Monday 31 July 2019
| Distance (km) | 16 kms | |||
| Distance (time) | 11 hrs | |||
| Climb / Descent | 1590m / 840m | |||
| Hard / Soft surface | 10% / 90% | |||
| Landscape |
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| Weather |
 28° 1 Bft
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Since we usually walk more than we can handle on the first day we had already scheduled a day of rest after the first day. And so 2 days later we have to go again to Chevenoz. This time not by car but by bus from Châtel. We want to take the first bus at 7, which implies we have to walk 25 minutes from the campground to the central square where the bus stop is since the first shuttle bus from the campground to the central square won't leave until 9. And so we walk in the early morning with our backpacks to the bus stop.
Before 7:30 we're at the bus stop in Chevenoz. Because we left a bit in a hurry we didn't have time for breakfast and so we've been carrying our breakfast around in a bag. A bus stop is not the most inspiring environment for breakfast, but at least there are seats. But during breakfast nature calls and though we did bring toilet paper it would be nice to have an actual toilet. So we decide to postpone further breakfast and start walking to see if eiter in Chevenoz or Le Crêt there is a place where we can use the facilities. But no, there isn't. We climb to and through the hamlet and find nothing - and so after the last houses where the tarmac ends I decide to take the backpack off and just go behind the trees. I'm with my trousers on my knees when I feel a sting in my buttock and another one in a more sensitive place. I look down and see....wasps. There must a small nest of some sort here! I run a few meters away with my trousers still down and thankfully they don't follow me. I organize myself and walk back to my backpack. Those wasp stings still hurt and will probably form lumps later. Due to all this stress we forget that we only had half breakfast so far and we just strap up the backpack to move on. It keeps climbing, first through the forest but at Sur les Trables it opens up. There are two big bulls on the path here together with what seems to be the owner. The guy is tickling one of the bulls under its chin as if it is a cat and the bull seems to enjoy it. We do to, because it allows us to path without getting their attention. So we quickly walk in between the bulls and continue climbing. Again through the forest until we reach the next barn: Petit Chesnay. Ahead we have a beautiful pasture with some cows and impressive mountains in the background. This is what we expected to see! Of course the disadvantage of cows is that we have to pass in between them and my dearest is not the biggest fan of cows (unless medium-rare on her plate). Most cows flock at the next barn, Grand Chesnay, that we pass at some distance. We peek back and enjoy the landscape. After Grand Chesnay it feels like we just left the last civilization, which makes little sense considering the amount of ski lifts drawn on the map. It is more open here while we walk in the direction of Mont Barron. It looks so close and just in front of us, but the path climbs considerably and we start noticing our lack of food. With empty stomachs we arrive at the foot of Mont Barron were we take a breakf for a late second half of breakfast. From here we have to decend a bit to Col des Boeufs, and there is for sure enough boeufs walking around here. Then we climb again, first irregularly over a forest track slowly turning into a forest path and getting steeper. Short of breath we arrive at the open spot at the top....we think. Well, it's open for sure, but just not the top. We have to turn sharp right here passing a upper station of a skilift and then go up ridiculously steep, so we need hands and feet. Lupita had enough of it but it's the only way so we will just have to push on. In the end we're at the summot of Tête des Fieux with a grand view towards the Mont Blanc. It is not really cool up here and there is not much space to sit either. We walk on over a wide ridge towars a picknick table in order to be able to sit. There is already a family there but there is plenty of space. Well, they feel different and just sit as spread out as possible so that we can only sit in the grass. Very social. So a quick bite and move on. We now have a straight climb up along a ski slope before we have to turn left. From the picknick table it was clear where to turn left, but once there it is suddenly not so clear. We have to climb over the barb wire fence and then step over the edge into the unknown....to discover the very narrow trail that starts there. Half a foot wide and a steep slope to our left - not our favourite. And not even that flat: descending quite a bit to Chalet Vert before climbing almost the same amount to Col de la Casse d'Oche. There it's down again to the Oche lakes. There are quite a few (day) hikers here but fortunately also a lot of space to sit in the grass with the shoes off. If possible the rest of the afternoon. But no, it's close to 3pm and we still have some distance to go. First a 45 minutes climb to Col des Portes d'Oches. We're not out of energy yet but we are getting tired and so we hope this is the last significant climb today. And actually we're doing fine going up in about the 45 minutes it reads. The pass is a very narrow gap between the rocks with at the other side a small lake deep below. We have to go half around this little lake to the mountain pass at the other side that we can easily see from here. According to the signs this is a 10 minutes walk, but forget it. It is very rocky and requires a lot of scrambling, first steeply down and then more flat. With a backpack a hard part to do and what is supposingly 10 minutes takes us 40 minutes. The pass at the other side, Col de Pavis, is wide and flat. When we arrive a couple is sitting next to the path on the ground staring up. When we look in the same direction we see our first chamois up the steep slope. Beautiful. After the pass it starts descending again and the track is in poor shape. Heavily eroded with large holes and hard to walk on. And today it's dry, we cannot imagine how it is when wet. And it just keeps descending while we have to cross another mountain pass. Twice I loose my balance and the second time I have to rescue myself by jumping down the path quite a bit.....landing on both feet without hurting anything. So we're supposed to descend until Roche de Neuteu, but beforehand we decide to take the shortcut to Col de Bise to the right to avoid further risk in the descent. The shortcut is rather flat and it must be our lucky day after all because here we pass a group of capricorns that are clearly not impressed by the attention they get. Probably not so special for the experienced mountaineer, but it is for us. The last bit to Col de Bise is steeper again and we drag ourselves to the summit. Deep down we see the mountain hut....at least another hour walking.... The descent is awfull - my right large toe that is still recovering from an inflammation starts to hurt again and Lupita's knee is not happy either. We stumble to the hut, it's now after 6pm and considering we left the bus this morning at 7:30am it has been a long day. The reception at the hut is far from welcoming; we would like to bivouac but use the toilets, have dinner and breakfast (by paying, of course). The first and latter are no problem but the dinner is. According to the owner there is no dinner because there are not enough people to cook for. So we should try to get dinner at the restaurant/bar further down the parking. Which is also where we should camp.... And so we do....half across the bar/restaurant. Bloody far from the hut and so quite a walk to the shower. We enquire at the buvette and at 7pm they're fully booked but we were not going to make that anyway. At 8:30pm there should be space inside, or earlier but then outside. Well, first a shower and then we'll see. When we get to the shower we see people going into the dining room. We peak inside and tables are layed out, but not all of them. Wait....and there wasn't supposed to be dinner? Forget it, we sit down outside the bar close to 8 for a drink and when we see people leave we ask the girl serving. No problem, we can have a table inside where it's warm, busy, noisy and cosy.....and with the best tartiflette I had in years. Who needs the hut? |
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Download track CheBis.gpx