Col De Balme Refuge Hike And A Rest Day

 6/21/23

This morning we had a private van that took us to the village of Le Tour to begin our hike. Susan stayed back today to rest her knee so just Ann Marie and I joined our group.  

Our destination was the Col De Balme Refuge by way of the Posettes Pass. We hiked up the mountains today through some woods before coming out into the mountain pastures where there were views of the iconic needles of the Mont Blanc massif, stretching from the Aiguille du Tour through the Drus and the famous Aiguille du Midi.

The mountain views did not disappoint!

It was a sweaty hike up 2300 ft. I was so glad I packed tank tops.

 The flowers we saw were the most colorful and bright of the whole trip.



We were able to see across to Switzerland and the magnificent Emosson Dam right before we stopped for lunch at the top. 

We ran into a chilly rainstorm and needed to add some layers.


Quite a bit of snow at the highest elevation; we watched some through hikers cross the snow field.

My legs were feeling the stress of 2 hikes in a row, so after climbing halfway down, Bene' gave us the option of riding a gondola down. Ann Marie and I decided that was the way to go, so we rode down in 5 minutes then had a beer in the pub while we waited for the others to hike down before we found our transport back to the hotel. 

Rest Day 6/22/23

Our rest day had the worst weather of the trip - cloudy and rainy with an afternoon thunderstorm. We wanted to take the Gondola over Mt Blanc into Italy, but by the 9 am opening time, they closed the gondola due to 120 mph winds at the top. Our plans to add Italy were dashed and our spirits dejected, when I decided a bike ride would make me happy. Susan and I opted to bike while Ann Marie went on a solo walk to the next town. We only managed to get a 10 mile ride in before the weather got too dicey to continue.

Susan matched the building.



 I took a nap afterwards and was woken up by the most violent thunderstorm I've seen in a long time. The wind was blowing the trees nearly horizontal and the rain was sideways as well. I was glad to be inside, but Susan was not so lucky and got soaked and blown around as she was out shopping when it hit. Our day ended with the usual drinks, dinner, and then a walk about town as a music festival was starting - the town was gearing up for the Mont Blanc Marathon weekend which brought even more people into town.



Comments

  1. MargaretJuly 8, 2023 at 6:01 PM

    That's a shame about the bad weather but it sounds like you made the best of it. What gorgeous scenery!

    ReplyDelete

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