Mauvousin

My "Tour de Suisse barrages" continues. This time, I went to the dam of Mauvousin. The start is in Le Chable, under famous ski village Verbier. From there, I obviously went upwards valley, towards Fionnay which is hydroelectric power station and a little dam getting water from Grande Dixence complex (Grande Dixence is on my "to-climb" list). But the highlight of Fionnay isn't the little dam or hydroelectric power plant.
The highlight is a really high waterfall (unfortunately, I do not know the name as it is not named on the map).

From Fionnay, the road continues directly to Mauvousin. At the beginning there is a moderate slope but the height difference will catch on later, especially very near the dam. After catching my breath and having a lunch, I started my route around the dam. It starts with a long tunnel (+ several shorter ones) climbing a hundred meters above the dam.

Meanwhile, you will pass a tunnel with water which is a source of a big waterfall. Apparently, the Swiss people like digging tunnels because this one starts a few kilometers away in a nowhere place near the stream of Dyure de Sery. They probably need to supply a lof of water to the dam when they are producing the electricity.

The road, however, does not end at the other end of the lake. In fact, you can go much higher as there is a gravel road to a high alping hut Cabanne de Chanrion. From there (height 2460m) I had a nice view of all the big mountains around. For a while, I debated continuing even more (and completely around the lake) but that would mean climbing another two hundred meters and a road on unknown quality (it is a hiking road). Moreover, the sun seems to be smiling less through the clouds so I decided to simply go back the same way.

However, the way back wasn't so boring. Just as I was leaving Mauvousin, I managed to fell with my bike. I was going down on an asphalt road and with my right hand I was trying to fix my saddle. And suddenly, because I was braking with my left hand, the bike started to rotate (more precisely, started to pitch). You may guess what is the reflex for that situation (if you guessed "brake even more" than you are correct). Fortunately, I managed to land better than I expected at the moment. Although I scratched my right elbow quite deeply, it wasn't really bleeding and I managed to wash it in a stream. I hope it will heal soon.

As usual, photos are here.