Today's itinerary: Descend to Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, then contour across to the Col du Bonhomme. We have
now reached the southwest corner of the circuit and turn north to climb once again. Today is a longer day; first we make a steep climb to the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme (2478m – 8130ft) and then contour around to the Col du Bonhomme (2328m – 7640ft). We then descend (again on a Roman road) to Les Contamines (1180m - 5900ft). A short bus ride down the valley takes us to the pretty village of St Gervais, the perfect place for a day off. 8.5 hours walking time including breaks and lunch etc. 930m – 3050ft up, 1340m – 4400ft down.
It was a day of mis-information. We were on a schedule in order to catch the bus at the end of the day and avoid a 2 hour wait and issues with dinner timing. A decision was taken to skip lunch making and bring the makings with us to save time. This resulted in some taking several more pounds in their packs which created hardship for some. Turns out the schedule had changed and we didn't need to rush in the morning. The day was 13 miles long, longer than expected because the bus from Notre Dame de la Gorge to St. Gervais was no longer running. Would have been nice to have had some information about that, but we just were marched into the town Alles Conamines from which we took the bus to St. Gervais. This bus left 30 minutes later than expected and we could have avoided lugging the extra poundage.
It was a two Col day and I was expecting something much more difficult. The climb to Col 1 was a good hike. As we walked up to the first Col we walked by mules and Lisa fed one of them some of the heavy apples we were carrying. When we got to the top of the Col there was a place for coffee and cake called the Refuge de la Croix due Bonhomme and a welcome surprise of a herd of ibex - the first, and only, we saw on the trip. How exciting!
On the way down we had some scrambling. Unfortunately my GoPro wasn't online (frustrating). The scrambling wasn't too bad and we crossed one river. Luckily no one was hurt, but Anne did slip and scraped herself after she took a picture.
There was a nice surprise that the second col was lower than the first one. The only snow we saw on our trip was today. It was by the side of the trail and I had to detour over to walk through it. As we walked down I kept hearing marmots, but couldn't see any. Shaun pointed out two on a rock when we stopped for another snack at the Refuge de la Balme.
After this snack we continued down to the national park and on to Notre Dame de la Gorge for a sit down and an ice cream.
While we waited the 30 minutes for the bus Lisa and Vena went grocery shopping. I walked down the street to find Peter and Kerrie having a beer and I joined them.
The weather was wonderful again - how lucky we have been!
Our hotel was called L'Hotel Val Joli where we had dinner. Dinner was wonderful: air dried beef/salad, Tartiflette and panacotta. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos because I was too busy eating! Our room was at the end of the hall, next to the owner's rooms. We had a nice balcony which we didn't have to share. We're here for two nights and tomorrow is our second free day.
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