Wednesday 7th September: Weather: 8°C to 18°C:
Day 22 Rifugio Letey Champillon to Rhemy Bosses: 15.3k: 5hrs 15 mins: 8am to 1.45pm: 1 x 30 min stop
Ascent/Descent: Ascent 910m, Descent 1,723m, Total up and down 2,633m
Accommodation: Hotel Suisse St Rhemy
TdG map Champillon to St Rhemy - The Black line
Mist below Rifugio Champillon
Rifugio Champillon above mist
Misty start to morning
Col de Champillon at 2,707 metres
Col de Champillon at 2,707 metres
Mont Blanc from Col de Champillon
Morning tea in valley near Ponteille
8 k of almost flat aqueduct track
Walking into tiny Saint Rhemy
Day 22 was an exciting day. Firstly because it now means we have 2 more days to go on our Tor des Geants hike, and also because it was a much easier 15.3k day than it looked on paper, with no boulder hopping and lots of level balcony sections. It wasn’t a blue sky day but a wonderful misty day with views from the High Col of Champillon at 2,700 metres across to Mont Blanc poking out above the mist and clouds. Then we arrive in this tiny Village of St Rhemy to a wonderful old world Hotel Suisse - the only accommodation in the village.
We’re awake at 6am after a restful night with no snorers or doors banging in the rifugio. The storms have passed but there’s a lingering beautiful mist below us hanging in the valley. Breakfast is a hot cup of tea or coffee with a hot croissant - all that we need - but there’s also yoghurt, cheese, butter jam and bread. We say good by to our table of friends and go back to our room to pack ready for what seems to be a long day - 15.3k and 2,233m up and down. We’re out the door at 8am and start the ascent of only about 300 metres to Col de Champillon. But it’s really steep, and we’er a bit sluggish after breakfast so it’s a real slog up the washed out track from the storm last night, in the cold mist. We reach Col de Champillon at 2,707 metres in less than an hour and from the top, and though not blue skies, we have a magical view above the misting the valley right across to Mont Blanc, which means we’re very close to Courmayeur now .
Down the other side it’s not as steep down a shaley path that’s become more solid but not slippery after the rain. It’s almost 1,000 meters down to the bottom of the next valley, but the track is mostly good as we descend through the mist. After two hours we reach the bottom at the dairy farm of Ponteilles at 11 am and after crossing the bridge over a stream, find a flat rock for a leisurely 30 minutes cup of coffee and Arnott’s Spicy Fruit Rolls.
Then up the other side of the valley, past cows and over friendly dogs that wanted to jump all over me with their muddy/pooey feet, until we reach a wide flat path that we later find out was built to cover the aqueduct - large water pipes buried beneath. The path is so flat with a gentle fall and it’s so relaxing wandering through the pine trees being able to look around without fear of tripping on stones and boulders on a narrow track. This path goes on and on, high above the valley, then turns the corner above the Aosta Valley, then another corner to head for Saint Rhemy. It takes us less than two hours to cover 8 kilometres on this track before the Tor de Geants sign takes us down a narrow track to pick up a gravel road that takes us all teh way into the tiny ancient village of Saint Rhemy.
It’s not hard to spot the Hotel Suisse but it’s only 1.45pm, and we don’t thing they open until 2pm. It was just an amazingly short easy but fabulous day high above the mist and we didn’t expect to arrive so early. So we sit on the cushioned seats outside the hotel and have our left over Fontina cheese with old but still nice cereal bread, with a hot cup of tea - too early for a beer. Then we check into the Hotel Suisse and we’re shown our wonderful room with a huge bed, sitting area, large bathroom and best of all really good WiFi. Dinner is at 7.30pm so there’s time to wash a few thing before blogging and sorting photos - me that is - Ian is watching the US Open Tennis.
At 7pm we wander down to the dining room where they have a table prepared for us by the fire. We order a bottle of Tourette wine, with a platter of cheese and bread sticks for starters. For the main meal there’s a lot of choices, but our host is very flexible and we can order whatever we want - cooked string beans, thick sliced Jambon (Ham) and fresh tomatoes. Our plates arrive chock, more than we can eat - but somehow we manage to demolish the lot. It was one of the nicest meals and only the second time we have had tomatoes in a restaurant or rifugio as part of the main meal. They were home grown and looked like small bullocks hearts. For dessert I have chocolate chip ice cream and Ian has Panacotta.
We’re in bed by 9am stuffed full.
Lunch in lane outside Hotel Suisse