If and when

 

Those two words are very significant. When someone says IF you finish as apposed to WHEN you finish it makes a great deal of difference.

 

In a moment of madness we signed up for the LL50 2015. My partner, Richard and I had been running for about 2.5 years and my niece, Cecily had completed the LL50 in the summer. She inspired us to get involved.

We would not run as a duo, we would go and do our own thing. I got straight into training and based on the training I had done for the Grizedale marathon and the Scafell marathon, I just upped the mileage and chucked in a few more runs. I wasn’t out to break any records, just finishing would be an achievement. I needed to know where I was with regard to the distance and so entered Ennerdale 50k and Tour de Helvellyn. Ennerdale 50k ended miserably with me dropping out at the half way stage. I had run with a bad hip from about mile 8. Tour de Helvellyn saw me drop at Martindale Church with runners lean. At least I had managed about 34 miles. I always take the positives.

After Christmas 2014, I did a few little training runs and gradually built up my distance. By February I was doing about 25 miles a week. I entered a few 10k races to keep the legs going. I had to have an eye op in March and had two weeks off. In April I did the Kentmere Ramble, got lost and ended up doing 25 miles. This was looking good now. In May I ran the Howgills marathon and although I found it tough I survived.

 

May saw me do the Pooley Bridge to Ambleside reccie. It went well and I was relieved that I could at least run to Ambleside. I entered the Lakeland Trails Coniston marathon a week later and stormed my PB. This was all encouraging. A week later I joined some friends and travelled to Mizuno Endure 24. We ran in teams and I found it totally awesome, running through the night and completing lap after lap.

I was concerned that my pace was so slow and I really needed to do more speed work, but I just love to run and if I have to put too much effort in I lose that love. However I entered the Whinlatter 5 in July and came home 7/32 females. Well, I can’t be that bad I thought!

 

So, July 24^th arrived and as we live in Kendal, we had decided to catch the bus to Coniston that day, stay 3 nights in the Black Bull and then return on the bus on the Monday morning. My niece, Cecily had entered the LL100 and we would wave her off.  The atmosphere was electric. I walked up to Miners Bridge to get a better view of the runners coming up the track. Then when they had passed I trotted back down to the hotel. We had a lovely room. I had already enquired about porridge for breakfast and asked what time breakfast would be served. 8.30am. No, that was the time for the pre-race briefing, before we catch the bus to Dalemain for the start of our race. They would not waiver on this, so we went to the School hall for breakfast, where unfortunately they did not have porridge either. I had two croissants, one of which I just couldn’t eat. Not great fuelling.

Soon we piled on the coaches to Dalemain. Nerves were jangling a wee bit now. As soon as we reached Dalemain I made a beeline for the loos. Of course there was a queue. Ten minutes later I was done and sat on the grass in the sun to change out of my skinny jeans into my running shorts. It was inspirational watching the LL100 runners coming through the checkpoint and I wondered where Cecily would be. Our friend Stephen Braithwaite told us she had gone through Dalemain earlier and I knew then she would reach the finish well before me. I had a Chia bar and water and settled down. I had lost Richard in the crowds, but found him again at the start.

And we were OFF!

 

My strategy was to run the downs and flats when I could, and to walk the hills. I would spend as little time as possible in feed stations and I WOULD NOT SIT DOWN.  I had told various people that if they saw me sitting down to kick my sorry @rse.

Richard set off fast. I tried not to. Already someone had lost their garmin and someone else had lost their map out of their backpacks, oh dear. The loop of Dalemain is a bit trying, I just wanted to get going on the path to Coniston. The weather had warmed up and I am not keen on running in the heat. I took it quietly along the river to Pooley Bridge and chose to walk most of the path up to the Cockpit. From there I got a scoot on and ran to Howtown. I was feeling good. At Howtown, I grabbed one biscuit, a drink and some jelly babies. I munched the biscuit as I left and immediately felt awful. I tried a jelly baby, still didn’t feel right. I struggled to run along the level bit at the beginning of Fusedale. This really wasn’t what I had expected. I walked up past the cameras and kept walking all the way up Fusedale. Where it levelled off a little I made a half hearted attempt to run, it was impossible. Now I was walking and stopping and walking and stopping. I had drank water, but was feeling dire. At the top I had clocked a 38 minute mile. I knew this was no good. I stopped, made an electrolyte drink, drank it and set off again. I was able to run and picked up a bit of pace. I ran past most of the people who had past me on the up section and carried on running all the way down to Haweswater. This gave me the boost I needed. I was over the biggest obstacle now.

