DAY 31: Monday July 2nd: Les Houches to La Flegere: 19.5k 10hrs: No wind, Rain, mist, rain, mist, 15°C to 5°C
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 just a great day. There were no groups on the track going in either direction, we passed about 6 people in 10 hours, it was character building, marital bonding and the views were like we've never seen before. Yep, it rained or was misty the whole day and kept everyone else away - don't know what they missed out on. But we managed to climb Le Bravant at 2526 metres, an ascent of 1500 metres from Les Houches (1000m), scaled the ladders to the Col de Brevant (2368m) and spent a record 10hrs on the track.
At 6am, we're up and ready to rock n roll - a long day. It's misty out the window but we're optimistic it will clear in the afternoon, so we decide to climb Le Brevant at 2526 metres, 1500 metres out of Les Houches. We're packed, showered, skyped and down for breakfast at 7.30am. Luke warm tea (always happens when the men serve breakfast), bread, croissants and sweet meuslii.
We're out the door before 8am, dressed in our wet gear, and head off down the valley. I spy a Sports 2000 store with someone hanging out ponchos under his awning - good advertising considering the weather - and Ian needs a new poncho - his $2.99 Woollies poncho from home is too short, too flappable and torn. So we're the first customers of the day, and but a 10Euro poncho that Ian puts on immediately. No doubt there'll be many more customers today.
A check of the GPS reveals we have passed the turn by 500 metres so we do a U turn back - lucky though - or else no poncho. We know this track well. When we did it in revers it was down, down ,down. Today it's up , up , up. It's quite pleasant climbing in the forests in the mists. It's about 15°C, no wind and we get glimpses of the glaciers across the valley through the trees and the mist. The large glacier Le Bossons is clearly visible. It's on and on. An we wonder why there's no one coming back down the track - we haven't seen a single sole for the 3hrs we've been walking this morning.
Ay 11am, it's time for a cup of coffee in a 5 minute sunny spell. Better have some cheese and bread - lunch may be a long way away considering we (I) won't stop til we've climbed to the top. Ian loves the new poncho. It keeps his shorts dry but more importantly the Samsung tablet in his pocket is dry.
The first part of the track is through forests and then grassland but higher up, it's a moonscape. After 5hrs of climbing, we scramble to the peak of Le Brevant. There's no one around. The chair lift isn't working and there's no walkers. At 1pm, we have a quick cup of tea inside the park rangers hut near a heater. It's hard to leave. Then it's time to head down - we still have many hours of walking to do. There's more snow than we have ever seen before and we have to walk through many snow drifts. On the way down to the col, we have to scramble over boulders that all look the same - luckily there's a yellow dot strategically placed to mark the path. There's also the dreaded ladders - 2 sets of about 15 steps bolted to a vertical wall to get down to the next path level. I go first, followed by Ian. At the bottom there are 5 English walkers about to ascend - they are doing the TMB clockwise, the opposite direction to us. They are the first walkers we've seen for hours. 20 metres on, we look back at them and can't believe they have melted into the mist. Ian takes a photo to remind us of what we looked like coming down. It's still a scramble over boulders as we descend to the Col.
The signposts for the Col du Brevant appear through the mist. There's still nobody on the track except us. It's now almost 4pm and we haven't had lunch. The only dry spot is under a 2 foot eave of the hut for the telegraphique. The grounds too wet to sit down so we eat our bread and cheese standing up. It's not exactly freezing at 5°C, - we've been colder - and there's no wind to speak of, 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 an Aldi jacket and getting to the refuge at 6.15pm doesn't appeal. So we stride off at the rate of knots, head down - no need to look over at the view - the valley is full of mist. This walk is called the balcony walk - it has the most spectacular views of teh Mont Blanc Masssif - we know because we've seen them before- but today all of the alps are shrouded in pea soup mist and we're lucky to see our own feet.
We meet 2 other walkers headed towards us - the first for hours. On and on we walk on a mostly level though rocky path, crossing huge fields of boulders and rocks. We make really 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 from near Chamonix. It looks inviting but it's too nice for our refuge. Around the corner, there's an old timber building with the sign - Refuge La Flegere - that's us - after almost 10hrs we're there!!. What's nice is that when we enter the old building, the young girl is waiting for us (I'd booked this one by email moths previously). They'd had many cancellations today - obviously because there were no other fools on the track, so any guests that did turn up were most welcome. Without unpacking, we have a beer and red wine.
We're shown to our dorm - 6 beds in a large room is good - and there's hot showers - that's really good - and there's a real loo - that's really really good. The refuge holds almost 90 people, but tonight there's only 14 of us, so the dorm of 4 people in a 6 bedder is not crowded. It's a bed liner again tonight with supplied blankets. After a shower we blog and Ian reads a newspaper that he has downloaded from our last wifi.
7pm and dinner is ready - cold pasta - yuk. But the main of a casserole dish of hot cheesy potatoes is nice and hot. Next is a platter of cheese, I don't think I can eat any more cheese today, followed by chocolate mousse. We sit with a group of 3 Englishmen who are camping/refuging and 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 in the southern side of the TMB with no luck so she just turned up at the doorstep, they told her it was full, but she wasn't moving, so they found a bed for her somewhere. It is a strategic refuge as there are no others for 10k either side. In 2005 we were not able to make a reservation on the internet, by phone or by email and Donna, in 2009, was not able phone them to make a reservation, so it seems it's the Elusive Elisabetta. Each time we have had to make a long day of 28k just to give Elisabetta a miss - and likewise this trip, we are doing a long trek missing Elisabetta.
The tap water here is non potable - undrinkable - so we have to buy bottled water. Even the mountain streams here are a bit sus - the alps around Mont Blanc are not as high as in the Vanoise, there's too many people and too many animals and the water even looks sudsy as it tumbles down a high cascade into a rock pool. The refuge La Flegere sells bottled water so we buy a 750ml bottle for tomorrow.
We both feel really good. It's been a challenging day with different views of the alps under very misty conditions.