Ascent of Monte Viso

The bivouac hut last night was in a lovely wild spot, above a twinkling blue lake, surrounded by rocks.  The hut was packed to capacity, with parties from France, Italy and Germany all intending, like me, to ascend Monte Viso in the morning.  It seemed cramped at first with rucksacks etc everywhere and I was in the attic, but actually it was fine and I had a good chat with a French couple and one of the Germans, and I slept well.  Unusually there was no stove, so I cooked my meal on my camping stove using my sole canister of gas, which conveniently ran out just as I'd heated my morning tea!  Some parties left at 4.00 and 5.30, but I left with the rest at 6.00 am and I'm going well so overtook everyone to arrive at the summit at 8.20.  It was actually a surprisingly easy ascent, with a path to start and then scrambling over red rocks, polished smooth by many feet.  The view from the summit was stupendous; in the clear, still morning air the whole of the alps could be seen - quite brilliant.  I was back at the hut for a meal by 10.10 and then had a leisurely descent to the valley.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, though I found that camping a couple of days ago disturbed the rhythm of my days and it took two or three hours to get back into the flow of my journey.

Monte Viso

I'm back in Italy, doing some peaks in the Monte Viso range of spiky, rocky peaks, with lots of alpine flowers, lakes and goats; quite a favourite area of the Italians.  Yesterday I climbed the Tete de Telvas, a nice pointy peak and today the Piz Granero, with a good little scramble to the top and a fine view of Monte Viso.  In between was a very good hut offering conversation and an excellent meal.  So, feeling good and hoping the weather continues to hold, tomorrow I shall climb Monte Viso, at 3,841m the highest I've been on this journey. 

A delayed rendezvous

Yesterday I reached Briançon, a pleasant place where I ate some little treats at an excellent a little way in the direction I wanted to take next day and they would drive up the road and catch me up.  However they were severely delayed by traffic, the weather and a major detour, so I ended up walking 21 km to the end of the road!  Fortunately there was a refuge where, being soaked by the rain, I ordered a vin chaud and had a good meal, before eventually they arrived and we were able to camp.  Today was fine and I climbed the Grand Glaiza and walked in the Queyras National Park, a most wonderful area teaming with wild life, particularly butterflies and many different sorts of cricket in the grasses.  An amazing place for photography, with a striking view of Monte Viso towering above the clouds. 

A soaking in the night

This time my instinct was wrong, as was the weather forecast given in a shop!  The bivvy by Crystal Lake started well - a lovely evening, peaceful and a good meal al fresco, but I was awakened at about 10.30 by distant thunder and not so distant rain.  It then rained hard all night and although my bivvy bag/micro tent is waterproof, my mat is small and not proof against boggy ground near the lake.  I ended up sopping wet, rain hammering on my head, sleepless and cold; at 4.00 am I'd had enough, so put everything on, stuffed the wet things in the sack and set off into the dark, mist and rain.  The high level path wasn't the easiest in the dark - steep, eroded and on a narrow crest - but all those challenging nights navigating the trackless wastes of the Scottish Highlands stood me in good stead.  When the rain eased, I lay down on the path and I think I dropped off for five minutes; anyway, the path has now improved, the sun is out and there's a rainbow.  Fortunately the timing for much needed drying out couldn't be better: I'm meeting Pam & Martin Lawson at a campsite this evening and for the final 13 days I shall have their company in the evenings and a lightened load in my sack.  But beware of optimistic shopkeepers and question your instinct!

Valfréjus

It was a reasonable bivvy last night, but it was cold enough this morning to start walking in my down jacket and gloves before stopping at an amazing bakery in Valfréjus to breakfast off croissants and hot chocolate.  Then followed a walk by Mont Thabor down to a hut for a sandwich by a pleasant little lake.  It's a cool, sunny, breezy day and the scenery is less grand than before, more Mediterranean - dry, many pine trees and lumpy scree mountains, which I'm not tempted to climb.  Now I'm sitting in a little café in the valley having an amazing ice cream, a pastry and a very nice beer.  Well, most people come to France to enjoy the food, so why shouldn't I?

Seven weeks completed

Today I celebrated seven weeks of walking by climbing the Dent Parachée in cool but good weather.  Fortunately I managed to overtake two parties before ascending a couloir to the col - a frightful 50 degree slope of very loose stones and a most unpleasant and fairly dangerous place, most definitely demanding a helmet.  It was impossible to avoid dislodging stones, so it was good not to be in the firing line from anyone above me.  Once on the col, a nice ridge led up to the summit, from where there were sensational views of Mont Blanc, the Grandes Jurasses and, south of me, Monte Viso.  The couloir was no more pleasant on the way down, but I got back to the hut in time for lunch; then a pleasant 13 km walk to Modane.  The first hotel I tried was full and Modane is a drab place centred on the station, so after a pizza and ice cream (still staple items of my diet) I decided to press on and bivouac.  It's one of the pleasures of the trip to go by instinct and change plans.  I did remember passing through Modane in the middle of the night years ago while inter-railing, so twice I've not seen fit to stop there.

A Diversion

Yesterday turned out to be a long day because I carried on to the next hut, the Refuge Fournache.  It was a brilliant afternoon, with a strong wind, white horses on the lake, a vibrancy in the atmosphere and a wonderful contrast between sun, cloud and the shale-like mountains.  I intended to climb the Dent Parrachée today, but there was too much stonefall so instead I followed a great path traversing the mountains and returned to the Fournache hut tonight.  Again, the weather today was amazing, windy with clouds constantly forming and evaporating.  I'm hoping to do the mountain tomorrow if I get a good night's sleep.