I trundled along Haweswater, passing the odd LL100 runner and trying to give words of encouragement. I was feeling ok, but worried that I had not eaten and drank very much, also I had not had a pee, but was not unusually worried about that. At Mardale Head the reception was great. I grabbed a jam sandwich and some more jelly babies to add to my stash. Filled my water bottles and then there was the beast that is Gatesgarth! I left the checkpoint and a few metres along stopped to re-jig my water bottles with electrolytes again. I had a bite of the jam sandwich and immediately felt like I was going to vomit. I stashed the sarnie for later and walked oh so slowly up Gatesgarth. I recorded my slowest mile in the history of my running, 44 minutes. Lots of people were passing me and I just gritted my teeth and did the walk stop routine until I got to the top. I met a LL100 guy who was also walking and we talked for a bit. He was a Dallam club runner. Then I said I better start trying to run. He said the same and we ran together all the way down to the bottom. It was done in no time. We parted company at the bottom and I plodded my way up and over into Kentmere. It was turning chilly now but I didn’t stop to put on my layers. At this point I knew I would DNF at Ambleside if I didn’t get some food in me. I decided that I would tell them at Kentmere to make me sit down and don’t let me leave until I had managed to eat something. Just before the checkpoint I caught up with Izabella, and her boyfriend kindly opened the gate for me. What a lovely smiling couple.

 

At the checkpoint I recognised Jacqui Marwick and told her I hadn’t eaten or drunk much. She was so kind, she sat me down and brought me a little bowl of pasta and a smoothie. I had a hot sugary tea and started to feel better. I looked around, there was a lot of people in there but nobody I recognised. I stripped off my top and there I am with my flabby white belly showing when Rob Johnstone shouts, “Hi Di”. Ha ha, I was past caring. I quickly put my fresh long sleeve top on. I looked at my watch I had been there for 10 minutes. Right, out the door, thank you to the marshals.

 

In my head I had hoped I might reach Ambleside by 10pm. If I felt well, this was still on. I was on my own now and know Kentmere very well. I trotted up the rough path to the bottom of Garburn. I met a German chap. I said it was a slog up here and he asked me what was a slog. He hadn’t heard that phrase before. He was worried about running in the dark – to which I explained there were no cows, the sheep would only stare at you and you might hear the odd scary sounding owl. I left him behind at the top and was feeling really good running down into Troutbeck. I walked out of Troutbeck and caught up with a young guy. He was hoping to be in Ambleside by 10 too. He said his family would be waiting there for him. I led the way through Skellgyll Woods down the road and there were his family. I shouted to them that he had found a new girl friend. I don’t think his girl friend was amused. I carried on and he caught me up as we ran through the main street. There were people outside the White Lion and they gave us a great cheer, probably because I was beating a young lad half my age! At the checkpoint it was 9.45pm – I was so pleased. Jo Kilkenny was there with the dibber in her hand. She told me Cecily had looked good when she went through. I was so pleased. She would probably be at Coniston by now. I managed to get up the steps and into the feed station. There really wasn’t anything I fancied I took a crisp and a drink of orange and got my water bottle filled and off I went. Then I thought I would just ask Jo if she knew where Richard was on the course. He had set off very fast and he had not done nearly enough training because of Achilles injuries, I quite expected her to say he had retired. She said he was still “live”, but behind me! I hadn’t seen him, but I was very focussed on my own survival for most of the time.

