Refuge d’Auchois to Refuge de l’Arpont – Sometimes You Need to Go Down

Today was to be another very long day, and our sleep on the dining room floor was interrupted by people milling around making breakfast. We got up, broke fast and expressed our gratitude to the nice group who had fed and watered us the night before.

The sun was coming up, but was still behind the mountains in the east. We were heading towards the end of the valley, where it drops down to reservoirs below.

My cold was still in its prime, but I felt in slightly better shape than yesterday. And grateful for the brilliant weather. Looking back our Refuge for last night was still shaded from the golden sunshine.

How lucky are we to be able to walk and climb over these spectacular mountains in this spectacular weather. A much bigger valley cut across the end of our valley, so we rose up to the left and started to climb along the side of the new valley. Stopping to rest in the sun by a winter ski resort which was undergoing routine maintenance and some refurbishment.

Apart from these tiny areas of construction there is nothing. No animals, no people, not many birds and a deep silence.

As we took a water and rest break two paragliders marched up with small rucksacks and produced their huge paras from them.

On we plodded and it was going to be another 22kms day and a hefty climb. With steep slopes and very narrow ledges of footpath to entrust your safety to. Thank Christ it was dry.

The track turned left again and wound higher and higher as we headed up the high side of another valley. As we looked down I could see a village round about four thousand feet below us.

I had a signal on my phone and found a cheap hotel with a vacant twin room for the night. I mentioned it to Danny and we pulled out the map. Two consecutive nights of sleeping on the floor in a wooden hut made a third night less appealing. The thought of a meal being cooked for us, a proper bed and a glass of wine were overwhelmingly attractive. But we had to follow our path upwards, almost to the Refuge de l’Arpont before we could start to descend on a narrow track. Then there would be nearly a five thousand foot drop down to the village. Then we would have to climb back up again tomorrow.

Let’s go!

Our route would take us along the mountainside opposite before our descent.

And it was harsh, but we were motivated and kept a pace. The path wound in and out of little gullies in the mountainside and we knew that our downwards route would start shortly after one of the deeper gullies with a substantial stream flowing down it.

At last we crossed the flowing stream, climbed a hundred feet diagonally across the hillside and spotted a slight path.

It was difficult to follow as the drop was steep and the path hadn’t been trodden for some while. But as we descended we knew that it would turn back below the way we had come and would recross the raging stream on a bridge.

We found it. However, someone had destroyed the bridge. There was just a chasm. Looking downstream there was no chance, and if we didn’t stick to the path we could be in serious trouble in this landscape.

Climbing down the gully wall and following the torrent uphill we found a place where we could cross. Someone had put a makeshift wooden plank bridge but it was too slippy and dodgy so we crossed on boulders. Half stepping and half leaping across.

On the far side the bank was if anything even steeper, but there was a tree which was growing out of the side of the gully and we could reach its branches. With all our strength we pulled ourselves up from branch to branch until we were high enough to reach over onto level ground.

We scrambled down the rock face below, careful not to slip back towards the chasm, and finally found the path again. Looking back we breathed sighs of relief.

From then on we were like soldiers, piling on downhill and reaching the village in just an hour and a half.

Hooraaay!!

Proper beer, proper magret de canard, proper red wine, proper shower, proper bed, proper sleep.

Night night.