July 29, 2024

Refuge de Rosuel, 1.556

It’s 7:30 a.m. and I’m just finishing taking down my tent when Holger, a hiker I met at the Refuge de Balme and then at the Landry campsite, comes by. He suggests we walk together to Tignes. I still don’t know where I’m going today, I wanted to avoid Val d’Isère and take the GR55 variant via the Col de la Leisse the next day, but to do that I need a refuge that has room for a bivouac (only authorized in the vicinity of refuges). The Vanoise is complicated.

We begin the climb, the view is magnificent, several waterfalls on the rock.

We take our first break to admire the view, and are joined by another GR5 hiker, Gilles. The 3 of us spend a good part of the climb to the Col du Palet. We pass over a plateau, then a lake.

Col du Palet refuge, 2,600m

We stop at the refuge, I have a blueberry juice, and eat some bread and cheese. Here we go for the final short climb to the Col.

Col du Palet, 2.652m

We start the descent to Tignes, with beautiful little turquoise lakes.

We’re starting to see the lifts. It’s strange to see Tignes and these big hotel blocks in such beautiful countryside. I check my email and see that the Arpont refuge has a place free for the next day, great! I’ll be able to take the alpine route and avoid the ski resorts. So I’ll have to sleep around Tignes tonight. We meet up again with Gilles, who tells me he has a reservation for a hotel in Val Claret (near Tignes), gives me the contact details and I give them a call. Everything settled, off to the hotel, I’m sleeping in a real bed today!

Val Claret, 2.100m

Refuelling available

I take a little nap, then do a little shopping, and for dinner, it’s pizza!