Getting out of Ambleside was no problem, I had reccied the next bit numerous times. I caught a lady up and we went up to the top of Loughrigg together. I stopped to get my head torch on and an extra layer. I was able to run down past Tarn Foot, where some guys who had passed me must have taken a wrong turn there and they past me again! I walked from Chesters at Skelwith Bridge until the path opens into a field and I started to run. I just ran and ran all the way to Elterwater. A little shrew ran across my path! I was feeling really good, passing people and managing to drink and eat the odd jelly baby. I even had a bite of the jam sandwich – it tasted good now. My running mantra is "Be relentless". At this stage I think I was! As I ran past the back of the school I heard some very strange noises. I think it was an owl screeching. It was a bit eerie. I caught up with a LL100 fella just before Wainwrights. He wasn’t saying much. I respected that so just ran along in front of him, opening the gates for him until we got to Chapelstile checkpoint. I filled my water bottle and immediately left. I knew the next bit would be tough and it was, but it was a doddle compared to Fusedale! I found my way up the zigzags and across the road to Blea Tarn. I knew this bit very well. It started to rain so I ran until I got to the two benches where I stopped to change into my waterproof jacket. Debbie Porter past me and asked if I was ok. What a lovely lady she is. We had met a couple of time on the course.  At Blea Moss, I was full of confidence. I had double checked this bit of the route a week earlier, the bracken had grown but I found the best route across the bog. I saw people going wrong and I shouted to them that I knew the way, but no one took any notice of a demented old lady! Ha ha. I heard a few people cry out as they got very wet feet. I got to the dibber and looked across, I must have past about 10 people. Their head torches were all over the place. I caught up with Debbie again and we ran together. I was telling her what a little star my niece was and how she would probably be tucked up in bed by now. We ran towards Tilberthwaite giving encouragement to any LL100 runners we saw.

Just before the farm I was astonished to hear a familiar voice shout “Aunty”. It was Cecily. In a mad moment I thought how really sweet of her to finish the 100 and come all the way back here to cheer me on! Then it struck home, she was still trying to get to Tilberthwaite. She had been praying for hours that I would catch her up and help her. She had sore feet from Braithwaite and had the “Tom Tits” all the way. Three LL100 guys had stopped to help her get this far. What heroes those guys really are.  I told her that I would get her to Tilberthwaite checkpoint, get some food and water, get her feet checked out and see what to do next. She was less than 4 miles from the finish. It was a very slow walk and every step was extremely painful for her. She was also very cold. I was concerned that she might not get to the checkpoint, but just kept trying to keep her motivated. On the road she made better progress and we got into the checkpoint and she sat down. She knew if she took her shoes off that would be the end so she had some food and a hot drink, I gave her my duvet jacket to put on and we all persuaded her that she could do this. She would have been gutted in the following weeks to think she had been so close to that medal.

Up the staircase to heaven, that was probably the easy bit. Then across the rocks and onto the path at the top – she was so close to tears. It was very hard for me to see her going through this. I hoped I had made the right decision in encouraging her to keep going. The “What if” sentence kept creeping into my head. What if I had to get emergency help up there? What if she became seriously hypothermic? I was a bit cool myself, so all this was going through my mind. One or two people passed us and asked if she was ok. She really wasn’t but there was nothing anyone could do.

I had invested in some Mountain King poles that I intended to use only for the downhill into Coniston. I knew my knees would be screaming at me by then. I offered her the poles and she took one. I insisted she use two and we struggled together down that God awful path. I was disappointed by the lack of support from some of the LL50 runners on this section, but perhaps they were suffering too in there own way.

Once on the road, she started moving a little better. Suddenly I needed a pee. Well after 40 odd miles you would wouldn’t you?

We finally arrived back at the school hall that she had left at 6pm on Friday night. It was 3.51.58 on Sunday morning. There was a great cheer from everyone. Cecily’s boyfriend, Paul and our friend, Stephen Braithwaite were there to welcome us back. She had her feet looked at and was taken home. She has since been to the hospital and a rather obese nurse told her that she really should look after herself better. Cecily made no comment!

 

I sat on a chair with my feet up on another chair for a while and then went over to Marc and Terry to see if they could tell me where Richard had got to. He had passed through Kentmere. That meant he would be hours yet. So I put my feet back up and watched the people finishing. I must have dozed for a little while when I heard Marc shout me. I hobbled over and he told me he had a phone call from Richard. He was sitting on a rock at Blea Moss refusing to move! I told them to tell him to Bugger off!

 

Unfortunately the rescue vehicle driver had been up all day and night and had gone for a sleep.  Luckily for Richard a runner totally unrelated to the race had past in his car and stopped to ask what he was doing there. He offered to give Richard a lift back to Coniston. When he came into the hall, they tried to give him a medal, but he had to tell them he had DNF’d. He had runners lean and was not in a good place. I knew what that was like from my experience at TdeH.

 
We walked back to the hotel in time for breakfast and then returned to the hall for the presentation. I think a few people were struggling to stay awake.

