July 30, 2024

Val Claret ( Tignes), 2,080m

After a restful night in a real bed and a good breakfast, I set off around 7:30am for a long day’s walking.

We start the climb to the Col de la Leisse with Holgar and Gilles. You soon lose sight of Tignes and feel immersed in nature once again. Behind us, Mont Blanc and the whole massif are completely clear.

Col de la Leisse, 2.758m

We then start the descent to the Refuge de la Leisse, just over an hour from the pass. It feels a bit like Mars in places.

Refuge de la Leisse, 2.487m

A cute little refuge (rare in the Vanoise), we stop for a coffee at 11am. I ask the hut keeper how much time I have left to walk to the Arpont hut and he tells me 7 hours. I didn’t think it was that far, so I hurriedly finished my coffee and told Gilles and Holgar that I had to retrace my steps to try and get there before the thunderstorms forecast for late afternoon (they followed the GR55 to Modane, but I chose to take the GR5 to Arpont).

The descent is magical, the scenery incredible.

Croe Vie bridge, 2,099m

The trace on my GPX tells me to keep going straight on, and the sign marks the refuge d’Arpont at 4 o’clock by turning right over the bridge. There’s no network and I’ve only downloaded the maps around my GPX track, so to be on the safe side, I prefer to follow the path whose map I have on the phone.

Clearly it was a mistake and I took a forty-minute detour (the Grande Traversée des Alpes website is not always up to scratch).

Here we go again, it’s very hot, dry climbing and I’ve got less than half a liter of water left. I look at the map and see that a stream runs along the road ahead. But when I got to it, I saw that it was dry. I see a couple going down in the other direction, and I ask them if there are any rivers on the way to Arpont and they tell me that after the Lake, which is an hour’s walk away, there are rivers and waterfalls, phew! I eat an apple to quench my thirst while I wait.

I first discover this magnificent view of the glaciers, before catching a glimpse of the lake a little further down.

Lac des Lozières, 2,479m

A first lake, then a second smaller one next to it.

As we descend further, it’s a sight to see all the rivers and streams flowing directly down from the glacier just above. I can finally drink!

After crossing several rivers and streams, I continue towards the Arpont hut along a mountainside path.

Refuge d’Arpont, 2,309m

I finally arrive at the refuge after a long day. The clouds are coming, but the storm is not yet here.

I wasn’t expecting such a big refuge in the middle of nowhere, you can see that we’re at the crossroads of many hikes. There are very few flat spots to pitch a tent, and it’s already very crowded. I don’t recommend this refuge if you can avoid it, but unfortunately there are too few to continue to the next one, which is still a long way from this one.

I’m tired and pitch my tent in front of the refuge (bivouacs are only allowed near refuges and by reservation in the Vanoise).

Around 8.30pm the rain starts, getting heavier and heavier, followed by a storm that lasts a good 2 hours right over our heads. The next morning, several people were sleeping on the floor of the refuge’s hors sac room, and some of the tents must have taken on water.

I stayed dry in my tent but didn’t fall asleep until after the storm had passed. The next day the storm is forecast for 1pm again, so I set my alarm for 5.15am to try and finish the stage before it arrives.