This week, Jean-Baptiste and I went back to the family chalet to do some walking. Our main goal was a mountain hut over 3:30 hours walk from the car park in la Bérarde. We didn’t have time to go up there in July. We decided we’d do another walk on the way up and sleep in the chalet before walking up to the “refuge de la Pilatte” on the next day. One of my aunts was staying in the chalet with her grandchildren and had accepted to give us hospitality for the night. Otherwise, we would have slept outside in the field, not a problem.
The weather was hot and sunny. It had rained a lot the previous two days so we set up in the fog. But it soon lifted and the sun came out. There weren’t any clouds in sight.
First day was a fairly easy 2 hours walk in a beautiful valley. we were early and crossed about 40 people going up when we were walking down.
The second day was much more challenging. It is a long walk, almost flat three-quarters of the way and a very steep climb at the end. It took us 3:45 hours to go up, mainly because we had to walk on the left side of the valley because a bridge was missing at the bottom of the steep climb. that way is longer than the normal route. On the way back, we were able to cross the river as the bridge was being repaired. Jean-Baptiste walked well but struggled a bit at the end on the way up. It was getting warm and he was hungry. At the top, we relaxed and chatted with two Scotsmen who had just come down from the mountain. I recognized one of the men’s Glasgow accent.
I was struck by the changes on the glacier. It had melted so much since my last visit 11 years ago. I’ve read that it has lost 50 meters in height since 1990 and much more in length. It is making it much more challenging and dangerous to climb the mountains around. The two Scottish mountaineers had to renounce their climb because it had taken them too much time to find a path through the glacier and its many crevasses. When they got to the bottom of the mountain, it was too late to climb.
We walked down in 2:30 hours, relaxed in the chalet for a while before driving back home late in the afternoon.