From Ambleside I had been on track for a really good time for me. At one point I had been happy thinking I would be back in Coniston for breakfast and then, when I left Ambleside I realised I still had plenty in the tank, I knew it would be probably about 3am. However, I finished at just before 4am. I would not have changed any of this for the world. It was such an amazing experience.

I would like to say a B I G   T H A N K   Y O U   to all the people that make this race possible. It is truly a remarkable event. I am lucky enough to live on the edge of the Lakes and pinch myself every time I am out on the fells. Living the dream!

Finally, we were privileged to see the 80 year old Legend that is Harry, finish his 50 miles. What an inspiration. So 16 years from now, that might be me! (I think probably not!)

Did I tell you I was the oldest female entrant in the LL50 2015? Ha ha! I've a long way to go to catch up with Harry.

After my horrible experience up Fusedale and Gatesgarth, I told everyone “Never again”. I never wanted to feel that bad again, but you know what, well it would be rude not to!

 

Grizedale Trail Marathon 2014

This was videoed from the original on facebook via my phone, hence the poor quality, but hopefully you get the picture!!

Oversharing: Grizedale Ultra Trail 26.2 Recce Run

Oversharing: Grizedale Ultra Trail 26.2 Recce Run

Cunswick Scar Run 22 Sept 2013

Today's run leaves the houses and streets behind up a short path across a field

 onto a little lane and beyond.

We leave the lane and have a short run up the road before we reach a hole in the wall which leads through a field and up towards the scar that is Scout Scar.

The path leads up onto the Scar. There is no let up; it is uphill all the way to the top.

The views are stunning in all directions.  This is looking towards the south of Kendal.

Once on the top you can look ahead to Whitbarrow in the West.

And Morecambe Bay to the South.

The Lakeland Fells to the North.

We ran down to the Southern end of Scout Scar towards Helsington Church this morning, but on this walk we cut across the Scar and rejoined where we had run on the return from Helsington.

The path follows the edge of the Scar and it is uphill all the way.

We ran past the cows this morning, but this afternoon realised that this was one BIG BOY!

The Mushroom soon comes into sight. Once at the Mushroom I always know it is downhill to home.

The Mushroom is an observatory. It has a band inside just above head height that has the names of the hills that can be seen when looking in that particular direction. It is also a great place to have a picnic or break from the rain on a walk.

The paths are a bit rough in places, but as long as you keep an eye to the ground it's OK.

We left the Mushroom and headed down towards the kissing gate that leads down to the field.  

 I can usually get a bit of a shift on here as it is downhill!

We follow the wall along, a great guide on misty days. Today has been glorious all day.

The first sign of autumn is this tree, beautiful.

Hope you enjoy looking at these pictures that RB took this afternoon.

GR5 Stage 1 from St Gingolph to Chamonix

GR5

Stage 1 from St Gingolph (Geneva) to Chamonix July 2013

 Friday 19^th July

 We packed our rucksacks and put them in the big black luggage bag which we would then empty when we arrived at Geneva and leave at the left luggage before setting off for our walk. At the last minute RB decided to unzip his trouser legs and put the bottoms in there too. We stopped off at Ormskirk on the way to Liverpool to buy a battery for Richard’s Suunto watch.  Got to the airport in plenty of time and parked up (Row 13). We walked to the airport and RB realised he had left his glasses in the car so he had to walk back to the car park. It was a very hot day and it took him ages. I thought he had got lost.

 Eventually he returned with the glasses.

We handed our big black luggage bag in and went through the various controls. I was frisked! The flight was uneventful and we landed in Geneva on time in red hot sunshine.

 

 

It was difficult to find our way to the left luggage at the railway station but we did eventually. So, with big black bag deposited safely and rucksacks on our backs we were ready to head for St Gingolph, which is a small town on the other side of Lake Geneva where we would stay the night before starting our walk to Chamonix.

 

The GR5 is a walk from Geneva to Nice in the south of France. It can be completed in 21 days. The first stage of the walk, (6 of 7 days) from Geneva to Chamonix involves walking along valley bottoms and up and over mountain passes every day.

 

 The heavens opened, there was crashing and banging with a thunderstorm almost overhead. Luckily we were getting on the train which took us round the lake, through Montreaux to a little place called Aigle. The train journey was lovely with views across the lake with mountains in the distance. At Aigle the weather had improved and we hopped on a bus for the final short journey to St Gingolph. The TIC at St Gingolph was closed so we just walked along the main street to a hotel “The National”. Madame showed us to the room which had diner/kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and views across Lac Leman. It was wonderful. The sky darkened and we saw lightening and heard thunder in the distance so we got a shift on and went to the nearest restaurant.

