We took the 2 cable cars from Le Châble to Les Ruinettes. The cloud was low in the valley but the sun was shining. We set off uphill along a road and then turned off onto a beautiful little path following a babbling stream. The views were fantastic, back down into the valley and over to snowcapped mountains.
We passed under some ski lifts, heading to Cabane de Montfort perched on a rocky ledge above us. There was a 3-day mountain biking event going on and we could see the riders heading off down the narrow tracks from Cabane de Montfort and hear their shouts. Rather them than me!
After a coffee and a croissant at the mountain cabin, we set off again. We had to take a detour, which was a little bit longer and a little bit higher, to avoid walking down the the track that the mountain bike riders were flying down! Shortly afterwards, we left the road we were following and headed off on a narrow rocky track, contouring around the mountain, and gradually getting higher and higher.
The trail was quite steep in places, so we were breathing heavily, and were glad to turn the corner at the at the end of the mountain into a different valley. From here the gradient was a little less. There were now different views below us or there would’ve been if they weren’t hidden by the cloud! I quite liked the eerie feeling of the cloud swirling around us.
It was a beautiful balcony path, with a drop to our right, and stunning wild flowers. Where the drops were particularly steep, there were chains for support.
As we were crossing a boulder field John spotted a chamois on a rock. As we stood watching it, 5 or 6 more appeared including young ones. They gradually made their way down the hillside where they felt safer. We were delighted to see them.
At this point, the cloud cleared and we could see all the way back down the valley to Le Chable where we started this morning but, ahead of us, the Mont Blanc massive was still shrouded in cloud.
After stopping for lunch, we soon reached Col de Termin, rewarded with stunning views down into yet another valley. After the obligatory selfie on the top, we turned off the main path to take a path down to Cabanne de Louvie, where we’ll be spending the night. It was mostly downhill from here. Hooray!
The path zigzagged quite steeply down through jagged rocks on the mountain. The lake was on the opposite side of the mountain but we kept catching tantalising glimpses of its beautiful turquoise green water. Finally the hut came into view and we started the final part of the descent through more wonderful wildflowers to the lake.
As we explored some traditional Swiss huts at the end of the lake, a huge dog appeared without a human. It scared me for a while, but turned out to be friendly. We thought it must be from Cabanne de Louvie but, once we got there we discovered it wasn’t… it appears to be lost 😢
We were first to arrive at the hut so, after being shown to our cute little 2-bed room, we quickly got showers. Lots more people are arriving now and the larger dormitories will soon be full.
The weather forecast isn’t good for tomorrow so we may not be able to do our planned route. We do have an escape option, and will decide what to do in the morning.
Ramblings 
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