DAY 31: Monday July 2nd: Les Houches to La Flegiere:
Walk: 19.5k 10hrs: No wind, Rain, mist, rain, mist, 15°C to 5°C
Accommodationa; Refuge La Flagiere above Argentiere
It's raining, it's pouring …….
Now it'smisty
New poncho - just in time
Eerie misty views - Les Houches
Alps in the Mist
Glacier Bossons across velley
At the top of Le Brevent - 2526m
Leaving Le Brevent - snow drifts
On the ladders - which ladders????
Col de Brevant - 2368m
Stand-up Lunch at 4pm
10hrs, 19k day, 5°C, but all is good
Looks OK but refuge is shed behind
Today was a great day. No groups on the track and we passed 6 people in 10 hours, It rained the whole day and kept everyone away. We climbed Le Brevant at 2526 metres, an ascent of 1500 metres from Les Houches (1000m), scaled the ladders down to the Col de Brevant (2368m) and took a record 10hrs.
At 6am, we're up. It's misty outside but we hope it will clear and decide to climb 1,500 metres to Le Brevant at 2526 metres,. We're packed, showered, skyped and down for breakfast at 7.30am. Luke warm tea (always when men serve breakfast), bread, croissants and sweet meuslii. We leave at 8am in wet gear. I spy a Sports 2000 store with someone hanging out ponchos so Ian buys a new one for 10 euro. -His $2.99 Woollies poncho is torn. Our GPS reveals we ‘ve passed the turn by 500 metres so we do a U turn back – lucky, or else no poncho. It's pleasant climbing in the forests in the mists at about 15°C and we get glimpses of the glaciers across the valley. The large glacier Le Bossons is clearly visible. We wonder why there's no one on the track as we haven't seen a single sole for the past 3hrs.
Ay 11am, it's time for coffee in a short sunny spell. Better have some cheese and bread - lunch will be at the top many hours away. Ian loves his new poncho. It keeps his shorts and Samsung tablet dry. The track through the forest soon turns to grassland then higher up, it's a moonscape. After 5hrs of climbing, we scramble to the peak of Le Brevant. There's no one around and the chair lift isn't working. At 1pm, we have a quick cup of tea inside the park rangers hut near a heater. On the way down to the col, we have scramble over boulders looking for yellow dots marking the path. Then there's the dreaded ladders - 2 sets of 15 rungs each bolted to a vertical wall. I go first, then Ian. At the bottom there’s 5 English walkers doing the TMB clockwise, opposite to us. They are the first walkers we've seen for hours. 20 metres on, we look back at them melting into the mist. It's still a scramble over boulders down to the Col.
The signposts to the Col du Brevant appear through the mist. It's now almost 4pm and we haven't had lunch. The only dry spot is under a 2 foot eave of the telegraphique hut. The ground is too wet to sit on so we eat our bread and cheese standing up. It's not freezing at 5°C but the mist makes everything damp. At 4.15pm we leave and 5 mins later see a sign to La Flegere - 2hrs. OK, it's flat, we've just eaten, I've just put on a scarf and Aldi jacket so it will be 6.15pm when we there. We stride off, head down, there’s no view in the misty valley below. This is a balcony walk - it has the most spectacular views of the Mont Blanc Masssif - we've seen them before - but not today. We meet 2 other walkers coming towards us. On mostly on a level path, crossing huge fields of boulders and rocks. We make good time and at 5.45pm a large building appears out of the mist - it's the La Flegere Restaurant at the head of the telegraphique. It looks inviting but it's too nice for a refuge. Around the corner, there's an old timber building - Refuge La Flegere. After 10hrs we're there!!. What's nice is that when we get there, the young girl is waiting for us (I'd booked by email months earlier). They'd had many cancellations today - obviously because there were no other fools on the track. Without unpacking, we have a beer and red wine.
We're shown to our dorm - 6 beds in a large room - and there's hot showers and a real loo. The refuge holds 90 people, but tonight there's only 14 of us, so it’s not crowded. After a shower we blog and Ian reads a newspaper that he has downloaded from our last wifi. Dinner at 7pm starts with cold pasta - yuk. But the main is a casserole of hot cheesy potato. Next is a cheese platter followed by chocolate mousse. We sit with 3 Englishmen who are doing the TMB. There's also Jane, an English lady who's a bit of a loner and has done this, and many Nepal walks without her husband. Interestingly, she tried phoning the Refuge Elisabetta on the southern side of the TMB with no luck so when she turned up at the doorstep, and they told her it was full, she wasn't moving, so they found her a bed. It’s a strategic refuge between Des Mottets and Courmayeur and twice we’ve had no luck booking - the Elusive Elisabetta. The tap water here is non potable so we have to buy bottled water from the refuge. Even the mountain streams here are a sus - too many people and animals. .We both feel really good after a challenging day.