Magnificent stage through the Alps. The stage begins fairly flat passing villages, waterfalls and gorges through which the river Le Giffre carves its way. The second half climbs steeply up a slope past high cliffs and later over rock-strewn meadows. The trail ends above 2000 meters with views of Lac d'Anterne.
After 3 days of rest, our knees are well recovered and we are ready for the next part of the GR5. In 2 stages we walk to Chamonix, at the foot of Mont Blanc. The hike starts easy today, the first 14 kilometers are pretty flat. From the campsite we walk 4 kilometers back to the start of the trail at Samoëns. As we enter the village we see a large shed along the route, which has been turned into a boulangerie or brasserie during the season. They have 2 chausson aux pommes left for our first break, so we have something to look forward to! From here, the route follows the little river le Giffre to Gorges des Tines. A narrow gorge of a few hundred meters through which the water makes its way. We stand for a moment watching groups of young people passing by in canoes, rafting and jumping into the water from the cliffs. Those are some fun summer camps!
The trail leads us around this gorge, through another older gorge through which the river used to flow, leaving behind magnificent eroded rocks. Via a steep climb over the rocks and over steps, we find our way through this gorge that reminds us a bit of the Mullertahl in Luxembourg. Arriving at the top we get to a T-junction where we should actually turn right, but the path is cordoned off with danger signs and red/white ribbon. All because of the most dangerous animal in the Alps. At first we think of lynx or wolves, luckily bears are not found here. But it turns out to be the 5mm large bark beetle. A brown-black beetle that nests in the bark of coniferous trees where it lives off the sap flow of the trees, causing them to die. It has already caused much death and destruction in coniferous forests in the Alps, as well as in the Jura and Vosges. Because there are so many dead trees on the upcoming stretch of trail, the path has been declared unsafe and we are diverted to a safer route some distance away. The flat kilometers run nicely and before the climb begins, we decide to take a break in a meadow at the bottom of a ski area where we enjoy our pastries. From here the trail slowly begins to climb, slowly at first.
We expected to walk into the forests from here, back to the mountains and nature, but soon we come to an asphalt road that winds the same way up the mountain, which we pass several times. We walk past some nice villages and the beautiful Cascade du Rouget. After 4.5 kilometers of broadly following the road, the asphalt road ends at a large parking lot. By now we have climbed 500 meters and still have 1,000 altitude meters ahead of us. The parking lot is busy, many day hikers leave from here and we are certainly not the only ones on the trail. The route goes up steeply through the forest, it is quite a climb on the wide forest path. The higher we get, the less shelter we get from the trees, the more open the landscape becomes, and we can enjoy the gigantic cliffs and mountains around us. After almost 20 kilometers and at 1,850 meters altitude, we reach our first summit of the day. In front of us stretches a magnificent plain, with large white rocks in the fresh green landscape. Here and there are some pine trees and to our right is a high, vertical rock face. Straight ahead of us, very far away over the top of this grassland we see the great snowy giant: the Mont Blanc. Wow what an impressive landscape! We walk on until we reach Refuge Alfred Wills which is at the end of the valley. Here we fill all our bottles with water, just to be sure; we don't know what else we'll encounter. We are now at 21.5 kilometers and want to continue for another kilometer or two to Lac d'Anterne, to find a place for the night. It's a tough climb, 320 meters up at the end of the day, but judging by the scenery it's going to be more than worth it. Finally, stepping over the last hill, we see the lake. The beautiful turquoise water of the mountain lake lies between the imposing rocks. A shepherd with his dogs leading a flock of sheep and goats through the valley and... lots of tents. From this distance, we easily count about 15 other encampments along the lake. Okay, we didn't expect that... We decide to pitch our tent on one of the hills at the edge of the valley overlooking the lake, rather than down below directly at the side the lake. And we are happy we did, because as we are pitching the tent, the flock of sheep comes down the
valley past all the tents. But what a magnificent sight from here, so high up in the mountains. It's the first night camping above 2,000 meters. In this valley between the lake and the gigantic rock face, the setting sun projects a magnificent spectacle. What an amazing place to be...
