Maurice to Martigny – 21 km

These are very pleasant segments along the Rhine, one of Europe’s great rivers, which at this point is a disturbed, agitated pale green mass of water restlessly fighting its banks from which it will not be set free for another 1200 km when it reaches the sea.  The walls of the valley close in until we reach Martigny, where there is no other choice but to go up, which is what we start doing for the next 3 days until we cross into Italy. We passed the Aigle and St Maurice Castles, the Pissvache water falls and we had our first glimpse of the snowcapped Mount Blanc massive, dwarfing in size and height surrounding peaks. We avoid the crushing mid-day heat by starting very early in the morning and try to wrap the day up before it becomes debilitating.  Onward and upward.