Today we awoke to cloud and rain. We had breakfast, then caught the bus back to Chamonix and took the cable car back up to Plan Praz to continue the walk.
The weather was awful and we just walked with our heads down… pretty miserable! Luckily we haven’t had to climb too high today and much of the walk was on a balcony path with a gradual ascent.
We passed La Flegere, where the refuge and lift station were being renovated and, therefore, had been closed all summer. it was extremely wet underfoot, particularly where the streams crossed or flowed along the path. Map reading was a challenge in the rain!
About 2 hours later the path split. John, Ben and I took the main TMB path which went via a section of ladders down to the accommodation, Auberge la Boerne. The others went the longer but less steep way.
The ladders were the highlight of the day for us, even though the rain made them a bit more scary. My poncho was badly behaved, obscuring my view of the rungs. At one point I took it off and John threw it down to Ben while I descended the ladder.
By the time we got to the auberge, we were all absolutely soaked through and pleased to have hot showers and change into dry clothes. Thankfully the forecast is better for tomorrow. The auberge is cosy and rather quirky, and we’re sharing a 6-bed room for the final time. Poor Anne will be waking up with us all on her birthday!
Walk stats: 13 kilometres, ascent 610 metres, time 5 hours 2 minutes
Ramblings 
So much running water! We have had some serious droughts, so most of our little streams etc are dry, looking forward to our Spring rains to get them flowing again.
LikeLike
It’s never very dry in the UkK. Although we moan about rain, we really should be grateful for it!
LikeLike