Even Flow: Marmot Day

Today, Brian is in the kitchen.

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What is it with Brian being in the kitchen, you may ask? For your own edification, this sentence allegedly comes from an English textbook for students aged 11/12.

I never met anyone having learned English using such sentence, though. In France, it is commonly used in humour directed to the stereotype of French students arduously learning English.

Bottom line, it’s time to clean the rust off your knowledge of English. Nevertheless, Google is your friend, therefore:

Pour lire une traduction automatique en français, cliquez ici.

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Please note that if you click on any picture of the present post, you will see it in high resolution.

Anyhoo, let’s dive into our subject now.

Bo-Katan and I had planned that she would join me during my holidays with Grogu in France; we had also planned a night in a refuge with a nice hike on the following day.

Alas, Covid came and screwed things up. As a result, Bo-Katan had to stay home 😭

I went to the refuge anyway, with my parents, Grogu, and his cousin, for dinner; and for overnight alone there, and a hike on my own the next day.

Yes, hiking in the mountain without Bo-Katan, which you might argue is some rocky behavior from me. Let’s be honest though: I can’t summit up in words how much I missed her on that day.

The Refuge du Laisonnay (rough altitude 1600m) is reachable by car and is located in the heart of the Vanoise mountain range, just above a small resort called Champagny, in a small yet gorgeous valley.

So, dinner, with pork ribs, polenta, veggies and salad. As a dessert blueberry pie. So good it blue me away (please note this pun is the fruit of my labor).

Then everyone but me goes home. I have several ideas for the hike the next day; the manager recommends one which seems to be the best bang for my buck.

Around 9.30 PM I go to bed.

Next morning, I’m out of bed at 7AM, and I head to breakfast. As you can see on the pictures below, it’s definitely worth the candle.

And off I go.

I start the walk towards the Grande Casse summit, which is the highest point of the Vanoise mountain range. Only a part of the north face wall can be seen on the following picture, as the Aiguille de l’Epena is located just before it.

A few people are walking along, but I am mostly there on my own.

Perfect to spot some marmots and wild flowers.

I take a first break next to a chapel, and the view is breathtaking.

Also my breath is taken away because I live in the Netherlands all year long (actually not true, stated for the pun only: one night in a refuge is actually sufficient to produce enough red cells for such a hike).

Then more marmots.

Then I walk in the middle of a herd of grazing cows.

I keep on climbing, and just before the mountain pass that I intended to reach (col du Palet), a heart-shaped lake reminds me that one day I will take Bo-Katan to this place.

At the pass, I sit for a longer break. After a couple phone calls and a small lunch, I walk down for ten minutes to the Refuge du Col du Palet and I sit for a drink.

I then resume my walk: time to go back to the starting point, through another trail though. I walk down further, and after a lake, I start a short climb towards another pass, Col de la Grassaz.

At the pass the landscape is gorgeous. I like those mountains and glaciers around, that’s where I grew up. Truly, there’s snow place like home.

On the wall of the Grande Casse, next to the glacier there is a mountaineering route named Couloir des Italiens (Corridor of the Italians) which is of professional level.

I attempted the Grande Casse in 2002 with people from a local mountain club, but on the other side of the summit. We had to give up halfway because a thunderstorm was coming upon us. A peal of thunder could have peeled us off the glacier, you might think.

Climbing down I see some purple daisies (Alpine Aster).

And then marmots, and more marmots, I can see them by dozens. At some point I stop taking pictures or counting them, but I have probably seen more marmots than people today. Which is a good day for a hiker.

https://videopress.com/v/CENgAFHv?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Soon, next to the chapel, I find the trail back to the refuge. A few meters before reaching my car I spot an European adder on the trail. Poor thing is hurt and hardly moves.

I end my day with an orange soda, the bliss of a great hike, and the project of coming back with someone else ❤️

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• Ascent: 1289m
• Distance: 24,2km
• Max elevation: 2657m (col du Palet)

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Even flow
Thoughts arrive like butterflies

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Credits:

• https://giphy.com/gifs/hoppip-how-i-met-your-mother-barney-stinson-AWv3UAFkgz39u
• https://www.laisonnay.com/gite.html
• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refuge_du_Col_du_Palet
• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Casse