The night was amazing. How I missed this tent. I got up at 6:00am and started my way up to the Fenêtre d’Arpette.
I was so exhausted from yesterday that it took me way longer than I thought to get up the 1.100m climb. It is actually the kind of terrain I love, but this time I had to stop quite a few times. That’s what you get from sitting in a van for months not doing anything.
When I arrived at the top the blue sky was gone and the clouds had pushed in. But I was so exhausted that I had to take a break and rest. I tied my tent to the sign post and let the wind dry it, since it was soaking wet. I myself sat down on the downwind side of the pass, enjoyed the view and had a big breakfast. After 30 minutes I was so cold that I got my now dry tent and wrapped myself into it. An hour later I woke up with another hiker sitting next to me. He had apparently also made it up to the top. What an amazing nap!
I made my way down over the first steep part to some more boulder hopping. I didn’t remember it like this from the last time I was here on the Tour de Mont Blanc in 2018. But at that time I also came the other way and climbed this side. Probably just felt a bit different.
I saw that there were a few new bivy spots along the way just before you reach the gravel road. Had a short break in Champex – actually in the same cafe which we stopped at on the TMB. And what can I say, the coffee was still bad. An A-location right at the waterfront does not automatically mean good coffee… Made a first plan for the rest of the day to see how far I could get. I still felt exhausted and actually just wanted to take another nap, but it was not the right setting in Champex to just lie down in the middle of town.
It was a fairly easy 700m downhill into Sembrancher and then a rather boring walk next to the road following the valley. When I arrived in Le Châble I knew that I had to get food for at least 1-1.5 days. The weather forecast for the next days looked pretty ugly with rain and thunderstorms in the evenings. I wasn’t really sure what to do, but I decided to push up the next climb to see how far I could get and give myself a better position for tomorrow. It started raining on the way up but not so bad that I had to stop.
The forecast was thunderstorm and heavy rain from 9 o’clock. My plan was to find a good spot with access to water before the bad weather would start and I would have to pitch my tent in the rain. I found a flat spot on the map with something that looked like a water source. And guess what I found: a public barbecue place with a faucet and an open shelter with benches and tables for probably 40-50 people. In the middle there was some open space and I just pitched my tent right in the center of the shelter. Jackpot!
As soon as I had set up camp the rain started to get stronger and stronger but I was cosy and dry. When I started preparing my dinner two Swiss guys showed up who were going to climb Mont Blanc this week. They came up here to acclimatise and get some kilometres in as preparation. They invited me to a glass of wine which I of course could not decline 🤷♂️. Great closing of the day.
But now I am shattered, as my dear (old 😋) Martyn would say. It’s 8:30pm and I am out for today.
