Friday 24th August: Weather 19°C down to 12°C Sunny all day with temperature dropping while climbing
Cogne to Rifugio Vittoria Sella DAY 5: 8.5k:10am to 2pm: 4hrs: And 2k: 3.30pm to 5.30pm: 2hrs: Ascent 1000m
Accommodation: Rifugio Vittoria Sella at Altitude of 2584 metres
Ostello La Mine
Iron fountain built 1809
Prati di Sant Orso Meadows Cogne
Coffee in Valnontey
Ahead to Gran Paradiso Alps
Looking down to Valnontey
Bove the 2000m tree line
Ahead to Col Lauson on mule track
Looking back
Looking ahead
Rifugio Vittorio Sella
Chamois in the Gran Paradiso Park
Wild country looking for ibex
Boulder country
Panorama of Gran Paradiso Park
More boulders and rock paths
Looking down Valnontey to Cogneyt
Chamois above Rifugio Vittorio Sella
Celebrating a fantastic day
A nice cold beer
One of our best days in the alps. Highlight was all day ascending first the Torrent Valnontey from Cogne to the village of Valnontey then up Torrent Gran Lauson from Valnontey to Rifugio Vittorio Sella, with views to the high Gran Paradiso Alps in the back ground the whole way.
We’re awake at 6.30am and showered and packed. Breakfast is at 8am, a nice spread of cake, croissants and muesli. We’re out the door at 9am walking the 1k down to Cogne where we make a few phone calls home from the park. It’s a beautiful sunny day and already the day hikers are streaming up the Valnontey valley. Ian needs to visit the hardware store for a tube of glue to fix his phone case while I sit watching the hikers stop in front of me at the iron fountain built in 1809, sprouting icy cold water from the melting snows up the valley.
Ian does some running repairs to his phone case and at 10am we join the day hikers through the green meadows then the pine forest and one hour later, we’re in the pretty village of Valnontey where we stop for a cake and coffee made with real cream left over from the day before. The views ahead to the Alps are stunning on this magnificent cool day. Some day hikers continue up the Torrent Valnontey, but we turn right up the Torrent Gran Lauson, following an old mule track through the forest.
There’s hundreds of day walkers tramping up and down the well graded mule track and soon we’re above the tree line in the wild open alps with views in every direction - back down to the village of Valnontey, to the left are the Granparadiso Alps, and up ahead, the alps around Col Lauson where we will be headed tomorrow. After 2hrs and 30 minutes of steady climbing, we reach Rifugio Vittorio Sella at 2pm.
We’ve worked out many years ago that it’s not good to stop for lunch half way up a mountain - lunch legs don’t work well after sitting and eating. So we try to make lunch at the top of wherever we’re going. So now it’s time for lunch sitting on a bench seat outside the Rifugio out of the cool breeze. Nothing interesting, just the last of our bread and fruit and nut bun with another cup of coffee which all tastes so good after a long 1000m climb.
Then it’s time to register inside the rifugio and immediately we’re asked for our choice of menu for tonight’s dinner - vegetable soup or rice and cheese for entre, wild boar, quiche or vegetable hamburger for a main, and creme caramel or chocolate mousse for dessert. I choose the rice and cheese, vegetable hamburger and chocolate mousse, Ian chooses the rice as well, then quiche and creme caramel. We’re given the key to our dorm number 10 which holds 6 people but we’re the only ones in it. A quick unpack and sorting before heading out again at 3.30pm on a track south of the rifugio to Lago Lauson where there are supposed to be ibex and chamois gathering in the late evening.
Following the path for 1k, and still no ibex, but the views across to the glaciers is stunning. It’s like “Where’s Wally” trying to pick an ibex in amongst the boulders and rocks, but there’s a small herd of chamois grazing the the meadows near the Rifugio. It's getting cold as we return to the Rifugio and have a hot shower using our token which gives us 3 minutes of hot water. Then over to the bar for a beer and a bit of blogging while waiting for dinner.
Dinner is more like 8pm than 7.30, and we have the rice and cheese as an entre - our plates have enough cheesy rice to feed the everyone at the table who elected to have soup. Next is quiche for Ian and vegetable hamburger for me. Again, we offer half our dinner to the young ones at the table. But the creme caramel and chocolate mousse we devour by ourselves - too nice to spread around.
We go to to bed at 9pm full, as usual. At least we have the 6 bed dorm to ourselves. Lights are out at 10pm.