August 13, 2024

Refuge de Longon, 1.870m

A delicious breakfast awaits me when I wake up: good bread, a wide choice of jams, spreads, peanut butter, honeys and more, homemade butter and yoghurt, muesli. In short, a feast.

I also took advantage of being at the refuge to take a few photos of the profile of the variant (GR52) to go to Menton, which adds a few more days’ walking to my time, but I’m ahead of schedule.

I set off around 7.45am with a full belly.

A little further on I’m starting to get a signal and I’m looking at the weather forecast for the next few days. I realize that a good storm is coming, with lots of thunderstorms, starting the day after tomorrow and lasting about 5 days. I question my arrival in Menton because it’s not worth crossing the Mercantour in this weather, the region being known for its violent storms. I then realize that my arrival is so close if I go to Nice!

Rougios, 1.466m

Bivouac possible, stream nearby

About 50mn/1 hour downhill from the hut, we reach Rougios (the hut managers’ Vacherie). Ideal for bivouacking if you don’t want to spend the night at the refuge.

Roure, 1.100m

The descent continues through the village of Roure. Today it’s heatwave alert, and I can feel it quite early in the day. I stop off at the refuge for a coffee, before continuing on to Saint Sauveur sur Tinée.

Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée, 492m

I arrive at the end of the morning and stop off for another coffee and a supermarket lunch.

I set off again at around midday under a blazing sun, and now I have to climb 1,000m, at which point I hope to find some shade along the way. The air is extremely hot, and given the time of day I unfortunately have to climb in direct sunlight. I stop every 20/30 minutes and find it hard to bear the effort in this heat.

I break down as I climb, and start to cry, from the climb that’s too hard under the sun, from imagining that the adventure will be over in a few days, but also from realizing how much I’ve accomplished, how far I’ve come from Lake Geneva, and from imagining that moment when I’ll jump into the water in Nice and meet up with Gabriele. I hadn’t really taken a step back until then, and when you’re in it you feel like it’s going to last forever, you lose track of time. A lot of emotions on this difficult day of heatwave.

Rimplas, 981m

I take the opportunity of crossing the village to fill my water bottle and I’m careful to drink a lot. I descend a little to Bolline and then climb back up to Saint-Dalmas-Valdevlore. I continue the climb, with music on my headphones to motivate me to reach the top.

Saint Dalmas Valdeblore, 1.300m

The La Ferme campsite is full, so I head for the Municipal campsite, about ten minutes from the village, after stopping for a home-made ice cream on the terrace of the village café. Then I do a bit of shopping and go back to the campsite to make myself something to eat.