Monday 17th August: Weather: 17°C in La Thuile down to 10°C at Col d’Arp then 23°C back in La Thuille:
Day 1 Courmayeur to La Thuile: Bus from La Thuile to Courmayeur: Walk 18.7k: 7hrs 30 mins from 8am to 3.30pm: 2 x 30min breaks
Ascent/Descent: Ascent 1,751m, Descent 1,507m: Total up and down 3258m
Accommodation: BnB Le Thovex
Day 1 Bus stop La Thuile
Day 1 Bus stop La Thuile
Finally a good track to Col d'Arp
Coffee break in mist half way up
Runners in the distance at the Col
Day 1 highlight was just doing and finishing the first stage of the Tor des Geants. The weather forcast was terrible and storms were predicted from 2pm onwards so we caught the early 7.15 bus to Courmayeur to start the walk sooner rather than later and made good time to the Col d’Arp in less than 4 hours getting over the Col of 2,570metres by 12 pm and starting down the mountain before any possible storms which never eventuated anyway. We arrived back in La Thuile at 3.30pm, a total of 7hrs 30 minutes with 2 x 30 minute breaks.
The alarm is set for 6am as we had arranged an early breakfast with our hosts for 6.45am in time to catch the 7.15am bus back to Courmayeur to start the walk. But as usual we’re awake before the alarm goes off and organise our back packs with only stuff we’ll need for the day - coffee, tea etc with rain gear. Breakfast is a magnificent buffet of cereals, cakes, Croisants, sliced meats and cheeses but we opt for just cereal and yoghurt and take some cake with us. Our hosts have also kindly arranged for some cheese and meats to take with us and have offered to drop us down to the bus stop to save the 1k walk down the steep hill to the centre of town. The bus arrives on time at 7.15am and takes us back down the gorge to Pre St Didier where we change for another bus to Courmayeur which gets in at 8.45am.
Yesterday we had checked out the start off the walk, so we’re quickly off across the bridge to Dolonne and walk up the road to the end where the A1 (Tor des Geants) track starts. The sign states it’s 10hrs 40 mins to La Thuile, enough to scare the living daylights out of us, but Giacamo back at Ulisse Sport in Courmayeur assured us the times were way overestimated. Yes, but we’re both 72! It’s a steep climb and within 30 minutes we’re lost. No signs and we’ve run out of path. Not a good start, but after clambering up some steep ground, we see an old retaining wall and correctly suspect that it is holding up the track. We’re soon on out way again on an old vehicular track that ascends 700 metre towards the Col d’Arp. After 2 hours of climbing, it’s time for a coffee break with cake from breakfast.
The mist is rolling in up the valley and we hide behind some rocks. The temperature has dropped from 17°C in La Thuile down to a cold 10°C but at least it’s not raining. As we leave, two trail runners go by and tell us they’re on their way to the Col d’Arp. They are the first ones we’e seen on the track so far and it was reassuring to follow them, albeit at some distance behind, towards the Col d’Arp. The mist cleared as we continued to climb and the track is steep but quite good and we arrive at the Col (2,570metres) at 12pm, much sooner than we anticipated - an ascent of over 1,350 metres in 4 hrs including a 30 minute coffee break. There’s no one else in site so we try to take a selfie, and Ian presets the camera to 10 seconds, but doesn’t quite make it back in time but the second selfie works.
The Val de Balme on the other side is magnificent with cows with big bells wandering in the high plateau of the valley above 2,000 metres, a requirement to make Alpine cheese.
After a short descent down a narrow track, we pick up a farm track which takes us all the way down to Baite Youlez, a small farm perched on a ledge. At 1.30pm and a bit further down we spy a picnic table and chairs - lunchtime with cheese and tomato on a heavy cereal bread.
The road continues down into the valley then the TOR (Tor des Geants) takes a sharp right along a terrible track, with numerous rock fall crossings all the way to La Thuile. We don’t know how the ultra Trail runners actually run on this section. We arrive in La Thuile on a warm sunny afternoon with no rain in sight, and slog uphill the one k to our BnB Le Thovex. We did enough shopping yesterday, so no need to buy more stuff as we’ll only have to carry it up hill tomorrow to our overnight Bivouac at 2,000 metres high in the Alps above Valgrisenche. There’s time to do our washing - the trail was dusty with no rain - before catching up with emails. Then it’s dinner time with a cold beer and you know what - bread and ham etc etc etc.
It’s blowing a gale outside and cold but still no sign of rain as we tuck into bed.
A selfie at the Col , Ian a bit slow
Ian there in time for a 2nd selfie
Beautiful Val de Balme
Cows in teh Alpine pastures
Lunch half way down
7hrs 30mins later back in La Thuile