Montag, 13.Juli, Refuge Bellachat – Les Houches
The night at Refuge Bellachat (www.refuge-bellachat.com) was filled with snoring and heavy breathing of all the 24 hikers tired after a beautiful Sunday’s adventure. Some had to explore the outside toilet even 3 times during the night, but this effort was rewarded by a beautiful sight of the lights down in the valley.
Many of the group were keen on starting the day early, so they started getting ready already at 5:30 am. This was very smart, as there was only one toilet and one washing room. As I brushed my teeth on the terrace looking at the morning sunlight playing in the clouds around Mt. Blanc I thought “Es ist die beste Zähneputzen in meinem Leben”.
At 6:30 am all the coffee, tea and hot chocolate drinkers were ready for breakfast. We got bread, butter, nutella, honey and jams. Coffee was very watery, but it is indeed water that hikers need on a hot summer day. After a bit more queueing for the toilet we were all ready for the last descent.
The path went steeply down like a snake interrupted by a few rock walls secured with chains. The 13-hikers group extended all along the side of the mountain. The first seven decided to have a look at the Merlet Animal Park (www.parcdemerlet.com). The other 6 took a forest path around the park and headed towards the Statue de Christ-le-Roi, which watches over the village of Les Houches. Luckily we were able to connect the two subgroups by phone and regroup at the feet of Christ the King.
The remaining part of the path took us directly to the train station of Les Houches, where we found out that we got a bonus of 1 extra hour to enjoy the marvelous views before the train to Vallorcine would arrive.
Kamila