From Auberge Le Truc to refuge Col du Croix de Bonhomme
I wake up to another clear, beautiful day. It's even hotter than yesterday, but not too bad. After a short breakfast I head out, it's a bit after 07:00 and I'm eager to close yesterday's gap. It's an uneventful hour downhill to Les Contemines, where I look for a restroom (it's next to the church) and wait for the supermarket to open. By the time I finish, I see that the shuttle bus to the Notre Dam church is still in operation (as it's the end of summer, services all around are winding down), so I wait 10 minutes and board it. It's just me and three other hikers, all French, it turns out.
Then in the next stop an older gentleman boards, and he looks exactly, but exactly, like a cliche of a French hobo. And he smells like one. He has on a ratty sweater with holes, a leather hiking backpack from the fifties and a bulbous nose indicating many years of drinking. He really does smell bad. And he chooses to sit next to me and chat. As cliches go, he is spot on, as he A-Speaks no English and B-doesn't care that I do not speak French. He uses the only other women on the bus as a translator, offering to join me on the hike. My limited French does tell me that the women is trying to gently convince him to stop. I'm afraid he is going in my direction, but happy to see him get off the bus at an earlier stop. This is the only time on the trail where I felt even slightly uncomfortable or afraid, but it's a good reminder that as a women, you are never really far away from unwanted attention.
I snap a few photos at the church but i'm in a hurry to start the ascent. I'm far from being alone, but very quickly people pass me by. This is where I first meet the guys I think of as my Irish gentlemen - two older Irish men who's names I will not learn, but who I will see on the trail on and off till the end.
And it's up. and up. First on an ancient Roman road, passing a roman bridge (still standing!), then a winding gravel path, passing Refuge Nant Borant and then Chalet de la Balme , where I stop to get some apple juice. Strange thing - apple juice - I only drink it in huts. Maybe it's the sugar?
At the junction to Lacs Jovet (a popular side trail) I stop to eat something. I'm still not hungry, which is unsettling. And the moment the ascent starts, I struggle again. I notice that I struggle with lifting my shoulders when I breath, so clearly my lungs are not getting enough air. But why only on ascents? am I so out of shape? for the first time in my life I started running before this trip, so wtf? I see all the long legged, fit women walk past me, and I'm devastated. But the only way is up, and I will make it there. At least it's not raining, or foggy, or too cold or too hot. 1-2-3, rest, 1-2-3-4-5, rest. I give myself goals - reach that strange looking rock and then you can rest. Do 10 steps and then stop.
The day is still beautiful and hot and the sun is shining. I progress up the path, slowly, walking past people, but mostly people walking past me. I have a bed reserved for the night, so that's a worry off my list.
I make it to the first pass of the day - Col de Bonhomme (who was this "good man" and why did he get a mountain pass named after him? I make a mental note to check). It's cold and windy and it's time to take the warm gear out. There is even a small bad-weather shelter here. Fog is drifting in, and I decline an invite from a group of young Israelis to join them for coffee and decide to push on (how to recognize Israelis on the trails? they have a coffee kit, cooking dark coffee on a portable stove). The fog is making it difficult to see the rocky path. It's beautiful and slightly eerie.
Out of the fog appears a man. It's half of the Israeli couple I met earlier in the day - he is a fast hiker, she is less so, and they are experienced travellers. He is frantic - he can't find his wife. I offer my help in the search, but he is already on his way, running along the path.
I swear there's a path in here somewhere
In a few minutes I make it to the next pass - Col du Croix de Bonhomme. By now the fog is thick. I know the hut should be here somewhere, but all I see is paths starting in different directions. Luckily as the fog moves I spot the hut down below me, before the fog covers it again. It's cold and windy and i'm happy to have found it. It's 16:00 and yet again i'm mentally exhausted, though physically I'm ok.
The hut in a moment of clarity
Refuge Col du Croix de Bonhomme is isolated, with only a mule path down to the village below. It operates on solar panels, so hot water is a matter of how sunny the day is. As I arrive I get a shower token, enough for a few minutes. I join the line, only to discover I lucked out, and the showers are just opening for use. I have hot water! The hut is full tonight, as it probably was most of the season. It's too cold to sit on the impressive balcony, so everyone's inside, waiting for dinner. The food is ok, portions are big, and i'm constantly impressed by the technicalities of running such a big hut in an isolated location. IAs with many huts, there are no trash bins available - what you bring in you take out. I'm told that every day a crew member makes the hike down with the communal trash!
After dinner the staff puts candles on the table - there will be no electricity until morning. Lights out, like in most huts, at ten. I wake up in the middle of the night to use the loo, and it's pitch dark, eerie and romantic at the same time. Thank god for head lamps.
Oh, and did I mention the mountain goats? they showed up just before I went to bed, in the distance. I couldn't capture them of film, but finally, wild animals !
Pro tip: Towards the end of the summer vacation at the end of August, tourist services in the Alps wind down as well - buses, shuttles, cable cars all have limited to no operations in September. If you are planning a hike in these areas at these times (or early in the season - late June and early July) check with the local authorities for specific dates of operation.
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