Sunday 3rd July: Brilliant blue skies, 8°C to 24°C
Bousieyas to Larche: 22k walk: 7.45am to 5.15pm: 9 hrs 30 mins
Not the best photo of Michel Pesce
Today was a most stunning day in the alps - spectacular, with blue skies all day. Highlight was climbing 1000 metres up to the Pas de la Cavale at 2671 metres, and down 1000 metres to Larche. A close second highlight was lunch at Lake du Lauzanier, high in the alps at 2284 m, with hundreds of families sitting by the lake for a Sunday picnic.
Our day starts early at 6am and after packing, its breakfast at 7am. Michel Pesce has the fire going, it's a cold 8°C, with breakfast already laid out on the table. Bread, butter and jam with a variety of sweet breads and hot coffee or tea. It wasn't so much the breakfast content but his presentation that made us feel like welcome guests to his place. We're out the door at 7.45am. It's a long 22k day, and Michel has told us to get over the high Pas de la Cavale before midday, in case of afternoon storms in the mountain.
Marmot country
Blue skies all day
More nblue skies
Sheep like maggots on hill side
Up to Col des Fourches 2267 m
Up to Pas de la Cavale 2671 m
The tracks up there somewhere
Where's that track
Almost at the top
Magnificent view of Mont Mournier
Pas de la Cavale 2671 m
Cuppa waiting for Graham & Jenny
Here come Graham and Jenny
At the Pas de la Cavale 2671
Goat country
Snow on the other side
More stunning views
Tip toes through the snow
Tip toe through the flowers
Glacial lakes and alps
Mountain stream and alps
Marmot country
Lake du Lauzanier 2284 m
Lunch at Lake du Lauzanier
A long valley down to Larche
Skies don't get any bluer
Queen street to Lake du Lauzanier
16k done, 6k to go. Feet need icing
All day view
We're no sooner out the door than our climb to the first col begins. Up and up, criss crossing the road, past the deserted Italian military post (we're less than 1k from the Italian border), past hundreds of sheep moving across the green hill side like maggots over a lettuce leaf, and soon we're at the Col des Fourches at 2267 metres, a climb of 400 metres. A bearded hiker is sitting there with his back pack, shoes off, rubbing his towes. He's walked from Bordeaux, about 1000 km, and his shoes are worn out and his toes covered in blisters. But now we have to go down 200 metres to the next valley before climbing to our next col, the Pas de la Cavale at 2671 metres, making this next climb 600 metres.
It starts out ok, climbing gently through flower filled meadows, then suddenly the grassy meadow stops and the shale starts. Looking up, we see we are at least 150 metres from the top, wherever that is, because there's no obvious gap over the mountain top. So up we go, on a steep gravelly, rocky path, slipping backwards as much as forward. Twenty metres later, when we're almost at the top, an opening appears around a corner to a small flat plateau where there's already a few hikers perched having a break. It's not cold, not windy, but an almost perfect day to be at the top of teh Pas de la Cavale, one of the famed passes on the GR5.
It's taken Ian and I 3 hrs to get to the top from Bousieyas. Jenny and Graham have had an early morning tea half way up, so Jetboil our water for cup of tea and cake and butter while we wait for them. Other hikers arrive. A young couple, one from France, one from Belgium have come up from the opposite side and join us in a cup of tea. Bearded blister man arrives and immediately takes hos shoes off again, rolls a cigarette, and sits back to enjoy the view. Several other hikers arrive. The Pas de la Cavale is within reach of several car parks, and being Sunday, there's many day hikers.
Jenny and Graham arrive 30 minutes later and have a cuppa. A mountain goat appears on a rocky outcrop near by and poses for photographs. The day is so beautiful, teh sky so blue and the scenery so fantastic in all directions, that we don't want to leave the top. We can even see Mont Mournier where we were three days ago. At 12.45pm we start down the northern side where's there's large patches of snow covering the track. It's a bit tricky but not dangerous and we descend along a stony path to the Valley of Lauzanier. It's a long way down, and takes us almost an hour to reach the grassy meadow below the shale. There's hundreds of hikers going up and down, and we often have to stand aside to let them up. Mountain etiquette dictates that those going up have right of way to those going down.
The track winds its way past several glacial lakes, and at 1pm, I'm looking for a place for lunch. It's quite warm now, but there's no shade. Further down, we see many people having a picnic lunch on a grassy flat beside a large lake which I soon realised was Lake Lauzanier, and decide that this is a good place to stop. Lunch is a bit spartan - a small piece of bread from this morning with some left over jam, nutella and honey. There was no shop in Bousieyas, and Michel gave us a small baguette which was perfect for making do with our left overs. I count 70 people having lunch by the lake, which is icy cold. A few young girls brave the icy waters but only get in up to their thighs.
The path down through the valley is crowded with Sunday walkers - mostly going down but even at 2.30pm, some still coming up to the lakes. There's hundreds of marmots darting across the meadows and disappearing down burrows. Some ar as fat as wombats. I hear a lound screech, the sound of marmots signalling distress, and turn to see two large vultures circling high above. Ian tries to take a photo and after several attempts, and many photos of just blue sky, one photo reveals the large 1.5m wing span of these birds.
At 3.00pm we reach the junction of the valley path with the road, where there's a car park full of cars. Time for an afternoon cup of tea under a pine tree near a fast flowing stream we'd been following for the past hour. I strip off my socks to put my feet in teh icy cold water - I can only tolerate 15 seconds. A cup of tea later, and we're back on the road, with another 5 k to go to Larche. It's partly shaded by pine trees and much cooler to walk down than the valley road. But there's many cars returning from their family picnic at Lake du Lauzanier, and w have to stand aside for them to pass.
An hour later and we're at Les Marmots, a camping ground that has the only store in Larche. We buy some cheese, tomatoes and bread for lunch for the next two days, as we'll be back into 3 mountain refuges in a row. There's only one k to go down a grassy track into Larche - a strange village of about 10 places - tourist office, mairie, modern church, 4 accommodation places, a bank and 2 houses. It's on a main road, the D900 through the Valley so is just a service village.
It's easy to find our accommodation in thissmall place, the Relais d'Italie. There's people sitting outside under umbrellas drinking, so we've no sooner been shown to our rooms on the 3rd floor, than we're downstairs having an icy cold Heineken draught beer after a long 22k day in 9 hours. Back to our rooms to shower and wash. There's no WiFi so Graham is soon back down having another drink while I sort photos before we all join him.
Dinner is at 7.30pm and is really nice. Thin soup loaded with vegetables, roast chicken and potatoes and purple sweet potatoes, followed by cheese or fruit salad. It's the most protein we've had for a week. The European soccer is on - France is 2-0 up on Iceland, and after watching until half time, we go to bed