Wake up at 3 to take night pics. On the eve, the
valley was clear, and the mountains were clouded. This morning, it's the
opposite, thick fog in the valley, with clear peaks with a few higher altitude
clouds above... not ideal to shoot stars, but ok nonetheless for some
night pictures. As they say, beggars can't be choosers...besides, picture of
the mountain hovering above the clouds is spectacular in its own right.
Unlike Rifugio Bonatti, you can't set up close to the refuge and wait in the warmth whilst the camera does its thing, too many boulders in the foreground. Walk down some 30 meters away, and find what I considered at the time to be the best shooting spot, just at the edge of a cliff...need to be extra careful not to take that extra step
Just an hour into the shoot, fog moves on me, so I retreat back to the lodge to keep warm, in the hope that it will clear up, which it does, an hour or so later!!! I almost went back to sleep!!!!
Unlike Rifugio Bonatti, you can't set up close to the refuge and wait in the warmth whilst the camera does its thing, too many boulders in the foreground. Walk down some 30 meters away, and find what I considered at the time to be the best shooting spot, just at the edge of a cliff...need to be extra careful not to take that extra step
Just an hour into the shoot, fog moves on me, so I retreat back to the lodge to keep warm, in the hope that it will clear up, which it does, an hour or so later!!! I almost went back to sleep!!!!
Resume the shoot, and set the camera up for some longish exposures. Temperatures below freezing, I do a duck dance to try to keep warm (which one of the hikers saw!!!! Shame on thy PiGgY!!!!). Just before sunrise, shitty fog moves in again on me... wait there for a while, but decide to call it quits, since it was already relatively clear. Sit at breakfast table waiting for people to show up.
Lots of the trekkers staying at refuge le Lac Blanc, were like us, on the last leg of their adventure, and as we talk during breakfast, we find that all those finishing at Les Houches, are catching the cable car down. The prospect of over 1600m of descent didn't seem like an enjoyable proposition for any of the fatigued trekkers, most of which are nursing some ankle or knee ailment. We were no different. The only difference is they are hiking down to La Flegere, and we are hiking up to L'Index, which is a shorter route, to catch a telesiege higher up.
Additionally according to our bible, the landscape is ruined by the sight of the cable cars, so I really saw no point in torturing myself any further. I would take it easy, and accompany Jeff.
The hike up to L’Index is tougher than expected, very technical, all up and down, but overall upwards. I still can't believe that tough son of a gun made it to the refuge and is now hiking back the same route.
The mountains are playing peek-a-boo with us, and I seize every opportunity that it offers to take pictures. For once, catching up to Jeff was a non-issue, and we reach the telesiege some 2 hours later.
I can understand why people would moan about these facilities, because in all honesty, they are an eye sore in this amazing landscape. We would have to inspect the object of discontent ourselves.
The ride itself is actually quite fun, not unlike a tamed roller coaster, and the views stunning, despite being somewhat ruined by the stretched cables. Below us, we see the zig zag path that trekkers who have decided to walk down would have to take.
Stop over midway at La Flegere, and this time catch a cable car to the bottom, to Les Praz. From there to Chamonix, runs a free train service which takes less than 5 minutes. Les Praz and Chamonix might have been separate towns ages back, but with their respective expansions, they have effectively merged into a bigger one.
We walk into the center of Chamonix, and there, this huge festive crowd welcomes us. There was actually a race going on called the North Face (sponsor) ultra trail TMB.
The queen race takes the trailers around a route very similar to ours, with a distance of about 168 kms and 9,600m ascent, with an estimated winning time around 20 hours and a half!!!!! The peeps in for the win actually run it non stop, with no sleep at all...!!!
If you thought that was crazy, let me put it in perspective: there was actually an even crazier race that was to be undertaken by teams of 2 or 3 people. 300 kms, 24,000m ascent and estimated time for completion is about 135 hours...!!!!
According to the announcer, several hikers had to be rescued by helicopter following injuries/extreme fatigue. Someone also fell down a cliff apparently, but was not in critical danger. Probably lots of broken bones...!!!
