DAY 17: Monday June 18th - Montgenevre to Nevache: 22k 8hrs, blue skies again: 18°C to 26°C
6.30am and time to do FaceTime to Bonnie and Clancy and Ian's mum
A long way up to the Col de Lauze
Grassy fields on the way to the Col
It's stony and spartan up high
I hope there's no sheep at the top
Our first snow drift at 2000 metres
Can you ever get tired of this view
It's steep to the Col de Lauze
Col de Lauze 2,529 metres
The view to the Ecrins on the other side is even better
Yes, the map says it's the Ecrins
A GR5 sign is almost as good as GPS
The stony road down the other side
Where we're going is down there
This is the 25th zig and zag
The Claree River is a raging torrent
At last Nevache
Today is a big day. We are about to tackle a 2,529 metre mountain pass, the Col de Lauze. It's our highest mountain pass yet and today is our first day in the High Alps on the GR5. Montgenevre is at 1860, so that's a climb of almost 700 metres up a long trail, then down 1,000 metres on the other side to Nevache at 1,500 metres. It took us ors, but we did it. and we are really pleased we have handled this high mountain pass without too much trouble - no sore spots, just a nice achy tired feeling. And we actually got to meet other walkers, 4 Americans, for the first time.
We awake to another beautiful day. I poke my head out of the attic wind and it feels like a coolish but not cold 18°C. We drag in our washing, then I spend an hour catching up on phone called home Skype and Factime make my phone redundant - I'm already regretting carrying the extra 153 grams for the phone, case and charger that I'v take one photo (of Federer) since we've been in France. No phone next time. We shower, pack and go down to breakfast at 7.30am. The coffee's instant, the croissant has been reheated, and the cornflakes are sugary pops, but we're hungry as we didn't have much last night.
We leave at 8am and pass by Napolean's Monument - the town has history and that's about it. 1k up the main road we turn left onto the GR5 track up the gorge and continue to climb up and up and up and up. Through woodland, sony tracks, grassy fields, we eventually reach our first snow drifts of the trip. I stop to fill my water bottle from a flowing stream, it's warming up very quickly. I hope there aren't any goats or sheep up in the mountain contaminating the water.
We are glad we didn't wait for the Sherpa shop to open. We'll make do - and besides, I have my reserve of Rice Crackers and Vegemite. It's still up and up, and we see a group of 4 walkers ahead. We haven't seen any real through walkers (as opposed to day trippers) and I had hoped to meet up with some to find out the snow conditions ahead and where they stayed. We follow them up and up, just 400 metres behind. We are headed to the Col de Lauze at 25209 metres, our highest Col (a pass between two mountains) so far. And we are getting closer to the 4 walkers.
Eventually we see the walkers stopped at the top of the Col. We reach them and we stop too. One of them says Bonjour in a very strange accent. Ian replies with Bonjour to you to - and then we all realise that noe of us is French. They are Americans from Maine and it's the first time we;ve encountered Americans doing their own thing instead of with a guided tour - that's nice. We sit and chat for 20 mins and discover we are headed in the same general direction and in fact will be at the same refuge, Mont Thabor, tomorrow night. They have also booked into the Refuge Peclet Ponset high in the Vanoise and have been told the snow on the passes is clear. That's great news for us as that's where we're headed. They move on while we have a billy coffee at the top. It's all downhill from here - in fact we are about to descent 1000 metres down and down and down with no relief for 5 hrs - just all down.
The first bit of down is to the next col, the Col de Dormillouse, its 100 metres at 2400metres, then on to a gravel track through pine forests and snow drifts, where we have a second morning tea break beside a stream - today we are looking for shaw again, not sun. Then more down until we reach a gravel road and find our 4 American Friends, Dave and Rob, Tuli and Karen, sitting by a stream having lunch. It's only 12.45pm - too early for us and besides, we have agreed that I will pick the next lunch spot. So we move on, but not before we have to walk across a precarious log across a stream the more gravel road down and down. It continues to go down and down and there are at least 25 zig zags, each about 200 metres long, so it's 5k down this steep gravel road. But the views are still stunning so who's complaining.
At 2pm, we reach the bottom at Plampinet and I (that's me) find a picnic table near the stream. We have lunch, and we are both starving so we stuff ourselves to get rid of the left overs - the butter has melted, the dried ham is greasy, the cheese is soft, the tomatoes squishy, the mace is a but slimy and the bread stale - but it's Oh so good. And there's a pipe gushing cold water so we can wash it all down with an icy drink.
Time to move and it's hard to get going but it's only about 4k up the road to Nevache. We walk up the Valley of the Claree River, and spy our American friends having a rest by the side of the road. We have played tag with them all day and probably will for the next few days. That's nice. There's dozens of camper vans lining the road backing on to the creek. It's hot - 27°C now and the sun is beating down and there's no relief. We come to the turn in the GR5 where we have to back track tomorrow as our Gite is about 2k past. We watch for a familiar house (as we have a photo of the Gite) and eventually at 4pm we arrive at La Decouverte. The women are in the kitchen cooking dinner. It smells good and we see 5 bowls of lettuce - some greenery will be nice. We have a demi pension tonight (dinner, bed and breakfast) - that's good because apart from a few tomatoes, vegemite and rice crackers, we are out of food.
We shower, do our washing as everything is not only sweaty but dusty. We have descended from 2529 to about 1500 metres along 10k of gravel tracks and roads. It's time for a beer. Ian orders a Genepi beer - a kind of sweet beer and I have a cold rose. Then we catch up on emails and diary as they have WiFi. We don't know about tomorrow night as it's a hut in the mountains.
We ask the manager if there's a shop open in the morning so we can restock on cheese and ham. She points 400 metres down the road and we decide to check it out to see how early it is open in the morning. Nevache is a very old village with streets so narrow, there is a car park at the entrance to the village and from there ,it's walking only. We find the shop, step inside to see what they have and discover they are "Ferme Mardi" - and that's Tuesday, that's tomorrow. It's now or never so we buy some ham, goats cheese and bread. We come across our American friends at their gite and say Hi, see you tomorrow. Then it's back to our gite La Decouverte and we ask the manager to store our bag of lunch in the kitchen fridge. Normally we would just leave it outside our window but the air is still warm.
Dinner is at 7.30pm and the dining room is full. Their is a walking group from Paris of about 20 people - all over 65 - we are the youngest here - yeh!!! We chat to them in very poor French until someone asks us if we speak English!!!! And then we can have a real discussion. They have come to this gite for 3 days to do walks in the Mountains - Nevache is a walkers paradise. And they come in all ages. Dinner is superb - a huge bowl of greens, tomatoes, goats cheese and walnuts to share around, followed by pasta and green curried meat (better than it sounds), chocolate tart and a coffee - all washed down with a red that was supposed to be a rose - but no sense complaining because the don't know what you are complaining about, and tonight, any wine is good.
It's a really nice group at the table and they chat about the snow conditions at Mont Thabor where we will be going tomorrow We're leave the dining room like stuffed rag dolls. Good thing we've walked 22k today over a high pass. On the way out we are stopped by a French gentleman who tells us in English about the conditions on the way to Mont Thabor. The French are just so helpful - especially when you try to speak a little French.