Tuesday 23rd August: Weather: 8°C at Rifugio up to 22°C in Cogne Sunny blue skies all day
Day 7 Rifugio Vittorio Sella to Cogne/Lillaz: Walk 12.3k: 6hrs: 8.30am to 2.30pm: 2 x 1hr stops
Ascent/Descent: Ascent 351m, Descent 1,305m: Total Up and Down 1,657
Accommodation: Etoile du Berger Lillaz
Blue skies over Rifugio Vittorio Sella
On the way down to Valnontey
Most beautiful trail in Gran Paradiso
Snow capped Mountain back drop from Valley of Valnontey
Day 7 Highlight was not about climbing to a col (pass), as there were none today, but descending 1,657m down to Cogne, one of the prettiest places in the Gran Paradiso National Park. It was an easy walk today, 12.3k, mostly down hill on well graded tracks to the very touristy village of Cogne, where the Giro d’italia cycle classic passed through earlier this year, won by the Australian Jay Hindley.
A beautiful but cold morning at 8°C at the Rifufio Vittorio Sella. We really enjoyed having a room to ourselves and teh beds were very comfortable. Breakfast is at 7am and we meet our Dutch friends again. They are lugging 15kg packs up to a Bivouac today. Breakfast is good for a mountain refuge with Muesli, yoghurt bread and jam with a very nice cappuccino coffee. We leave at 8.30am, a rather late start as it’s only a short day down to Lillaz.
The track is vey wide down into the valley, made more than 100 years ago by King Victor Emmanuelle 11 as a track up to his hunting lodge, which is now the Rifugio Vittorio Sella. It should be a 1hr 40 minute trip down to Valnontey, but it takes us two and a half hours as we give-away to the procession of tourists walking up the trail - hiking etiquette calls for the down hiker to give-away to the up hiker. Every second family has a dog, so they will only be going as fa as the Refugio as dogs are not allowed inside the Gran Paradiso park. It’s warmed up to about 22°C since we left the Rifugio, and most people are sweating profusely climbing up the mountain. The smell of sunscreen permeates the air.
It’s 11am when we reach the bottom of Valnontey, and find a shady seat to make contact with the family at home - the phone reception is very good. Time for a Coffee before heading down to Cogne at 12.00pm along a well graded wide tourist track where we encounter every man and his dog walking up to Valnontey. Arriving in Cogne at 12.30pm, the first stop is the supermarket Rey Market, which is so busy at teh deli counter, I have to take a number and wait almost 30 minutes to get served. There’s 3 ladies serving and 2 men stocking. A popular spot. I buy enough cheeses, meats, tomatoes and beer for dinner tonight and three lunches, today, tomorrow and the day after we leave Refugio Miserin. Then off to the park to have lunch with the amazing back drop of snow capped Alps.
At 1.30pm, after a leisurely lunch of cheese, ham and tomato on Italian bread (the bread is nothing to write home about), we pack the shopping into the our back packs and stroll through Cogne, towards Lillaz. The track is a very wide forest trail, a welcome shady walk along the stream for 4 kilometres. It’s 2.30pm when we arrive in the small pretty village of Lillaz, and wander around looking for our accommodation for the night, Etoile du Berger. We are pleasantly surprised when we find the place and welcomed by Adele. It’s off the main road, and has a guests kitchen, a picnic table, and a clothes line - perfect.
Lunch at Cogne with an Alpine view
Mountain backdrop from Cogne
Lillaz Cascades photo from 2018
The first thing to do is the washing which has been collecting dust for a few days. We can see teh clothes line out the window, in full sunshine. It won’t take long for the clothes to dry in this mountain air. Time to relax, catch up on emails (via Ian’s phone hot spot), blog, sort photos and relax on this amazing day, but also our shortest day so far.
By 5pm, we collect our cheeses, ham, tomatoes etc etc, and head downstairs to the kitchen to prepare a salad dinner to take outside to the picnic table. By 6pm, we’re fed and watered (with a cold beer or two), take the washing in and sort it out before going for a short walk to see the famous Lillaz Cascades. We’d been to see them 4 years ago but it was such a beautiful night with so many people out wandering around this tiny mountain village, we decided to go again. It was a steep 200 metre ascent to the top, and a bit of a slog after a plate full of cheese with a beer but worth the effort. Back to an early night. A long climb tomorrow up to the Camporcher Fenetre, another 2,800 col.