We had initially planned to start and finish in Chamonix, but could not get accommodation on our return day because of that race.
Settle for a 'brasserie' that offers free Wi-Fi, and we both order twin Texas beef burgers.
Just as we complete lunch, announcement that the winner of the queen race was coming in. We join the crowd to cheer for him. Skinny guy turns up, relaxed, and high fiving people as he walks the last 50 meters, soaking every minute of his walk to glory. The guy does not even look tired or busted up like we do...!!!!
I move on to have 3 scoops (coffee, strawberry, and mango) of well-deserved gelato.
Look for a pharmacy to get drugs for Jeff's ankle, but they are all closed between 12.30 and 14.30. Decide not to lose time and head for Les Houches, where we still have to hike up to refuge Le Cret to spend the night.
From the train station, we walk straight to the tourist information
point to ask for directions to the pharmacy, and the refuge (first time we got
lost and took an unnecessarily long route). Damn, pharmacy is on the other side
of town, about a km away. Get there and walk in, and show the bruised ankle to
the pharmacist, and she recommends that Jeff see a doctor asap for an x-ray.
Been trying to convince him to go see one for the past 2 days, and he did have
the opportunity the day before when he took the bus and cable car, and today
when we were in Chamonix, but he thought he didn't need one. Until the
pharmacist asks whether he's catching a flight soon, explaining that there was
potential for a blood clot, if present, to dislodge and cause trouble. At that point
Jeff's face changed. Remember his brother in law who passed away a couple of
days before trip? Well, the guy had Alzheimer's and hurt himself in the knee
(only found that out too late) and that caused an internal blood clot that got
dislodged, and caused a heart attack which eventually killed him...
Sudden change of plans. Jeff would catch the next train/bus to Chamonix to go to a hospital for an x-ray, and I would hike up refuge du Cret to collect Jeff's bag that he left on the first day. The first thing we needed to sort out however was accommodation, which we found opposite the tourist information.
Just as I was setting out for the refuge, Jeff pops in and informs me he just missed the bus, and that the next one would not be for more than an hour. Looking at the schedule, he would not make it back in time and with no accommodation available in Chamonix he decided that we should leave for hospital early the next day instead, and that he would take it easy for the rest of the day.
I still hike up to the refuge to collect the bag, where the owner was not happy at all that we cancelled the room at such short notice.
I apologise, but there was really nothing that we could do. She kept the deposit we put forward for the reservation of the room, and that was the end of it.
Hike back down, and off I go again to a grocery store another km away, to get some drinks and snacks.
Dinner today is rack of lamb... don't usually eat lamb, but I was game for a change...
Another early night...
Stats if the day:
Hiked distance about 12kms (excluding walk in Chamonix and La Praz)
1500 kcal burnt
Effective hike time about 3 hours 45 mins
Elevation data irrelevant since we took cable car down.
Sudden change of plans. Jeff would catch the next train/bus to Chamonix to go to a hospital for an x-ray, and I would hike up refuge du Cret to collect Jeff's bag that he left on the first day. The first thing we needed to sort out however was accommodation, which we found opposite the tourist information.
Just as I was setting out for the refuge, Jeff pops in and informs me he just missed the bus, and that the next one would not be for more than an hour. Looking at the schedule, he would not make it back in time and with no accommodation available in Chamonix he decided that we should leave for hospital early the next day instead, and that he would take it easy for the rest of the day.
I still hike up to the refuge to collect the bag, where the owner was not happy at all that we cancelled the room at such short notice.
I apologise, but there was really nothing that we could do. She kept the deposit we put forward for the reservation of the room, and that was the end of it.
Hike back down, and off I go again to a grocery store another km away, to get some drinks and snacks.
Dinner today is rack of lamb... don't usually eat lamb, but I was game for a change...
Another early night...
Stats if the day:
Hiked distance about 12kms (excluding walk in Chamonix and La Praz)
1500 kcal burnt
Effective hike time about 3 hours 45 mins
Elevation data irrelevant since we took cable car down.
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