Thursday 4th September: Sunny then overcast: 8°C to 12°C
Arolla to Cabane de Prafleuri: 21.3k: 9am to 4.30pm: 8hrs 30 mins
Leaving Hotel Kurhaus
On the way up to Pas des Chevres
Blue skies and alps all round
It's a long way up
Slippery Col de Reidmatten OR the ladders of Pas des Chevres
The other side of Pas des Chevres
The start of the ladders
Barren landscape and Lac des Dix
Pas de Chevres at 2855 metres
I'll go first
Almost down
Hanging on for dear life
Choice of Col de Reidmatten or Pas de Chevres from other side
Coffee to recuperate after ladders
The glacier de Cheilon
Barren landscape with Lac des Dix
Looking back at Col de Reidmatten, left and Pas de Chevres, right
Stunning lake in deep valley
Marmots everywhere
Peek-a-boo, I see you
The head wall and Glacier de Cheilon at end of valley
Luch among the cow plops
Snow capped Alps above Lake
Track around the Lake
Refuge de la Gentiana
Ladders day! Last night I was dreaming about foxes taking our bag of food hanging out the window, Ian was dreaming about the ladders. There was a choice of cols today - The Cold de Reidmatten or the pas de Chevres, both about 2900m high passes from one valley to the next and less than 100 metres apart. Reidmatten has notoriously slippery slopes on shale on the way down. And Chevres has ladders over the mountain edge, 50 metres to the ledge below. We'd already been warned by Tour Group Fran 2 weeks ago that Reidmatten was dangerous and to take the ladders, so we'd decided to take the plunge and do the ladders.
It's 6.30am and pitch black outside. We're packed and down to breakfast at 7am and it was just the best breakfast ever - the Kurhaus Hotel has been our best so far. A magnificent spread of meusli's, fruits, meats, cheeses, eggs, really fresh bread and hot tea and coffee. We're finished at 7.30am and time to Face Time Bonnie and do last minute checks of email. The internet here has been fantastic - reliable and fast.
At 8.00am it's 8°C and we're out the door and on our way up to the Col de Reidmatten/Pas de Chevres- it's the same route until the last 100 metres ascent. It's sunny and a stunning day with blue skies, a little haze but no rain in sight. Hotel Kurhaus is already at 2000 metres, so we've a 900 metre ascent that's fairly well graded. At 11am, ahead of time, we're at the point we need to make a decision - ladders or slippery slope, and we can see the rocky shaley slopes going up and figure it's the same going down so ladders it is.
Another ten minutes and we're at the top of the Pas de Chevres and immediately we see the top of the ladders. We're so busy thinking ladders we barely notice the stupendous view of the green Lake des Dix on the other side and the barren landscape. Looking over the edge, the ladders look OK. The old ladders are still in place and they were a 50 metre sheer drop. But the new ladders are in stages with platforms. It takes 15 minutes to get ready, do a ladies and mens stop behind the rocks, put on a rainjacket as it's cold on the other side, telescope the trekking poles and stash them in the back pack, don gloves, tighten the back pack to it sits snug to the back, and then we're off over the edge.
It's actually pretty safe going down and it only takes 10 minutes to get to the bottom and re-assemble everything. A bit of a non-event really and more mental than physical. Time for a coffee to recuperate from the mental effort. It's not really cold though it's still only 12°C and it was very timely as all the trekkers going in the reverse direction from Prafleuri to Arolla were heading up to the passes, and we chatted to about 20 people as they trekked past, finding out about the state of the track where we're headed.
We're thinking the rest of the walk will be easy, but for 3k we need to scramble over boulders and gravel, part of the moraine from the Glacier de Cheilon. It's 1.30pm and we can't seem to find a spot for lunch. It's a bit breezy off the lake but there's no place to sit and enjoy lunch other than among the cow plops. At this stage, we're starving and who cares. I have some left over lamb from the night before, and also all the ham, cheese bread and tomatoes that we'd bought yesterday. It was a really nice feast.
There's about 4k walk around the Lac des Dix, all very level and we're moving quite fast as it's quite cold walking into the breeze off the lake. We're thinking it's not far to go before we go up 100 metres in height to the Cabane Prafleuri.. Wrong!. Just before the end of the lake, there's a sharp turn left but there's no Cabane in sight except for the Refuge de la Gentiana which is deserted and there's a notice that it belongs to some gymnastics club and anyone can use the kitchen if they want to. On and up and we suddenly realise there's a 2804 metre Col des Roux to go over before we get to our Cabane de Prafleuri. That's two cols in one day!
The sun is peeking through the clouds and together with the uphill climb, it warms up a little. At the top of the col we can see the giant quarry on the other side. It was used to build the barrage (dam wall) for the Lake and our Cabane de Prafleuri was used to house the workers. Down a bit more and the Cabane appears in the middle of the gravel pit. At 4.30pm we arrive. The Cabane is privately owned, unlike the Cabane du Moiry and the next Cabane du Mont Fort. So everything is run gestapo style. It's the first place we've had to pay before we set foot in the door.
We're shown to our 20 person room - there's 4 spots left - take our pick - the mattresses are all lined up in a row - and the little one said roll over. All the light switches and power points need a one franc coin to operate. The shower needs a five frank token - that's ok, we've had that before, but there's only 2 showers between 50 people at the Cabane, so we sit in a queue waiting. The water is luke warm and the drain doesn't work so there's 3 inches of water in the bottom. There's an hour before dinner, and there's time to chat about the route tomorrow. We're the only ones who've done the next stage in reverse so we're a ball of information about the ladders. Everyone else has a tale to tell about the two options we have tomorrow and it appears that the short route is covered in ice and snow and actually took longer so we've decide to take the longer route over 3 cols.
Dinner is at 6.30pm sharp - soup, hot and ok, salad, mashed potatoes and marmot stew (we think) with a sweet cream and tinned apricots for dessert. There's time after dinner to chat some more and blog a bit.
Cabane de Prafleuri in the quarry
And the little one said roll over