DAY 35: Friday July 6th: La Fouly to Walter Bonatti: 22.5k, 8hrs 15mins: 7°C to 10°C (except for 1hr at 16°C), patchy sun, mostly overcast, no rain
8am - Ian sets the GPS Tracker
Climbing above the mist
Switzerland - alps, snow, green meadows, and cows
Coffee at La Peule - out of the wind behind a group's arab tents
Now to the Col de Grand Ferret
Blue skies ahead
But there's a storm behind us
Standing room only at the col
Cold de Grand Ferret - 2537metres - it's cold and windy - but no rain
The other side of the mountain
Lunch at Glacier de Pre de Bar
Wood stack - not Swiss style - we're definitely in Italy now
Glacier du Triolet - very receded
Picturesque Val de Ferret
2 days away - The Col de La Seigne - memories of a whiteout in 2009
Walter Bonatti Refuge - it's full
A man on a bike and his dog
Nearly there - and still smiling
It's almost mountain magic with no rain, mist hanging in the valleys, snow on the alps, cows in pastures and several hanging glaciers. I've really been looking forward to today - we've climbed the Cold de Grand Ferret (2537m) twice now and both times were a mini disaster - so this time I want to enjoy.
We're awake at 6am, showered, packed and down to breakfast at 7am. Outside it's like pea soup and it's cold. Breakfast is really nice - hot hot bread, croissants, hot tea, meuslii, yoghurt, cheese, ham and an assortment of jams. I'm stuffed. Ian's full. We collect our shoes from the shoe room downstairs, then we're out the door. The first thing Ian does every morning is set the GPS tracker. It's just a magic device that we have used many many times every day, but we haven't seen any other walkers with GPS or electronic maps. It must catch on soon. The Samsung tablet is small enough to store in his pant's pocket - at 7inches, it's a bit bigger than your hand.
It's poncho weather - damp, cold (8°C) and misty but not quite raining, but a poncho is good to keep the backpack dry and let your body breathe. We follow a track to Ferret - but by the time Ian checks the GPS (too inconvenient to get it out from under the poncho earlier), we've walked 1k off route up the mountain - this track goes nowhere. Back down, we walk through the village of Ferret, then start the uphill to the col. It's not long before we're above the mist and warmed up enough to take the ponchos off.
It's cow country, and the small dairy farm called La Peule comes into view. There's clean toilets and they sell cheese. It's still cold and windy so we crouch behind a group's arab tents - they're there permanently, they were there last time. We have a billy coffee and a small bun and cheese to keep us going to the col - but not enough to bog us down.
It's a nice gradient, and fine, but it's getting colder and windier. There's already a group at the top and it looks crowded. I'm looking forward to taking my time up there and enjoying the views on the way. We've climbed this col twice and both times were a mini disaster. In 2005, I walked up after overdosing on 6 Ibuprofen to kill the pain of a not-healed broken collarbone - I was off with the fairies and don't remember this col very much.
On our second trip in 2009 with Graham and Jenny, climbing the same col, I was so miserably cold from the rain and wind, I had to run to keep warm, leaving everyone else behind, reaching the bottom without ever looking at the view. So now is my chance to enjoy. The climb up is easy even though it's to a height of over 2500 metres. It's cold but the views back down the Val Ferret are just fabulous - it's my 3rd time lucky. The closer we get to the top the colder it gets and the wind is 30 to 40kph.
We get to the top and enjoy the views on both sides for just a few minutes but it's too cold and windy to hang around so we move on down and look for a warm place out of the wind for a cup of tea or lunch - there's none - it's a much steep gradient on the way down and slippery so we need to be careful while we're looking for a tea spot.
We keep on going all the way to the bottom of the valley to the Refuge Elena and suddenly the sun comes out, there's little to no wind at the bottom, it's a bit warmer and we find a grassy knoll to have lunch with a most magnificent view of the Glacier de Pre du Bar. Today we have fresh bread, tomatoes and lettuce left over from yesterday - and it's all been kept nice and cool in our backpacks because it's been only 10°C for most of the morning.
There's a lot of day-walkers out today. The bus route is along the valley and there's lots of car parks. We can tell we're in Italy - the wood piles are just piles of wood not neat stacks as in Switzerland, the men have a paunch and the ladies are a bit mama miarish. We walk along the valley road admiring the several glaciers that are seemingly stuck in freefall. Occasionally we look back to the Col du Grand Ferret, now shrouded in mist, and forward up the next valley towards the Col de La Seigne where we've had another mini disaster in whiteout conditions in 2009 - looking forward to that one too.
But walking along the valley floor through the pine forests and taking the time to look around is relaxing - the valley is narrow with the Alps towering closely on both sides. It slowly begins to warm up. We debate whether or not to stop at the Hotel La Vachey to have a drink while watching the Tour de France (they should have a TV) but decide that an hour's walk uphill to the refuge Walter Bonatti after a wine or beer or two or three, wouldn't be good - so we give it a miss and head on up the mountain to the Refuge. This is an Italian refuge named in honour of the famous mountaineer Walter Bonatti, who died just a few years ago. The climb is warm - for i hour, the temperature reaches 16°C, and walking hard uphill, we're hot - we need to change to shorts and a tee shirt.
There's a few walkers now, trickling into Walter Bonatti which we can see off in the distance. There's also a guy on a mountain bike, closely followed by his faithful dog running a few metres behind over narrow uneven tracks. We saw him and his dog earlier at the head of the valley about 7k further back and when the dog tired, it sat on top of the guy's back pack, literally hanging on to his ears. Obviously a fit and faithful dog.
We arrive at 4.15pm and when we check in, we're given 1 token each for the shower - each token allows 16 litres of hot water. We have a room with 2 beds - the refuge also has dortoirs (dormitories) but since I booked months ago, we were lucky to secure a room to ourselves - lucky because the refuge is totally booked out - over 100 people. After dumping our stuff in the room, time for a shower. The 16 litres would be enough if most of it wasn't directed down the wall where you can't get under it, and the shower head is unadjustable. But no complaints really, it's nice and hot and enough for a splash. The wash basins only have freezing cold water, but it's OK to wash our our Tee shirts and undies. There's a drying room - a small room with a heater and strung with 50 criss cross lines - and it's hard to find a spot. Everyone has squashed up the already hanging clothes to make room for their own. But the clothes should dry enough by the morning.
Time to sit in the lounge room and blog while Ian chats to some Americans who are doing the TMB. I continually have to change seats, as the tables are being set for dinner. The views outside are to die for - mountains, snow, glaciers, green meadows and a little mist.
Dinner is at 7.15 - We've already had 2 wines and a bag of peanuts. The dining room is soon chocka. We're sitting with the 2 Americans from Oregon who are sole walkers like us, and 3 young Australians from Melbourne who are on a cheapie tour with accommodation organised and maps supplied. They're 19,19 and 20 - and seem to be having a ball. They actually got to stay at the elusive Elisabetta Refuge near Courmayeur - bunks were stacked 3 high with 10 sets per room - a good thing we've never been able to book there. Dinner is potato salad, a vegetable soup with cheese and croutons, then a nice spread of roast potato and carrot with a kind of veggie rissole, followed by apple tart.
Just about everyone is in bed by 9pm. It's very peaceful here in the mountains. Tomorrow we're planning to do a variant down the valley instead of the Col Sapin which we've done twice before. We hope to be in Courmayeur around lunchtime ready for an assault up the mountain to the Reguge Maisonne Vieulle.