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Day 4: The final stage of the Tour du Ruan returns to Switzerland at the 2395m Col de Sageroux, about 1½hrs above the hut, then cuts along the ridge heading east over the Tête des Ottans to Col des Ottans, which is 100m higher than Sageroux, and from where you descend steeply (caution required) into the Vallon de Susanfe. From Cabane de Susanfe head upvalley, cross Col de Susanfe and make the descent into the Salanfe basin to complete the circuit at Auberge de Salanfe at the end of a 6½hr day.

Mont Ruan and the Tour Sallière, seen from the Pas d’Encel

Clouds hang low over Lac d’Emosson

Lacs d’Emosson

In common with the St Bernard Express (see ssss1) the Mont Blanc Express which begins in Martigny must be one of Europe’s slowest ‘express’ trains. Grinding slowly along the left bank of the Gorges du Trient it has a station at Finhaut, an unpretentious resort whose buildings appear to cascade down the steep hillside. The tourist office is located at the railway station (www.finhaut.ch) at the lower end of the village which has a modest number of shops, a bank, a small choice of hotel and pension accommodation, and a 14-place dortoir, Les Alpes. A few kilometres further upvalley Le Châtelard marks the border with France, and it is here that rail passengers bound for Chamonix need to change trains. Le Châtelard has two hotels and a funicular, said to be the world’s steepest with a gradient of 87%, linking with a narrow-gauge tourist train and a ‘mini funicular’ to provide access with Lac d’Emosson (www.emosson-trains.ch). The same reservoir’s dam can also be reached in summer by road from Finhaut, and by a public bus service from Martigny.