DAY 27: Thursday June 28th - Valezan to Refuge Plan May: 22.6k, 9hrs: Blue hazy skies, warm, 18°C to 26°C
Morning view from Valezan
In the forests to Col de Bressons
Too busy climbing to enjoy view
Fields lush with wild flowers
grassy meadows to Col du Bresson
Stepping over cow wire easily
Coffee at Refuge Balme, being renovated - crane in action - its hot and sweaty - hang shirts out to dry
Still going up to Col du Bresson
Col du Bresson at 2469 metres
At top with views back to Vanoise
Now to get down the other side
Views to the Lake de Roselend
Red and white sign of a GR path
Lunch at the waterfall
Eating camembert - a whole one
Lunchtime view
Trrrryyyyiiing to go under cow wire
Thought we were over all the hills
Part of Mont Blanc Massif in view
In amongst the wild flowers again
How good is this - Mont Blanc here we come
Mont Blanc's getting closer
It's 4pm and still another hr to go
There's home for tonight - Plan May
How good was today. One of our longest days at 9hrs and over high cols (Col du Bresson at 2497 metres) and through low muddy meadows. From the Col we can see back to the snow tipped alps of the Vanoise and the Cold de Palet that we climbed in rain and °C - we can see it better from here than we could when we were there. And on the other side theres the Mont Blanc Massif. Tomorrow we'll be in Les Contamines to have a rest day (make that a shopping day) before starting the Tour de Mont Blanc.
Such a good night - nice 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 really hot nice coffee, and it's a yes please when offered a second cup of coffee. Off to a long day.
The track goes up through the village of Valezan then through pine forests. The day is already warm at 22°C and it's only 8am. It's typical Mont Blanc views - forests, grassy meadows, wild flowers, high alps, waterfalls, snow, blue skies, cols, cows and cow bells and cow wire. There's no one else on the track except us for hours. It's so peaceful. It's 4hrs from Valezan to the top of the Cold du Bresson and a climb of about 1300 metres from 1200 to 2500, but we're now mountain fit, and we're looking forward to this leg that almost connects us to the Tour de Mont Blanc.
The refuge Balme comes into view after two and a half hours so we decide to stop for a tea - we've already had 2 cups of coffee this morning for breakfast. The refuge is closed for renovation and when we arrive, it's a hive of activity with cranes, workmen and trucks all over the site. But there's 5 picnic tables - take our pick. It's now really hot - my thermometer says 40°C in the sun but there's a cool wind up the valley so it's time to strip off and dry out our shirts while we boil the billy.
20 minutes later we're off again - the sign says 1hr 30mins to the top of the col. The path gets stony and narrow and crosses lots of snow drifts. There's people on paths around us now. Up at the Col, there's already a few walkers. Up a stony path, a few more snow drifts with compacted footsteps and we're at the Col du Bresson (2497 metres).
There's a few guys there and we exchange taking photos. We're already full of tea and coffee and i's too early for lunch at 12.30pm so we descend down - good thing we're not laden with lunch as it's a steep descent to the road below. Then we can think about lunch. There's a waterfall and creek crossing the gravel road and the sun is temporarily under a cloud so it's time to stop for lunch. Cold water from the waterfall (hope there's no cattle up top like yesterday), fresh bread from yesterday, cheese, dried ham, a tomato, green capsicum and mayonnaise.
We follow the red/white GR signs down the hill and come into a view of the large lake below - Lake de Roseland. We feel close to the refuge Plan May but a sign tells us we've still 3 hrs to go and it's 1.30pm - we're in for a long day, which we already knew, but we thought we were nearly there. It's been muddy on and off and we've managed to cross numerous creeks over stepping stones, but we get to one crossing where there's no way around except by taking off our shoes and stepping through the icy cold water for just 3 metres. Our feet are refreshed but my toes are nearly frost bitten.
More meadows and grasslands and cows and cow wire - some of us get over or under it easily - others of us (not mentioning who) get stuck trying to go under it. I come up to the mess of wire, backpack and Ian and demand the camera before I untangle him - not on your life. I want the camera. No. He''s still stuck. Ok, here's the camera but no photos. Yes sir. (sorry for fibbing).
More fields of flowers before we start to climb through more muddy tracks up and over more hills towards the refuge. Duck boards help us cross a particularly wet part of the track. Our GR5 book tells us that this section is the muddiest on the GR5 so we were expecting mud - but it's not as bad as we thought - we've been able to tip toe around the worst spots. Coming into view of the Mont Blanc Massif, we stop to take some photos - how exciting - we'll be there in two days.
Finally there's a sign that says 1hr to the Refuge Plan May. We're really pleased we've stopped at Valezan overnight, cutting our day from 29k to 22k today. The dutch couple yesterday took 11 hrs to to the same section, we were please when we arrived in just 9hrs with lunch stop and tea stop.
It's a quaint refuge - a stone hut in the middle of nowhere with a few picnic table outside. There's already a few people here and a queue for the one and only shower. There's one dorm for 21 people - but it's quite a large room with a bit of space between beds. We choose our double bunks under a skylight - with no electricity, at least we can see what we're doing til late at night and again early in the morning. I sit and blog while I wait for the shower. It's nice. And hot. I'm warned by the guy before that the water temperature fluctuates. But we can put up with queues and all else, a hot shower is a hot shower.
Sitting outside waiting for dinner on the picnic tables in the sun is relaxing. There's only 10 of us here tonight in a 20 bed dortoir (dormitory). The other couples are all about 60ish and it's nice to chat about their different walks - 2 couples are from Geneva and doing the GR Beaufortaine - a trip around Beaufort cheese country. 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, could have been a bit hotter but nice. Main is really nice soft stewy meat that is definitely not marmot, with polenta, then a slice of Beaufort cheese, of course, followed by an egg custard. It's a nice chatty group around the table eating and drinking not so good red wine.
It's 9.30pm and still light, but soon everyone is in bed. It's another sleep sheet night - our own silk liner and pillow case under a supplied doona. Again, I'm in the top bunk, less disturbance from those that need to visit somewhere in the night.
We're ready for our last day on this leg of our trek, ready to join the Tour de Mont Blanc.
Refuge Plan May - just in time for happy hour
Time to blog before dinner