| Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23 – Les Paccots to Vevey. |
| Length: 12 miles (19 km); |
| Hiking Time: 6 h; |
| Ascent: 2,150 ft (660 m); |
| Descent: 4,275 ft (1300 m); |
| Fitness Level: Difficult. |
Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23, #1 – Les Paccots to Vevey. I spend some time exploring Les Paccots.
Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23, #2 – Les Paccots to Vevey. Lac des Joncs just outside of Les Paccots. The detour only takes 5 minutes to the lake but it’s easy to stay a long time. What makes Lac des Jones so special is that it’s a glacier kettle lake. My @Hike360 in the USA Midwest, especially along the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin, makes it easy for me to assume Lac des Joncs is a kettle lake. A kettle lake is created by a large chunk of ice left behind during glacier melts. This land-based iceberg digs into the landscape leaving a large depression or lake. Check it out, the floral display around the lake is worth a visit.
Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23, #3 – Les Paccots to Vevey. The Fégire footbridge, where the river La Veveyse de Fégire marks the border between the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud.
Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23, #4 – Les Paccots to Vevey. The Marais des Tenasses protected area. This high-altitude peat bog is similar to the Rothenthurm Moor from Stage 8. A wooden footbridge is provided during this section. Immediately after the Marais des Tenasses is the Lally recreational area.
Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23, #5 – Les Paccots to Vevey. High views of Lake Geneva and the French Alps dominate the hike. This is also when the 800m descent to Lake Geneva begins. As an alternative, there is a cog railway that crisscrosses the rest of the hike from Lally to Vevey.
Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23, #6 – Les Paccots to Vevey. Cog railway from Lally to Vevey. A cog railway, or cog wheel trail or rack-and-pinion railway, is a train built for steep mountain grades. A toothed rack rail is added in between the normal two train rails, making three total train tracks, and the train has a cog wheel or pinions that mesh with the rack rail.
Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23, #7 – Les Paccots to Vevey. My detour from the Blonay Train Station takes a local trail along the Baye de Clarens River to the Clarens lakefront on Lake Geneva. The river walk is quiet and shaded, a stark contrast to the street hike. This detour adds 3 miles (5km) of lakefront, but I think well worth it.
Swiss Alpine Panorama Trail, Segment 23, #8 – Les Paccots to Vevey. Lake Geneva Lakefront Walk from Clarens to Vevey. This is the Swiss Riviera. Plenty of people watching, house looking, food and activities are present along this lake walk. I was excited to get to the water and begin a new Mediterranean lifestyle attitude. After all, I’ve hiked up and down mountains thus far through Switzerland, so why not start the luxury homestretch that is Lake Geneva.