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| A ridiculous and never-to-be-repeated 2400m ascent, 1800m descent, 16.3 miles |
A bit traumatised from day 2. I’m writing this at the end of day 3, as day 2 was so long and exhausting that there wasn’t much time for anything on arrival. Basically the guidebook had got the timing all wrong and it took 12.5 hours, of which 11 hours and 40 minutes was moving time. We set off at 7.30, spent half an hour on a wrong turning (easily done) so really set off properly at 8. We arrived at the refuge at 8pm, after dinner was all finished, but fortunately they gave us some charcuterie and soup. There was a huge climb up to the Col du Cougourd and a steep walk down the other side. It was obvious on the up-slope that my cardiovascular fitness was is not as good as Esther’s and Elizabeth’s as I spent a lot of it with my heart pounding out of my chest and trying to catch my breath. Altitude probably made it worse, and the 8kg rucksack. Got to Refuge de la Madonna de Fenestre at 3 o’clock, by which time I was quite exhausted. Decided to crack on to get to Refuge des Merveilles rather than changing the plan and stopping there. Unfortunately the leg from there was a bit of an ordeal for me as I was really knackered and it took another 4 hours, including another big, steep up and down. Have never been so pleased to arrive anywhere! Fortunately though, we had enough water and snacks to get us there. There was the obligatory steep up-slope to the refuge which practically finished me off. And even after all that I couldn't get to sleep, as per usual.
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| Saw quite a few of these mountain goats |
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| A lot of it was like this - what they call “technical”. |
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| Thank gawd! |
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| Still that final little slope at the end to get into the refuge |
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