We got up early to warm clothing (planning on the cold wind at the station) and headed off to Les Gaillards (the climbing wall) where we left our car and walked the rest of the way to the cable car station. (Parking in this area is free for 24 hours!!)
Ben and I considered what to do next. We didn't really see the point in going only to Plan de l’Aiguille. Its only at 2,8 km altitude. No point in going only there and not to the top. After some thinking we decided to find another via ferrata, this time a relatively easy one, with a fabulous scenery, Via ferrata des Evettes, which is located on the opposite side of Chamonix valley.
We walked back to the car and drove to La Praz, another cable car station. By this time it was already just short of midday and we decided to have lunch before beginning our physical activities again.
We made dinner on the storm kitchen right there next to the parking lot, before buying tickets for the cable car. The cable car station would close at 17:00 according to the information. It was already getting late and we weren't sure about how we would be able to keep that time table. This lift route had two levels. The ferrata is located at the lower lever, Le Flegère. We decided to go to the highest point first, L'Index, where Ben had found a multi-pitch on a climbing website. We had brought our newer rope, a thin one, and climbing shoes with us this time.
L'Index was a very quiet and peaceful place. When we arrived the stillness was almost palpable. People were sitting at a table having something to eat. Others were sitting in the sun, next to the lift station, just enjoying the sun. In the distance we could see people climbing a rock wall. A gravel road led to the opposite direction towards a small pond of rain water. Everything was rock, gravel and smallish boulders.
We headed off along the road toward the multi-pitch site and had to do some scrambling over loose rocks with our backpacks (Ben's being quite heavy this time due to the rope and quick-draws). We also stopped at some snow and threw a couple of snowballs at each other. In the summer heat ;)
We found the site and Ben set off doing the first pitch using double rope (since it was thinner in diameter than the actual climbing rope). The rock was fun to climb, the route started in a slight leftward ascent to the anchor. I was standing down below belaying him and getting really affected by the stillness of the place and started day dreaming of hammocks and such. Luckily he got to the anchor relatively quickly and I could start climbing. I'm amazed by how good the climbing shoes are on real rock. Feels like I could walk up a straight vertical. Ben agrees that the rubber in the soles is quite efficient on rock. The sun was warm, but the wind a bit chilly.
Ben had left his jacket on the ground so I brought his and mine with me up, clasping a carabiner onto them. Climbing with two wind jackets making a sail that tries to fold in under your shoes makes for an interesting challenge. I got up, though and Ben continues with the next pitch. This one was quite long and by this time we didn't have very much time left before the final ride down from L'Index to Le Flegère was due. Ben didn't reach the anchor, but decided instead to rappel down as far as the rope would go. I went down after him. We gathered our gear and hurried off to the station.
As we got back to Le Flegère we saw a really long line queuing to the cable car. The last car was supposed to leave at 17:00 and no way they would all make it. We sat down at the kiosk and had a coffee and something small to eat and observed all the people. 17-o'clock came and went and the cable car kept on going. Probably the official hour is set just to make people head down in time.
We started off towards the via ferrata and after a few minutes we arrived at the first rhododendron bushes I've seen. I wanted to take a picture, but suddenly I couldn't find my phone! I checked all my pockets and the backpack, but it was nowhere to be found. OMG!!! I rushed back to the kiosk (up the shortest way, which was quite steep) and was completely out of breath when I got back. There was nothing on our table or the ground. And we'd only been gone for a few minutes. I asked the cashier in the kiosk and to my surprise they had a phone there! My phone!! Phew!
So back to the rhododendron and the trail to the ferrata. It was a 20 minute walk to the start. The view was just fantastic, we had Mt Blanc behind us and the higher up we got, the more we could see of Mere de Glace, the largest glacier in these mountains. The route was AD (medium difficulty), with lots of metal bars, but it went straight up for the most part, so it was a bit strenuous, at least with a heavy backpack. Ben did as usual and went part of the way just holding on to the rock and skipping the handholds.
These rocks were very much fun and had lots of climbing potential and indeed we did pass a bolted route at one point. We got some really great pictures from our vantage point, having Mt Blanc behind us. At the highest point we crossed a Nepalese bridge, that was quite long and bouncy. Super much fun. The highest point in the ferrata was 2050 m, an ascent of 150 m, so pretty easy. There was another via ferrata starting at the ending point of this one, but we decided to skip that one today.
When we got back to Le Flegère it was totally deserted. We had planned on missing the final cable car, and instead started off down a ski slope on foot. The time was just about 19:15. The descent was long and just a tad arduous. By the time we got down to "ground level" we had been walking for 1,5 hours and full darkness had just about descended. Lucky for us, we hadn't brought our headlights for this excursion, so a nightly walk on the forest slopes of La Praz would've been a frustrating and dangerous challenge. By the time we got to the car our feet were complaining (loudly - aaaAAArrGGhhh).
We were hungry and tired as we drove back to Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains for the last time. When we got there we remembered that we had no breakfast left and hardly any dinner. We decided to be normal people and go out into town for something, but alas, this was a very small town. Every place except for one - a pub-club-thing, was closing for the evening. After a futile effort to find a place without disco music, we ended up back there. Ben had a chicken wrap and I had some nachos with guacamole.. Oh and of course, our post-ferrata drinks, a beer for him and wine for me.
We fell asleep in no time when we got back to the hostel - after joking and laughing about our horrible sleeping bag liners - they are SOOO SMALL!! sleeping in them is torture!!!!
But all in all a great day
No comments:
Post a Comment