The Sheep Trek
Every year around august, it’s time to get around 850 sheep from the pastures in the high Alps in Switzerland - such as the Aletschji - down to the valley. Situated next to the biggest glacier in the Alps – the Aletsch - the Aletschji pastures are a most specacular landscape.
To farm sheep once a day was an expression of prosperity, nowadays seems to disappear more and more.
Around ten young men from the municipal of Naters in Wallis in the Swiss Alps come together to face the hard job to herd the sheep belonging to local breeders. After a three days round up through the steep pastures, the herd of sheep is driven though the spectacular Telli canyon and finally arrives on Belalp, where they are expected by a croud of spectators. On the last day, the sheep are separated among the breeders. They step into the big corral and grab their animals and push them into a smaller corral. A religious mass is held afterwards. Finally the herds are driven down to the valley.
Adrian Streun documents these last two days of this sheep trek.
