After spending a day with Megan's family - playing with the kids, relaxing with a book, and babysitting the crew so Linda and Pierre could have a night on their own - we were ready to make our way back in the Alps.
We woke up early yesterday and set off on a two hour hike to Salanfe to join the Tour des Dents du Midi... a trail among some of the area's spectacular mountain scenery. Along the way, we passed the enormous waterfall that we visited on our first day here; we stopped at a small hut to get some lunch sandwiches; and we made our way up a rocky valley where we met quite a few mountain goats (too bad I didn't have any batteries in my camera :(). The journey to Salanfe was mostly uphill and quite sunny... by the time we arrived to the "town", all of us were ready for a break. Situated on Lake Salanfe, the town is more like a few lonely buildings than a town... it consists of a couple small huts, a "cabane" for through-hikers to stay overnight, and a lovely little church. We took off our packs, sat on the edge of the lake, and munched on our delicious (or amazing according to Cecily) sandwiches while taking in the scenery. Beyond the cool, blue lake, snow-capped mountains encircled us to our left and grassy slopes filled our views to the right. In the midst of our munching, we heard a loud, distant roar and looked up to see an enormous avalanche rip it's way down the snowy peaks (good thing we weren't going that way!!).
After a bit of a break, we continued onwards up the grassy slopes to the "Col du Jorat" at 2210 m. above sea level. Upon reaching the peak, we encountered a snow covered face on the other side (oh dear...). We began to descend through a bit of snow, thinking if we just get to that rocky bit the snow will end. Megan zoomed through the wet snow while Cecily and I took one careful step after another making sure not to zoom down the slippery mountain face on our butts into the valley far below. As soon as we got to a rocky safehaven we discovered that our hopes for the snowy slopes to end were not fulfilled... endless slippery slopes seemed to lay in our path. Cecily and I continued to creep along at a snail's pace with our heals dug into the mountain and our hands frozen in the snow to support oursleves as Mally went full speed ahead! We managed to get through the steep sections without falling on our bums too many times... and soon the slopes became more gradual so that we could walk through the snow without feeling like gravity wanted us to come quickly down the mountain... at this point, hiking through the snow became quite enjoyable. Megan perfected the run/shoe-ski technique while Cecily and I marched behind her through the snowey fluff... soon we were hoping the snow would never end. But, at last, we reached the rocky terrain below. Upon looking back up the slope, we wondered how we made it down this steep, snowy terrain... it sure didn't look passable from the bottom!
We continued down the rocky path towards the next town of Mex. Along the way, we encountered another furry Marmot, a couple rushing waterfalls, and splendind mountain scenery highlighted with bright sun and surrounded by clear skies. Upon reaching Mex, we filled up our water bottles and stopped in a cafe to refuel with rubarb tart and (of course) ice cream. We then followed the signs towards Chindonne, our final destination of the day.
The journey to Chindonne led us along dirt paths zigzagging through green forests; onto rocky mountainside trails guiding us under sprinkling waterfalls and across rushing streams; and into green meadows filled with wildflowers and views of rocky, snow-covered mountain sides striped with rivers and waterfalls. I wish we had a camera to capture some of these views, but much of our surroundings left such an impression that my memory with be stamped with these sights for years to come.
Upon arriving to Chindonne, our bodies were exhausted and our feet couldn't wait to get out of our hiking boots. Only a "Cabane" stood at Chindonne - a rather new looking log cabin situated on the side of the mountain with horses in the nearby pasture and views overlooking small towns in the valley below and rocky peaks out in the distance. We asked for a room in the little bit of french we could remember and discovered that our hosts had an English speaking son to make life a bit easy on us (He also spoke German, French, and Italian... he and Cecily chatted away in Italiano). We took our bags up to our bunks (which we had all to ourselves... in fact, we were the only guests that night), changed into some warm clothes, and headed downstairs for some food. We all shared a few local recommendations for dinner... which featured large quantities of different cheeses (delicious, but very filling.. ugh). After relieving our hunger, I quickly made my way to bed while Cecily and Megan enjoyed a bit of reading out in the mountain air.
The next morning, we awoke early to grey ominous skies. We dressed for the day, packed our bags, and headed downstairs where breakfast was laid out in a beautiful spread awaiting our arrival. After eating and saying "Au revoir" to our hosts we joined the trails and headed upwards again into the mountains. At first we enjoyed the cool change of weather with grey skies highlighting the grandeur of surrounding rocky peaks. We forged our way across gushing rivers, around the last remaining wisps of snow, and along grass-covered meadows. We talked about life goals, tried to learn some Italian from Cecily, and reminisced upon old times... another enjoyable start to a day of walking.
Unfortunately, the rain began to come down and the winds started chilling us to the bones... we took a wrong turn that started leading us downhill a bit early, but instead of backtracking back up the mountain, we continued on to the town below where we would meet a train to take us back to warmth a little sooner. On our way down, we sang songs... Mally broke out a bit of the Beatles, Cecily and I came up with a few Wizard of Oz tunes, and then we all tried remembering our Disney favorites. Soon the rain stopped, the mountain winds eased, and we grew warmer and warmer on the descent.
We soon reached Val D'Illez - enlivened by the refreshing scenery of our journey, relieved to be off our feet, and happy to be headed back to the cozy home of Megan's welcoming family.
