DAY 22: Saturday June 23rd - Pralognan to Refuge de la Leisse: 20k, 9hrs: Blue skies, 5°C to 18°C
Black goat in the midst
Injured goat mothered by dog
Because the sky is so blue
Ian likes to frame his photos
A photo opportunity when you can
Coffee on the way to the Col
The Vanoise is rugged and wild
Stepping stones across and icy lake
Most of the high track is snow drift
More snow drifts
At last the col de Vanoise - 2529m
These boots aren't made for snow walking
Rugged country with few signs
Vanoise wild flowers - pink
Vanoise wild flowers - yellow
Vanoise wild flowers - pale blue
Vanoise lichen - orange
Vanoise wild flowers - white
Vanoise wild flowers - lime green
Vanoise wild flowers - blue
Vanoise wild flowers - deep blue
Vanoise wild flowers - sky blue
Lunch on a flat rock
There's not a cloud in the sky
More snow drifts to cross
Shaley mountain slopes
Time for a chat to a lone walker
Falling down again
Still no clouds in the sky
Two tiny huts in the distance
Refuge de la Leisse - home tonight
But there's still a climb up
Time to celebrate with a beer
Can it get any better? Blue skies all day, no wind, more snow capped mountains in a wild rugged Vanoise National Park. We climb the Col de la Vanoise today at 2529 metres and trekked through high plateaus of ice, snow, lakes, rock falls and wild flowers like we've never seen before - the myriad of colours is pure magic. There were many day trippers the first part of the trip, but late in the day - just one or two through walkers - we think we will have the Mountain hut Reuge deal Leisse to ourselves - but no, there's a bus load of Parisiens come from the other side of the valley.
We awake at 7am, pack, phone home, because we can, then dawdle down to breakfast - one of the best we have had - hot bread, hot croissants, hot tea, slices of ham and cheese AND muesli and yoghurt - I'm stuffed. We'd definitely come here to stay again - I'm already planning my next trip to the Vanoise. We leave at 8.30 through the village, then take the tracks up through the forests. We come to a Table d'orientation - a high view point over Pralognon and the mountains with a map showing all the names of the peaks. It's a stunning day - blue skies again.
We came across a herd of goats - there's one black one that stands out - and a little further up is a lone goat and sheep dog (I suppose it's a goat dog but it doesn't sound right). The dog is mothering the goat, and then we see that the goat has an ulcerated hind leg as big as a saucer that the dog is tending to and licking and chasing the flies away - very touching.
We move out of the forest and into wild open country. Up and up. After meeting 2 australians out for a day walk from Pralagnon, we stop for a coffee on the way to the col. A little further and we trek across the Lac de Vaches - an icy shallow lake with stepping stones for about 400 metres across. We start to walk across snow drifts, following the tracks of the many day walkers ahead of us. We walk for a few hundred metres across soft snow and soon we are there at the Cold De Vanoise at 2529 metres - it's not a sharp saddle like Col, but the start of a very high plateau covered in icy lakes. There's a refuge here where many stop for lunch or the night.
We have a cup of tea admiring the beauty - that's all we've been doing all day - not having cups of tea - admiring the beauty. Then we move on - it's still a long way. The high plateau is covered in more icy lakes and snow drifts, with towering shaggy alps all around. We follow the lakes linked by a stream to it's edge, and then its a very steep descent down into the Valley of the de La Leisse Torrent. It's a bit scary, so we don't stop for lunch - it fogs the mind, and we need to stay alert til we get to the bottom which we can see 500 metres below. But the wild flowers on this slope are just beautiful - so many different colours as you can see in the photos - rick pinks, deep blues, vibrant yellows, pale blues and pinks.
1hr later and we reach the valley below and cross over a stone bridge where we sit on a rock and enjoy lunch - nothing exciting, just the usual bread cheese and ham, but I use up the rest of my rice crackers and vegemite. Then we follow the torrent for a few kilometres around the contour, and a long way off in the distance we can see the two huts of the Refuge de La Leisse. More snow drifts to cross and by now, falling down is par for the course.
At 5.45pm, we roll into the Refuge de La Leisse - it's at 2500 metres perched on a cliff. It's basic - nothing how the website described it - but it's not as though we had any choice - there's not another place to stay for 10k in either direction. There's one shower and a queue of 30 people - there's a group who have been bused in from Paris just for the night - our night. I sit and blog while I'm in the queue. 1.hr 30mins later I'm in the shower - it was worth waiting for. Ian follows. But the toilets are just a hole in the ground - been there done that before, but these hl's are overflowing - there's 30 people here tonight.
There's 2 bedrooms, each with 16 people, all lying side by side - and the little one said roll over. No room to unpack, so we just stay in our day clothiers without unpacking. Dinner is at 7pm - hot tomatoey soup - the American opposite asks if its vegetarian because that's what she ordered - yes, says the girl. But by the time we had finished dishing out the soup to everyone at the table from the one large pot, we find a few sausages (added for flavour) in the bottom. Ian and I have a bit of a giggle but don't say anything - what you don't know, won't hurt you. Followed by mashed potato and some kind of chunky chewy meat - it has a weird taste - probably marmot stew. The 2 Americans opposite us are with Earth watch and they tell us they are volunteer marmot watchers - apparently they live to 13 of 14 and burrow 15metres under the ground to survive the winter. The nondescript meat is followed by a piece of cheese and pineapple tart. I feel seedy just thinking about the meat.
We all go to bed at 8.30pm - there's no queue for the toilets - we all found our own rock after our first visit to the loo. It's freezing outside so 16 in a very small bedroom at least makes it cosy. I type some diary, running on battery, while there's still rusting in the room. Then it's all quiet and all I can hear is my click clack click clack on the keys - its' so still you can hear a marmot breathing. Time to close up and go to sleep
Blogging while in the shower queue
The shower queue gets longer