This stage of the GR5 passes over one high col: Col de Voza at 1650 which is reached through a steep climb after only 5km. This is followed by a descent to the valley of the river Bon Nant. This is then followed to the campsite at Les Contamines-Montjoies. The route passes many small villages and hamlets and has many beautiful views of the mountains and glaciers.
Last couple of days we visited Chamonix (a very touristy little town at the foot of Mont Blanc, but really nice to visit), and picked out a pair of new, sturdy and especially wider walking shoes for Mark. They had already been walked in a little yesterday, but today will be the "real" test.
A little before eight o'clock we leave from the crazy campground, where we had a nice couple of nights. During the day it was virtually empty and by evening it was always filling up again with backpackers, cyclists and other mountain lovers. So every day we enjoyed a new variety of lightweight tents, backpacks and other gear at the campsite.
The first part of the trail is along the main road and we walk underneath a tunnel under the campground ski slope. After this, we soon turn left into a small path past some vacation chalets up the mountain. It starts out steep right away and it will stay that way until the top. It's a pretty tough climb of 700 meters over 4.5 kilometers. Soon we are above the clouds. Along the way we are treated to magnificent views of the Mont Blanc in the early morning sun. We are not the only ones on this part of the route either, on the way we pass dozens of other hikers who are also struggling uphill. It is a hefty climb, but we've found a nice rhythm and walk at a brisk pace all the way to the top, Col de Voza. A hotel and even a small station is situated here, for a tourist train that rides up from the bottom of the valley. We sit down for a minute and sip some water on the small platform. We enjoy the new mountains we see from this point: other glaciers and other peaks. This is the highest point today, from here we will descend a bit and the last kilometers to the campsite will be quite flat.
On the way down we pass a few nice villages and a charming little mountain church.
The descent goes fairly quick and easy, and halfway down we take a good break at a picnic bench overlooking the valley. We prepare a sandwich, make a cup of coffee (and one more...) and take it easy. We enjoy the sunshine: we're in no hurry. After all, we can only enter the campground after 2:30pm and it is now 10:30am.
While descending, Mark's shoes prove to be a golden move: painlessly we reach the valley where we cross a wildly churning river via a steel bridge. From here we walk mainly through forests towards the village of Les Contamines-Montjoies. The last part is a wide gravel road along the river.
At a quarter past 2 we arrive at the campground. The reception indeed appears to be still closed and about ten other campers arrive at the campsite. When the reception opens we are quickly assigned a spot under the trees. For the past few days with the high temperatures, this would have been the perfect spot, but rain is predicted for the coming days. A lot of rain: over 20 mm may fall daily for the next few days.
This is no weather to go into the mountains, so we'll wait out the worst days here at the campground. Fortunately, we can arrange a spot that's a bit more open. So that when it stops raining, it'll be immediately dry when you leave your tent. Under trees it stays dry a little longer at the beginning, but we found out that once it stops raining, it keeps dripping for hours...
It's a nice spot in this campground and a village with some supermarkets and camping stores. Ideal to stay over for a few days. But we keep our fingers crossed the weather gets better soon, so we can move on again!
