Friday 5th September: Overcast then misty then sunny then rain and hail: 5°C to 12°C
Cabane du Plafeuri to Cabane du Mont Fort: 18.5k: 7.30am to 3.30pm: 8 hrs
Barren Landscape looking back
Almost there at Col de Prafleuri
Ibex all over the mountain
A barren misty moonscape
Tiptoeing over a glacial lake
Coffee next to blue flowers
Ian scrambling over rocks
Two cols down one to go - Col Termin here we come
50 people go past us up to the Col de Louvie at 2921 metres
WET PATHS AND TERRAIN ARE DANGEROUS - PAY ATTENTION
I'll be careful in the mist
Whoops - bruised gluteus maximus
Col Termin 2648metres and sign to Mont Fort
Lunch on a Donna sit pad at the Col Termin at 2648 metres.
Villages 1800 metres down in valley
Chamois on the hillside
Mist and rain rolls up the valley
Cabane du Mont Fort
Time for a beer and Mick's Nuts
A mixed day of weather and landscapes plus a 3 col day - Col de Prafleuri at 2965 metres, Col de Louvie at 2921 metres and Col Termin at 2648 metres, with several hundreds of metres drop in between. Misty, sunny, rain and hail and for most of the day a moonscape landscape of rocks and boulders - not the picture postcard photos of Switzerland. We guessed by the fact that there were few villages over the last two days that there's a reason - it's a barren desert - but a fascinating unknown area of Switzerland.
We didn't sleep much last night with 20 bodies in the room. People were coming and going at all hours and torches flashed as no one wants to use a Swiss Franc in the slot to get the lights on for a few minutes. The Gestapo hut at Prafleuri is abuzz with people by 6am as everyone MUST be out the door by 7.30am. That suits us fine as it's a long hard day. But with 50 people trying to use two loos, there's more queues. We've booked into breakfast at 7am but the tea is cold, the bread is stale, and the cheese is plastic - in wedges. So much for a privately run refuge.
Everyone has left by 7.30am - goodbye Cabane du Prafleuru. Wished there was an alternative but there's not. It's cold. 5°C and a bit overcast. We're the only ones heading up to the Col de Prafleuri as everyone else is going in the opposite direction towards Arolla and the ladders. We've been a ball of information for them and them to us. We now know to take the Sentier de Chamois, a slightly longer route, but it avoids the Col de Chaux which they told us was icy and slippery.
One hour later we're at the top of the Col de Prafleuri - a very high col at 2965 metres. It got colder and colder and eventually we had to stop to add more layers of clothing. Down the other side a barren landscape of boulders and glacial lakes greets us. It takes us 3 hours of rock hopping to trek just a few kilometres. Finally we're heading up to the Cold de Louvie at 2921 metres but we're famished. Breakfast was so spartan that by 10am we need to stop just short of the top of the col for coffee and snack. There's a rock seat by a pretty bunch of blue alpine flowers. Hot coffee and bread and jam and we're ready to go again. We reach the top of Louvie are greeted by another barren landscape and a misty valley.
We're no sooner over the top and we're met by streams of hikers coming towards us. More than 50 people of all shapes, sizes and ages and nationalities, all with tour groups, are headed up to the Col de Louvie. Mountain etiquette dictates that the downward trekker gives way to the upward trekker, so we found ourselves saying Hi to everyone then stepping aside to let them pass. Most of them managed a fake "Bonjour" that immediately gave them away as English or Americans or Australians.
Down the other side, the boulders are just as bad, if not worse as the mist has turned to light rain and made everything slippery. I'll be careful, I tell myself when suddenly whoops, and I find myself rolling down several meters into the boulders. Luckily I escaped with just a bruised gluteus maximus. The mist thickens as we wind our way around the cliff edge, hanging onto chains as we go. This side of the col, the landscape is much greener and there's supposed to be chamois, smaller versions of ibex, abounding on these slopes. This path is called the Sentier de Chamois. We haven't seen any yet, just evidence of them all over the path.
The mist lifts every now and then and we can see the small lake at the bottom of the valley. We seem to be gaining height, when all of a sudden out of the blue, we're at the Col Termin at 2648 metres. It's 1.15pm and we spy a little nook behind a boulder out of the misty breeze and have lunch. 3 day old cheese, ham, tomato and bread and butter. It tastes pretty good, as it's been stashed in our back packs exposed to less than 10°C all morning. Down the other side, at last the mist lifts and we can see the green green valley of Bagnes 1800 metres below, where we're heading tomorrow. Th villages of Lourtier, Versegeres and Le Chable lie scattered on the valley floor, and we can almost make out Champex up on the mountainside where we're going in 2 days time.
It's a very pretty walk at about 1500 metres along a balcony path high above the valley and there's groups of chamois scattered throughout the hillside like sheep. At last we're seeing signs to the Cabane du Mont Fort. Turning a corner, the Cabane can be seen a little higher than us on a rock perch but at the same time, the mist rolls up from the valley and it starts to rain, then small pellets of hail fall. Time to walk a bit faster up the last hill. We arrive just in time at 3.30pm as the rain pours down. It's been an early day for us but only because we started at 7.30am this morning.
We're in luck. We have a two person room at the cabane, high up in the attic. The warden of the cabane, which belongs to the Swiss Alpine Club is just a young guy, easy going but very efficient. He seems to be able to check people in, take phone calls, make cheese fondu for 2 drop-in visitors, serve beer to those already here in the lounge, issue towels and shower tokens to the guests who have just arrived, cook dinner at the same time and be friendly to everyone. Such a change from Prafleuri.
The lounge room is warm so it's time for a beer and nuts from Mick's Nuts at West End, that Ian has carried around for weeks. It's nice to chat to the others in the room, a mix of Americans, British and a Swiss couple from Lausanne, and find out who's going where and compare notes. Then it's time for a quick shower and get our room organised. There's even a power point in the room to charge all our e-gadgets. Dinner is at no set time - just whenever. But we know from previous people days before what the menu is. Vegetable soup, salad, spaghetti bolognaise and a Swiss Cornetto icecream followed by a small glass of grappa. And sure enough, that's what it is and it's really nice too.
The young Swiss couple are only doing a 2 day walk - because you can when you live in Switzerland. The other Americans and Britts are doing self guided tours. The rain clears and the Alps reveal themselves - hopefully it will be a good day tomorrow.