  

 

  

We got soaked, as the storm arrived sooner than we expected, but we soon dried out in the restaurant. It was at this point that we realised that the bottoms to Richard’s trousers were still in the big black luggage bag at Geneva railway station. Oh, well, no long trousers for him on this holiday! We had a lovely meal as the rain bounced off the pavement outside and the wind blew in across the lake in front of us. After we had eaten I went to the loo in the restaurant and when I returned to the table RB was nowhere to be seen. I sat down and waited, and waited. Eventually he appeared – he had been waiting near the wrong door and so missed me coming out! We were dry and the rain had stopped. We walked the 500m back to the hotel at 10.15pm.

 

Saturday 20^th July

We had a lovely breakfast in the conservatory overlooking the lake. At 8.45 we set off walking up the road. It was another very hot day and we had to walk to La Chapelle d’Abondance via Novel, Col de Bise and Chalet de Bise. The rain had dried from the road and the paths.

 

 

 

 

The way was uphill from the road to a track and then on to the little hamlet of Novel (3,115’). We thought the guide book said that we could get food in Novel, but it was a small hamlet and no shops. We had been mistaken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We followed the GR5 way markers until we reached a sign that said “Nice 21 jours”.

 

  

We weren’t going to Nice! In a while we came to a water trough and refilled our water bottles. Within a minute I realised that we were being savaged by the dreaded cleggs. We ran up the road to escape them. I’ve never been bitten by anything in France before.

 

 

As we climbed up through fields and woods we got higher and higher.

 

 

 

 

There was just the two of us for quite some time.

 

 

 Then we passed an old couple who were just walking for a couple of days.

 

 

 

There were lots of beautiful wild flowers, including orchids, very pretty. At one point I saw something shimmering on the ground. It was the size of a dinner plate and on closer inspection I saw it was lots of those very small blue butterflies. Their wings were closed but just moving slightly, so as a whole they made the ground look as if it were shimmering.

They flew off in all directions when we tried to get closer to take a photo.

There must have been over 50. 

 

 

 

 

From where we were we could see Lac Leman way below in the distance behind us. We had not waited for the shops to open in St Gingolph so had no food and it was so hot that the water was getting low.

 

 

 

 

 

As we rounded a corner a couple of chalets came into view and there was a water trough outside one and a man was pottering about. I just pointed at the trough and said (in my best French), Puis-je? He nodded, so I filled our water bottles, said merci, and carried on up further towards the Col de Bise (6,283’). It was a long walk to the top.

 

 

 

There were a few people already up there. There was a small patch of snow left from the winter. What a view, looking back we could see Lac Leman  (Lake Geneva) in the distance ....

 

 

... and then looking down to where we had to go next.

 

 

 

The sun was beating down and we were starting to feel hungry. It had taken us about 4.5 hours. The Chalet de Bise (4,941’) was way down in the valley bottom hidden from view. We started down the very steep path. It felt hard with rucksacks on.

 

   

 

As we eventually drew near to the chalet I walked on ahead and got 2 oranginas and took them a short way back to RB. We then went inside the chalet and had an omelette each. They did taste good. That was about 2.30pm and we weren’t staying there – we had another col to climb out to before dropping down to the small town of La Chapelle d’Abondance (3,350’). We looked back to see where we had come down from the Col. 

 

 

 

The Chalet de Bise together with the Refuge de Bise. The Refuge is unmanned and so without food we could not stay.

 

 

My socks were feeling very damp (sweaty) so I changed them for some fresh ones and we were ready to set off again. Outside the chalet were lots of goats. It was so hot they were trying to get shade by lying under cars that had driven up to the popular picnic spot. We refilled our water bottles and off we went up the next big hill!

 

We walked steadily but slowly.

At the top there were more magnificent views looking back and then ahead of us.

 

 

 

 

We dropped down through alpine pastures.

 

 

 

 

 

 Looking back at the col. 

