Vanoise – day 11
23.7.2023 Sunday
Refuge de la Femma – Refuge des Evettes
→ 31,64 km ↑ 2069 m ↓ 1899 m
We wake up to a cold morning. It’s below zero and there’s frost on the tent. The sun’s still behind the mountains. Breakfast is mushroom soup and coffee. Dessert is pain au lait with Nutella. We start climbing before 8am. Pretty cold, so I put my green merino leggings and insulated shorts.
After about a kilometer, we stop to brush our teeth and take off a layer. Now I’m all in green, looking like a little frog. We climb gently to Col de la Rocheure pass (2911 m). We’re still walking through marmot territory, so every now and then one of us points at a marmot.
From 2800 m the landscape starts turning into a rocky desert.
Snowfields appear more often, and the wind picks up. I put on my wind jacket and Jozef his fleece. We descend 350 m to Refuge du Fond des Fours hut. This side of the pass is completely different from the other one, green and blooming.
We walk down through a moon-like landscape. Only close to the hut it does turn green again.
At the hut we have coffee and pain au lait with Nutella. From there we climb again, this time to the highest pass on the route, Col des Fours (2976 m). Right past the hut we witness a marmot fight, firstly two, then three of them. It’s hilarious how they stand on their hind legs and try to hit each other with their tiny paws. My legs don’t really want to go up the hill, so I stop often. Luckily it wasn’t that much elevation, so we’re there within an hour. It’s really windy, so we don’t linger. There are a lot of people here, on a short 3 km hike from a nearby car park. On the way down we jog a bit here and there, and sometimes cross a snowfield.
Soon we’re by the road that runs over Col de l’Iseran pass (2800 m) to the famous ski resort Val-d’Isère. A really busy road, with cyclists, motorbikes and cars all mixed together. Our route heads to the same town, Bonneval-sur-Arc, but steeper, without switchbacks. Over 5 km. We really don’t feel like it anymore, so we at least have some candy. Grape sugar for energy, and hard candy to pass the time.
In town we sit by an e-bike charging station and charge our own electronics too. Mostly the camera batteries. Our charging cable must be faulty, since it keeps disconnecting from the power bank, and I think that’s draining the batteries. So from now on we’ll take photos on Jozef’s phone. We wait for the shop next door to open, so we can buy food for now and for dinner. I check the weather, and tomorrow morning it forecasts heavy rain, so we’ll see how that goes. Tonight we’re heading to sleep near the Italian border with a glacier view. First the trail follows the L’Arc river. There are signs everywhere warning of flash floods. A very busy trail, especially with families with kids and dogs. It follows the river gently for about 3 kilometers. This part, passing so many people, really wears us out, mostly mentally. Near the end, a Frenchman even asks if I’m okay. I must really look bad. Once we start the last 500 meters of climbing, there are fewer people. We’ve had quite a lot today, and I didn’t eat much, so I’m hungry again. We slowly manage to climb up and beautiful views open up over the glaciers.
Because of the forecast, we try to find a good sleeping spot, but, of course, it has to have a view. After about 15 minutes we finally settle down. I open a bag of chips right away and edit yesterday’s photos. Jozef pitches the tent. Today, of all days, when we’d really need it pitched well because of the stronger wind, it won’t work even on the second try on the uneven ground. So we fix it with a rock, weighing down one side to keep it taut. I’ve already edited the diary, but there’s no signal to upload. I really don’t have the energy to write about today. I go at least wash up a bit. That perks me up a little. We’re having mashed potatoes again today, but my stomach’s a bit upset, so I can’t really eat much. I’m also a bit worried about the weather. I fall asleep pretty fast, it’s still nice out.
