Hiking the GR6, GR5 & Tour du Mont Blanc 

DAY 4: Tuesday June 5th: St Etienne to Jas des Bailles: 

Walk: 22k (make that 30k); 9hrs 30 mins: blue skies, 15°C to 21°C

Accommodation: Refuge Jas des Bailles

It was supposed to be an easy day.  According to my research it was 22k.  But late in the afternoon with only a few k to go we looked down to the path below to see it was a vertical descent.  We'd need a parachute.  1,000 metres down on a 1.0k track is steep - 1:1 or 45°.  So what do we do?  I'll fill you in later.

We arise at 6am, and sit in the lounge of the Saint Clair Hotel, the only place with WiFi.  A few phone calls later then breakfast of Baguettes and croissants, yoghurt and tinned apricots.  The coffee from the machine is superb.  Always a good coffee in France.  We pack and leave at 8.30am and walk 2.5k into the village of St Etienne to buy jambon (sec, so it keeps 2 days) and bread from the bakery, but the magasin is closed today.  Come back tomorrow we are told.  So no tomatoes for lunch - time to bring out the Vegemite. 

We leave the village and it's all uphill.  The Hotel Saint Clair is at 520 metres and we are going up to the Sommet of the Lure.  The map says we climb to 1400 metres but then drop down to 856metres.  The views looking back are magnificent.  We stop half way up to boil the billy for a tea and check the map.  Whoops! The map is folded along the line of the 826metre height and I realise that the fold in the map is hiding a 1 - a very important 1, because that makes the height 1,826.  Oh well, we’re doing it anyway.  Then on to the Notre Dame de Lure - a 12th century church in the middle of nowhere, complete with postcards and candles.  

Through the beautiful beech forests on paths covered in autumn leaves.  It's getting steeper.  I bring out my second trekking pole - good thing I didn’t post them back.  It's shaley and gravelly, which is slippery and reach the ski station.  The views looking back are magnificent but the best is yet to come.  We climb to a knoll at 1800 metres, just before the summit and spread in front of us are the magnificent Alps.  We saw part of them yesterday, but now we see the whole Mont Blanc Massif with Mont Blanc peaking a tinsy bit above a line of snow capped peaks.  

We sit on a grassy knoll and have lunch - bread, jambon, rice crackers and vegemite and enjoy the view.  It's 1.30pm with only 5k to go.  Should be at Jas des Bailles by 3.30pm. 

We climb the Sommet of the Lure, adorned with communication towers, and wind our way down the ridge with views of the Alps to the north, and back to Provence to the South. It was magnificent.  We walk down the ridge line until we meet the road and look for the GR6 leading 1k down to the refuge at Jas des Bailles.  We find it and it's a steep vertical incline on shaley rocks.  We don't need a broken angle at this stage so we decide to take the road, but the zigs and zags will make it 10k longer.  We’re resigned to arriving after 5pm.  But it's a beautiful day with the Alps to our left as we descend to the valley.  There's no cars on the road, just cyclists struggling up the mountain.  We see the GR6 cross the road and it looks a little less steep so we cut off 1k by taking the track.  My hips hurt, Ian's feet hurt, I'm again thinking what I can throw out as I manoeuvre the pack off my hip bones.  We stop for a quick cup of tea by the side of the road, only 5k to go.  Our GPS gives us a boost in confidence as we know exactly how far to go.   We roll into Jas des Bailles at 6.10pm and are greeted by the owner Nadine and the two cyclists we had met on the track – Eric and Eric.  We take off our shoes and have a cold beer at the picnic table.  

Nadine shows us to our room - any bed is good tonight.  We have a hot shower, do some diary - no WiFi, and go down at 7.30pm for dinner.  There's a delay.  We are waiting for 10 people from a Solar Team to arrive.  They have come to look at a solar installation for Jas des Bailles.  It will cost 60,000 Euros we are told, otherwise it is 300,000 Euros to put in an electricity line.  Jas des Bailles has a gas heater for the water and a generator for the lights.  Apparently it is French Government policy for every person in France to have access to electricity so they will foot the bill and Nadine pays only 400 Euro per year to rent it from them.  Socialism does good things.  

We finally sit down to dinner - it's worth the wait - carrot soup with a tang of orange, stewed meat with pasta (it probably has a fancy Provencial name), cheese, then chocolate mousse. We go to our room stuffed at 10pm - do a bit of washing then go to bed.  The bed is very comfy, the pillows flat and soft - just the way I like it. 

We climb the Sommet of the Lure, adorned with communication towers, and wind our way down the ridge with views to the Alps to the north, and back to the valley of Provence to the South. It was so magnificent.  We walk a few k down the ridge line til we meet the road and look for the GR6 leading 1k down to the refuge at Jas des Bailles.  We find it and it's steep.  It's a vertical incline on shaley rocks.  We don't need a broken angle at this stage so we decide to take the road, but it's zigs and zags will make the walk about almost 10k longer - and it's already after 3pm.  We set off down the road resigned to the fact that it will be well after 5pm when we arrive.  But it's a beautiful day, still with the Alps to our left as we descend down to the valley.  There's not many cars on the road, just a few cyclists struggling up the mountain.  We see the GR6 cross the road and it looks a little less step so we cut off 1k by taking the track - steep but less steep than we had seen at the top.  My hips hurt, Ian's feet hurt, I'm thinking again what I can get rid of out of the pack as I manoeuvre it up and down and sideways to relieve the pressure points on my hip bones which are now only half a millimetre from the flesh since i've lost at least a Kilo in body weight today - I think I can find 2kg worth of undies and socks and shirts.  We stop for a quick cup of tea on the side of the road, only 5 k to go.  Ouch.  We stride off, our GPS gives us a huge boost in confidence as we know exactly where we are going and how far.   We roll into Jas des Bailles at 6.10pm and are greeted by the owner Nadine and Eric and Eric, two cyclists we met on the track at the point we were peering down the vertical slope and deciding to take the road.  We take off our shoes and have a cold beer at the picnic table.  

Nadine shows us to our room - any bed is good tonight.  We have a hot shower, do some diary - no WiFi here, and wander down at 7.30 for dinner.  There's a bit of a delay.  We are waiting for a few people from a Solar Team to arrive - 10 of them in all.  They have come to look at a solar installation for Jas des Bailles.  It will cost 60,000 Euros we are told, otherwise it is 300,000 Euros to put in an electricity line.  jas des Bailles has a gas heater for the water and a generator for the lights.  Apparently it is French Government policy for every person in France to have access to electricity so they will foot the bill and Nadine pays only 400 Euro per year to rent it from them.  Socialism does good things.

We finally sit down to dinner - it's worth the wait - carrot soup with a tang of orange, stewed meat with pasta (it probably has a fancy Provencial name), cheese, the chocolate mousse. We go to our room stuffed at 10pm - do a bit of washing then go to bed.  The bed is very comfy, the pillows flat and soft - just the way I like it.