Start: St. Rhemey en Bosess/Finish: Rifugio Frassati , 10.7, +1021, -107
When planning this trip it was very important to me to spend my birthday in a rifugio, rather than a hotel. If it has to be my birthday, I might as well spend it somewhere nice. Something about Rifugio Frassati draw my attention and turned me on. Perhaps it's the modern building that somehow fits so well into its surrounding, at least in the photos. So the decision has been made - my birthday will be spent at Frassati.
I wake up with a stomach ache, the rich diet of dinner catching up with. Originally I planned to take the 10am bus to the St Bernard pass, but the local forecast predicts rain all afternoon, and the late start together with the fact the trail from St. Bernard includes three mountain passes means I sadly give up this plan, not before telling myself I will regret not going to the pass.
But we live to regret, so I stand by my decision.
The trail crosses the river and down on the other side, before long taking a right turn and walking between the villages. Yesterday I saw a giant, strange looking structure from far way, looking like a massive, kilometres-long car park. As the trail takes me below it, I realise it is the road into the St. Bernard tunnel, covered to minimise road closures due to avalanches and heavy snow fall.
Today's hike is mostly up, but there is nothing dramatic about it. The trail climbs up in a gentle gradient across several km in an open meadow. Reaching an active farm, I wade through the mud to cross a few streams. For a moment the hut is revealed above, but then the trail takes a turns and it disappears from view. Now the gradient is sharper, and as promised, the sky turns dark and it starts raining. Nothing heavy, the kind of rains where you debate whether to stop and put on the backpack's rain cover. By now I'm close to the hut, but i'm exhausted, with this morning's stomach ache turning into full blown nausea. The last 20 minutes are a struggle, but the rain waits for me to reach the hut before moving from drizzle to full blown downpour.
The hut is built next to a small lake, with view of the valley below. It is operated by volunteers, and i'm welcomed by a group of them. They look to be in high school, or perhaps university students, with an older man supervising the kitchen. There are also young children around, with a girl leading a group in a game pretending to run a hut. She has the other children play guests, and pretends to look at a reservation book to confirm they indeed have a bed.
Rifugio Frassati, it's modern exterior working surprisingly well with its surroundings
Again I'm asked for my Green Pass, and am taken to the second floor, to a room i'll be sharing with two other women. They have a problem, so there's no water for a shower today. Oh, well, I can live with that.
It's unfortunately too windy to sit outside, so I park myself inside with a book. I can't help but turn on my phone to read birthday greetings. They set the fire going, and inside it's nice and warm.
A women suddenly asks me if I'm French, and answering her I'm not, we strike a conversation. She is French, from Paris, here with her partner, and they are my roommates for the night. Ann is chatty and intelligent and the conversation is flowing and funny and interesting, with her partner Ann-Marie joining in sporadically.
We have dinner together, and when Ann mentions they turn off electricity at night, I rush upstairs to charge my phone. This is why, when they turn off the lights and take out a cake with a single candle, I don't have my phone with me to document this lovely moment, when a bunch of strangers make the effort of making me happy on my birthday. Even the children come downstairs in their flannel pyjamas to take part. There is a moment of smiles when they reach the "dear XXX" part of the song and realise they don't know my name. But it really doesn't matter. It's lovely, just lovely.
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