Monday 7 September 2020
| Distance (km) | 7 kms | |||
| Distance (time) | 3 hrs | |||
| Climb / Descent | 550 / 10m | |||
| Hard / Soft surface | 30% / 70% | |||
| Landscape |
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| Weather |
 27° 1 Bft
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The next part of the GR5 is a multi-day walk that most people seem to do in 3 days. However, with our experience on the climbs and especially the descends we decided to split it into 4 days with a short first day. Originally we planned to move the basecamp tent from Samoëns to Landry over the weekend and then on Monday take public transport to Les Contamines to start walking from there on Tuesday. However, first of all on Sunday it was cold and grey and we didn't feel like packing, driving and unpacking and secondly we just wanted to have another day of rest. So we decided to leave everything in Samoëns, park the car in Les Contamines, walk to Landy on Monday to Thursday and on Friday take public transport back to Les Contamines to pick up the car again. This also means that we don't have to start early on the first day, which is good because we have some things to solve first. On the Sunday I lost a small screw from my glasses so we first have to visit an optometrist to get it fixed, and on Monday optometrists seem to be either closed or starting late. But by 10am we find one open (in Cluses) and have my glasses repaired....so that we can now head for Les Contamines and park the car there. It's noon by the time we finally can start walking. From where we park the car (Pont de Loyers - the car park in the centre hosts the market on Tuesdays, so we couldn't park the car there for the week) it's a very gentle walk along the river to Notre Dame de la Gorge and that's good because we suffer from little pains here and there, like knees and neck, and an easy start is appreciated. At the chapel of ND de la Gorge we have a short break because we already saw that immediately after the chapel the easy path is gone: it goes up steeply over a very rocky path. The climb is tough but nice and passes even over a Roman bridge that we take some photos of. After 50-55 minutes we reach the first refuge, the Nant Borrant, that we were supposed to reach in 45 minutes so that is pretty good to our standards. This is not our refuge yet, that is supposed to be 1h15 further along the road. Shortly after passing Refuge Nant Borrant the forest opens up and in the distance we can see where we're heading: Refuge de la Balme. The path also flattens here and almost becomes a leasure walk in the park. Just before entering the forest once more it starts climbing again but soon we reach the refuge. This was for sure not 1h15 and actually we reached the refuge in exactly 3 hours after we left the car. First time that we really walk the amount of time as mentioned in the guide....we should write down the date. At the refuge we ask where the bivouac field is, which is unfortunately at quite a distance from the refuge. We also ask if we're allowed to pitch the tent already or that we should wait until 7pn (in nature reserves bivouac is only allowed between 7pm and 9am) but the friendly blond lady claims the bivouac area belongs to the refuge so we can pitch the tent. And so we head to the designated area, find ourselves a flat spot and pitch the tent. The tent is hardly up or a big pickup stops and a park ranger comes out. We are NOT allowed to already pitch the tent and he points out the sign saying bivouac is only allowed between 7pm and 9am. I explain that I'm aware of the rules in nature reserves but I explicitly asked the refuge and they say here it was fine. So we only get a warning under the conditions we put the tent down now. Ok, so I just take the poles out and flatten the tent while the park ranger leaves again. The plan was to pitch the tent, throw everything in and then have a drink at the refuge, but that plan is out of the window now. Since all our stuff is in the open now we take showers in turns, Lupita first. On return she says she complained with the lady that told us we can pitch the tent and the lady told her that is was very exceptional to see a park ranger here and if they do pass they usually don't care. So we were very unlucky. Ok...but....you said it was allowed to pitch the tent and now you say it was ok because nobody usually checks. That's not the same. More people arrive and we tell them about the police so they all decide to wait before installing the tent. After 5pm the sun has gone behind the mountains and it's getting cold, but everybody just remains sitting next to the luggage. Sicne dinner is at 6:30pm we cannot wait until 7pm, so at 6:15 I put the poles back in to raise the tent and also put in the beddings. This is the sign for everybody to pitch the tent so by 6:30 the bivouac area is full. Dinner takes less time than expected so we could have pitched the tent after dinner and still have light, but we're happy we didn't have to do that. |
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