This magnificent stage through the Alps starts out flat. After 2km starts a steep climb to almost 2400 meters and hikes along the deep valley of the river L'Arc. Beautiful views of the valley and the mountains on the other side. After some descending, the second steep climb follows into a side valley, the valley of the river Doron de Termignon. From here there are views of many glaciers and mountain peaks. It is truly a magnificent valley.
Today is a stage we have been looking forward to: we are now really heading towards the high parts of the Vanoise National Park. From the valley of the river l'Arc, the trail goes through a large tributary valley and we won't return to the valley where we are now for another 4 days. Over the next few days we'll only pass a few refuges and find ourselves in the middle of the mountains. That promises to be a great hike!
But of course, before we reach these heights, we have to climb quite a bit.
The first 2 kilometers from the campsite are still pretty flat. The sun is not yet coming over the mountains around us, but its rays shine through the morning mist over the peaks, what a beautiful scene. Then the real work begins, a tough climb of 550 meters in 3 kilometers (a gradient of over 18%!) up the slope, over small rocky paths. Even though we aren't hiking in the sun yet, it's still quite sweaty... Halfway up the slope we see a number of houses and barns, quite dilapidated. There's no road in sight that leads here. It's rather bizarre to realize that people probably used to come here riding horses or donkeys, to live only in the spring and summer to herd their cattle. It must have been a lot of work to build this on such a steep slope. Such a shame it has fallen into ruins like this.
We continue our climb up. By now we have risen quite a bit and have passed the tree line. Up here we are in an area with many sheep and cows. Here and there we see some cottages that are well preserved and nicely renovated. There are some beautiful cottages among them, made of beautiful stacked gray stones. At one house we pass, water comes out of a hose: fresh mountain water. Wonderful, a quick refill of cold water, and we fill our bottle for coffee in our first break. Not much further, we are at the first summit of the hike, and we see a nice spot to take a break.
After the break, the hike stays high and fairly flat for about 3 more kilometers before we descend for another stretch. In fact, we descend so far that we walk back into the woods. From this lowest point, the trail turns right up into the valley towards the highest mountains of the Vanoise. Again, quite a steep climb, and as soon as we emerge above the forests, the landscape
immediately becomes a lot more jagged and rugged. Across the valley, we hear a waterfall roaring down, with water coming down from the giant glaciers on the mountain tops around us. From this distance you can clearly see that the mountain is made up of several layers. Snow on top, then a thick layer of gray rock above a strip of grass that is turning yellow in this time of year, and quite a bit below that line bushes that slowly turn into forests. We are now walking somewhere through the "grass zone", between 2,000 and 2,500 meters altitude, and keep hiking on for a while.
This morning, during the first break, we had already let the groundsheet dry. Now in retrospect it might have been more convenient to let the tent dry. Because it really needs to be dry when we get to the shelter, since we can't pitch it until 7pm. The skies above us are getting cloudy and we can already hear thunder in the distance, so as soon as we find a suitable spot we pitch the tent to dry, otherwise we'll have to sleep in a wet tent tonight. Not a good prospect...
After the break it's still a good hour's walk to the refuge but it's a magnificent hour!
We pass a lake that is almost dry at the end of the season, with a herd of cows grazing peacefully. We walk through the grassland among the gigantic mountains with glaciers and finally arrive at Refuge du Plan du Lac. A charming stone building with an insane view of the mountains. We have reserved a bivouac spot here. We are the only ones with a tent and it's
already a little after 7pm, so we can pitch and install our tent right away. The refuge is fully equipped with sanitary facilities, a room where you can eat, cook and wash dishes, but with one minus: only a cold shower...
Either way, an hour later we enjoy a big bowl of soup and the first of our freeze-dried meals: Thai rice, and it tastes quite good!
