DAY 28: Friday June 29th - Refuge Plan May to Les Contamines:
Walk: 22.3k, 9hrs: Blue Hazy skies, hot, 18°C to 30°C
Accommodation: Hotel Gai Soleil Les Contamines
A warm start up to Col de la Sauce
Col de la Sauce 2307metres
Yep, we're at the Col
Crete des Gittes is hair-raising
The ridge - 300m drop either side
Don't look down
Ridge path separates grass & shale
Then its gets hairier and scarier
But it's beautiful and exhilarating
You go first - I'll follow
The mountain ridge we crossed
And you thought we were crazy??
After the adrenalin rush another Col - Col de la Croix de Bonhomme 2433 metres - the GR5 joins TMB
The climb is worth it - stunning
3rd Col today - Col de Bonhomme - (2329metres) - in 2009, to avoid a cold wind, we hid behind this hut
It's Queen street on the tMB
Many snow drifts on way down
It's 12k down the valley
Same place as 2005 & 2009 on TMB
It's so hot I'll chance cows up top
At last - after 9hrs, Les Contamnes
Gai Soleil Hotel - home for tonight
Time to do washing before a drink
One of our longest days at 9hrs over the high Col du Bresson at 2497 through low muddy meadows. From the Col we can see the Col de Palet in the Vanoise, where we climbed in rain and °C. And on the other side there’s the Mont Blanc Massif where we’ll be tomorrow in Les Contamines.
Such a good night - comfy bed with a shower in the room and we wake to a magnificent morning with a view down the valley. Breakfast is bread, fruit and hot coffee, and yes please we’ll have a second cup. The day is already 22°C when we leave at 8am with typical Alp views - forests, grassy meadows, wild flowers, alps, snow, waterfalls, blue skies, cols, cows and cow bells. We see no one for hours. It's 4hrs from Valezan to the Col du Bresson, a climb of about 1,300 metres from 1200 to 2500, but we're now mountain fit, and looking forward to this leg that connects us to the Tour de Mont Blanc.
After two and a half hours, Refuge Balme comes into view. It’s closed for renovations and is a hive of activity with cranes, workmen and trucks everywhere. But there's 5 free picnic tables - take our pick for a coffee. It's now really hot - my thermometer reads 40°C but there's a cool wind up the valley so we strip off to dry our shirts waiting for the water to boil. 20 minutes later we're off - a sign says 1hr 30mins to the col. The path is stony and narrow and crosses snow drifts. We see there's already a few walkers on top of the col. Up a stony path, a few more snow drifts and we're at the Col du Bresson at 2,497 metres. .
There's a few guys there and we take turns taking photos. It’s too early for lunch at 12.30pm so down the other side to the road below. The sun is under a cloud when we reach a creek running over the gravel road so lunch time. Cold creek water, fresh bread, cheese, ham, tomato, green capsicum and mayonnaise.
Following the red/white GR signs downhill, Lake de Roseland appears and at 1.30pm, a sign indicates there’s still 3 hrs to go – it’ll be a long day. It's been muddy and we've crossed many creeks on stepping stones, except there's no way round the next creek, so we take off our shoes to tip toe through the icy water. More meadows, grasslands, cows and cow wire which some of us get over or under easily - some of us get stuck. I catch up Ian with his back pack stuck in the wire, and demand the camera before I untangle him. Here's the camera but no photos. Yes sir. (sorry for fibbing).
More wild flowers before we slosh through muddy tracks. Duck boards helped cross a very wet section. Our Cicerone book forewarned us that this section was the muddiest on the GR5.. Coming into view is the Mont Blanc Massif, we stop for photos - we'll be there in two days. Finally a sign says 1hr to Refuge Plan Mya and we arrive at 5pm after 9 hrs including a lunch and coffee stop. We're pleased we stopped at Valezan overnight, cutting our day from 29k to 22k.
It's a quaint refuge - a stone hut in the middle of nowhere with a few picnic tables outside. There's already people here and a queue for the only shower. There's one dorm for 21 people - but it's a large room with space between beds. We choose our double bunks under a skylight - with no electricity, we’ll have a bit more light evening and morning. I blog while I wait for the hot shower. It's hot. .
There’s only 10 of us here tonigh in. 20 bed dorm and we sit outside at the picnic tables in the sun waiting for dinner and chatting some of them. The other couples are 60ish - 2 couples from Geneva are doing the GR Beaufortaine. This refuge has a huge 60cm diameter wheel of Beaufort cheese for sale - the wheel weighs 50 kg - we'll buy some in the morning. Dinner is thick mushroom soup, the Main is polenta with a nice soft stewy meat that’s definitely not marmot, then a slice of Beaufort cheese, followed by egg custard. It's 9.30pm and still light, but soon everyone is in bed. Again, I'm in the top bunk, less disturbance from those who need to visit in the night. We're ready for our last day on the GR5 before joining the Tour de Mont Blanc.