More walks, and more new routes! In the last couple of weeks we have left the guide books behind and ventured out to some lakes and cols that we have only seen on signposts before. The first of these was a trip to Val d’Isère where we walked to the Refuge du Prariond – so far, so familiar – then continued up increasingly steep and rocky terrain to the Col de la Galise at an altitude of almost 3000m. This col marks the border with Italy, and the views across to Italy on the far side were worth the trip. The beer back in the refuge on the descent also helped!
The next day we cycled up to the Col du Petit St Bernard, a route that is becoming our regular cycle when we feel the need for a bit of exercise. Near the top I spotted a sign to another col, so the following day we returned to the Petit St Bernard, this time by car, then walked from the road up to the Col de Forclaz (there are several cols with the same name, this was one of the lesser known ones). The path wound around the mountains to the side of the pass, then climbed to the col, where there was a memorial to fallen soldiers of the resistance, and beautiful views across to the next valley.
The walk to the Cinq Lacs is a route we have done only once before, not least because the drive to the start involves a long and windy mountain road that feels very exposed on the ascent. Nonetheless, the walk is lovely, so we drove up to the Fort de la Platte that overlooks Bourg St Maurice and walked our way up the path to visit each of five high altitude lakes. Lunch at the top (packed sandwiches), looking down over the lakes is very special. We saw a group of about eight birds of prey circling overhead. From a distance they could easily have been eagles, which are known to nest in the area, but we couldn’t be sure. Also on the fields surrounding the area are herds of dairy cattle and flocks of goats and sheep. Returning to the car park at the end of the walk we were delighted to see the local farmer had set up a stall selling his cheeses made with the milk from the very animals we had been walking past. Of course, we bought some of his cheese – yummy!
Another of our favourite walking areas is to the Ruitor refuge, not least because the walk is so easy to access from our chalet. This time, however, we took a turn to the left shortly after the start of the walk to follow a path up to the Lac de Retour – another new route for us. We made the going hard by taking a wrong turn and having to scramble across steep gorse and rocks, but the trip was worth the effort: the views of the lake were stunning. To cap it, on the descent we spotted someone picking berries from the bushes to the side of the path. He told us these were myrtille berries (a type of wild blueberry, and a feature of the local cuisine). We laboriously picked some ourselves (the berries are tiny and it took over an hour for us to get enough to fill just one water bottle). It was worth the effort: back home Cate made a delicious myrtille tart!
For the last two or three days the weather has taken a turn for the worse, and we have stayed indoors, getting jobs done and looking out at the rain. We did have time for one more cycle up to the Col du Petit St Bernard, and this last picture is of the Chapel at Montvalezin, as seen on the route back home from the col.
