The heart got its first workout of the day as we started to climb up the roman road by the church. The climb was slow and steady and we stopped for a break at the Refuge Nant Borant - strangely it was no surprise that Laurence picked chantilly and nutella waffles!
After a flattish patch in the valley passing fully laden mules, we headed up, up, up to the Col du Bonhomme. Just below the col we crossed our first 200m or so of snow in a north facing valley. Hoping that is wasn't a sign of things to come, we pressed on, taking short breaks when I felt the need to get my heart rate down, and after a long climb at 2329m we reached the top.
We rested for a while absorbing the view but too soon started to feel chilled in the wind so we headed on up to our final Col for the day, the Croix du Bonhomme at 2483m.
Very happy and satisfied, we headed down to our refuge for the night. Believe me, my feet were also pretty happy to see the hut just below the col.
The really good news was that the hut was full and we had a booking; the bad news was that the spring had run dry and there were no showers and one small hand basin between 100 people! Luckily they had Leffe on draft and that seemed to mask the smell of unwashed bodies quite nicely.
We were sharing a 6 bed dorm with three interesting, retired American ladies who were members of the Oregan mountaineering club. One made the very natural mistake of thinking our family was a father hiking with his son and daughter!!! Made my day, although I have to admit it wasn't very light in the room.
Later that evening, in the safety of the hut with a glass of the Savoie red, we watched a storm approach from Les Chapieux, thunder and lightening followed by hail and snow. Some people camping just over the hill ran to the hut for shelter as the cloud closed us in for the night.
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Location:Refuge Col de la Croix du Bonhomme
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