Vanoise – day 8
20.7.2023 Thursday
Le Bourg-d’Oisans – Modane – Ritord
→ 18,79 km ↑ 1808 m ↓ 865 m
Alarm’s at 6:30am. I slept too well and feel a bit tired from it. Breakfast is pain au lait with praline spread (the local version of Nutella in a plastic package). I repack my whole backpack and spend 5 minutes looking for a glove. Just as I accepted I’ve lost it, I find it in the hood of the down jacket I’m wearing. I pack fast after that and handle hygiene stuff, since we need to catch a bus. We’re running late, so we even run a bit here and there, funny after days of just walking. We reach the stop and find out the bus doesn’t actually run. No matter, another one leaves from the station in 15 minutes. We take bus T75 at 8:10am to Grenoble. We buy the ticket from the driver. Jozef smells himself on the bus and says “I smell like sweat,” and I say “smell like wheat?” After days of walking, even a trivial joke like this really cracks me up. Before Grenoble we’re stuck in traffic. We already give up hope of catching our train, since we only have a 10-minute connection. Somehow it clears up and we’re at the station 5 minutes before the train leaves. We rush to print a ticket from a evil ticket machine. We manage it heroically, get the ticket, and run for the train. We jump into the right one, hopefully, and I just double-check with other passengers that we’re in the right one. Now we’re heading to Chambéry, where we’ll change for Modane. In Chambéry we get coffee and a kebab, and charge our electronics a bit more.
We take a regional train to Modane. It’s already delayed at the station. I get some sleep on the train, and we finally arrive an hour late.
At the bio food store we buy a baguette, peaches, and Jozef gets some local herbal beer. He first grabs a sage one, but notices in time and swaps it for a wild thyme instead. I could mix him something like that at home in Kysuce too.
We’re going to wander around Vanoise National Park. We start on the GR 55 route, which is 60 km long and leads to Tignes. We don’t have an exact route plan, and we probably won’t walk the whole thing. Ahead of us is the longest climb we’ve had so far. 1730 meters of elevation to Col de Chaviére pass (2796 m) over 11.2 km. We set off at 2:30pm. It starts very steep through forest. My legs aren’t cooperating much. The rest probably didn’t help that much. Once we get above the treeline it’s warmer, but the views start too.
It’s genuinely beautiful here. No wonder the French protect this place so carefully. At 2400 m we have pain au lait with praline spread to give us energy for the last few kilometers.
We’re at the pass within 4 hours. It’s already in shade, since the sun’s gone behind the mountain. It’s pretty cold here. A stunning view opens up over the valley, with Mont Blanc in the background. Memories come back of last year’s Tour du Mont Blanc.
We still have 6 km ahead. Camping is completely banned in this national park. It’s only allowed at some huts with a designated spot, and you need to reserve it in advance. So today we push on outside the park.
There are lots of marmots here too, but they seem less shy. Cows occupy the lower areas, so we start worrying whether we’ll find a tent spot.
In the end we set up by a river where the ground is boggy, but we find just about one dry square for the tent. I feel pretty cold and pretty tired.
We pitch fast, give ourselves a quick wash in the icy stream, and Jozef cooks dinner. Our tried-and-true classic, mashed potato with tuna, garlic and stock cube. Today even with parmesan. We eat fast, taking turns with one spoon. No signal here, so I put off the whole blog until tomorrow. I don’t even have the energy to go outside and brush my teeth. I brush them in the tent and spit into a mug, which I’ll wash in the morning. I fall asleep right away.
