August 30
August 30: La Fouly to Champex
Today's trail is unique because rather than heading high into the mountains, the path keeps to the valley hugging the Dranse de Ferret river and skipping from one idyllic spot to the next. As the easiest section of the TMB, it provides an opportunity to relax in the rejuvenating nature of pine forests and alpine meadows. Enjoy it, for this respite is only brief and tomorrow there are new cols and mountains to tackle.
Walk through the valley which is punctuated with Swiss villages that time appears to have forgotten. As a whole each village is a scattered collection of wooden chalets that seem to set the scene for a fairy tale. Zoom in and you'll discover that each individual lodge oozes character and tells a story, from the neat jumble of firewood that props up the side wall, to the jaunty angle of the roof, to the deep small of pine forest as you wander past; this is an enchanting place far removed from the world many of us know.
Finish in the village of Champex-Lac which appears well-deserving of its nickname, 'Little Canada'. Surrounding a glacial lake with vivid turquoise tones and set against a backdrop of pine trees that roll up the mountain slopes, you could indeed be across the Atlantic and in Canada. It's a splendid spot to spend the night or enjoy a picnic on your arrival.
14.9 km. 499m up. 632m down.
This was indeed a very different day for scenery. The only glacier I saw all day was the one out my window first thing this morning. Also - we started the day out with a gradual downhill for a few hours, and had our uphill at the end of the day. And - we were on a lot of minor roads and wider & smoother pathways. It was the ideal day for us to share the trail with the UTMB runners. After having departed Chamonix at 5:45pm yesterday, the first runner went through La Fouly shortly after 6am this morning. The winner ended the race with a time of 19 hours and 18 minutes. Wow! I've just been reading a bit about the race on-line and it seems the runners ran through a night of rain, sleet, and snow. The snow was 6 inches deep on Col de la Seigne and there were blizzard conditions. Apparently it rained much of the night in La Fouly, but safely tucked in our little guesthouse we didn't hear a thing. I have nothing but total respect for each and every one of those runners. About 2500 runners started the race and I heard that over 600 had dropped out overnight due to the weather conditions. All of the ones who passed us today looked like they were doing well, although the later in the day the more they were walking vs running. I believe that from Champex they still have about 30 miles/50km to go. And most of the ones we saw after noon will likely be spending at least part of a second night out there. As runners passed us on the trail we would move aside and cheer them on. Almost without exception they would take a moment to acknowledge us and offer up a "thank you/merci" or a smile.
Our guesthouse and where the boys stayed.
An aid station/checkpoint on the edge of La Fouly.
Some of the runners today.
Some of the scenery from the day.
The villages we walked right through are as per the description above - time appears to have forgotten them.
The whole day was pretty gentle. And the weather was pretty darned nice as well. We dawdled, found a picnic table along the trail for lunch, stopped for coffee, cheered the runners, and were still in by 2.
The last section of trail had quite the collection of wooden carvings.
Oh - and there was a cave. I believe it was a remnant of some type of mining operation.
Group shot at the lunch spot. The photographer was Ben - a gentleman from South Korea whom we met at the Bonatti hut a few days ago. In spite of the shear volume of hikers on the trail, a few times a day we will generally come across someone we have dined with at one of the huts or hotels.
Several of these water spouts along the trail.
A bit of a rock climbing area.
Big day tomorrow. Time for bed..............
Comments
Post a Comment