Lac de Salanfe, reservoir
Lac de Salanfe is a reservoir in the Valais Alps, sitting at around 6,200 feet (1,900 meters) in a wide rocky basin. It lies at the foot of the Dents-du-Midi and is framed by other summits such as Tour Salière and Luisin.
The dam was completed in the early 1950s to supply water to nearby communities in the valley below. Before the dam was built, the area was open alpine land used by herders for centuries.
The name Salanfe likely comes from an old word for salt meadow, a reference to the grazing animals that once roamed this high ground. Traces of that pastoral life are still visible around the shore, including old stone walls and the ruins of alpine shelters.
The lake is reached on foot from the village of Van, with a walk of around an hour and a half through forest and open slopes. The area is only accessible in the warmer months, as snow covers the trails well into spring.
Water from this lake flows through the narrow Dailley Gorges and then drops as the Pissevache waterfall, whose name means milk of the cow in the local dialect. The waterfall caught the attention of early travelers in the 1800s, including the writer Goethe, who described it during his journey through the Alps.
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