 

 

 

We were pleased to reach the outskirts of Chapelle d’Abondance. We had to look for accommodation and there was a hotel, but I suggested we walk further into the town rather than stopping at the first hotel we came to, so that we could make a good start the following morning. We got to the main street and asked at a hotel if they had a room. No, they were full so I asked if Madame would ring round for us which she kindly did. The only hotel with a vacancy was the first one we had passed so it was back up the hill (only about 800m).

 

Back at the first hotel we were given a room on the top floor, no lift! While we were catching our breath RB noticed that he had lost his Buff from his rucksack chest strap. He went downstairs to see if it was in the lobby, but it wasn’t. I said I would go back to the hotel in the town and ask if it had been handed in. I put my boots back on and jogged down the hill. Much easier with no rucksack on. There it was on the reception desk. Madame said she had run after us, but we had gone. I thanked her and walked back up the hill. I was really tired.

We would eat at 7.30pm at the hotel. We were hungry and ordered tartiflette for 2. Madame said it would be 20 minutes. Fine. It was over 45 minutes. I was starving but it was worth waiting for. Followed by crème caramel for me and ice cream for RB. Did some washing and ready for bed at 9.30pm.

We had walked 11 miles and total ascent of 6,135’. Total descent 4,020’. It had seemed a lot further in the blisteringly hot sun.

 Sunday 21 July

Woke up at 6.30 and packed our stuff before going to breakfast at 8am. Clegg bites just begging to be scratched uggh!  Really good breakfast so we took enough for lunch too. 

We left the hotel at 9am. Today we are heading for Refuge du Chesery. A refuge is a place where you can sleep usually in dormitories (bunk style beds) and you can get a meal. They range from luxury to very basic. Some have no hot water and most you have to pay to use the showers. Most are situated way up in the mountains and have to have their provisions delivered by helicopter so are not particularly cheap.  It was hot.

  

We walked along the valley bottom turning right at the metal cow to walk along the river.

 

 

 

We turned up a track through the woods. Up and up and more up!

We past this cascade on the way.

 

These were like the little blue butterflies that we had seen earlier on the journey.

 

 

 

 

Eventually we left the woods for open pasture.

Lots of flowers, including gentians, butterflies and a few lizards.

 

 

Near the col there was a patch of frozen snow to cross. I was very nervous as a fall on that and who knows where I would have ended up. I was glad I had brought my walking poles and they came in handy for steadying myself across.

 

Another 20 m and we were on the top of Col de Bassachaux.

 

The views of the Alps were magnificent. I don’t remember a lot about this day except that it was an awfully long day in very hot conditions. From the top we started to drop down the other side. It was not always obvious which path to take. However we didn’t go wrong so were soon going up another hillside where I saw a swallowtail butterfly.

 

 The path continued up and I stopped at a buvette to fill the water bottles again. We were headed to the Refuge du Chesery for the night, but we hadn’t booked so needed to get a move on so to be there before dinner if we were going to eat that night! We had to make a stop on the path as a herdswoman was bringing her cows down to be milked. They came past with the huge bells round their necks. What a racket! It was still very hot and we were starting to flag. 

 

This is one of the signs that shows us we are on the right path. 

 

 We reached the top and in the distance we could see the Refuge nestled into the hillside with the Swiss flag flying high above it. That was a wonderful sight for two tired travellers.

 

I got there at 6.15pm in time for dinner at 7pm. There were about 8 people already there. It was a very small refuge in the middle of nowhere.  I booked us in with my very poor french and left my rucksack there while I went back to see if RB was ok. He was having trouble with his breathing on and off and I had been bitten on my shoulder by one of the cleggs earlier and the weight of my rucksack had compounded it. It was now very sore and a bit swollen. What a sorry pair?

 

 

Inside the Refuge.

 

The dormitory was very small with only that very small window with no glass, just wire netting. At night you just slid a piece of wood across the hole to keep the light and cold out. At this altitude it could be very cold even in summer.

 

 

The view from the back of the Refuge.

 

Richard outside the front of the Refuge.

 

 

We were shown to the small dormitory of 12 beds. At 6.55pm a girl arrived at the Refuge. Luckily she had booked. She was Finnish and full of interesting talk. She was aiming to walk all the way to Nice. After a good meal she went for a swim in the nearby Lac Vert. It must have been freezing at that altitude (6,470’). There was also a Frenchman called Gerard who was hoping to get to Chamonix, so we may see him again. We got a good night’s sleep but lots of crampy moments in my calves. This was a lovely refuge that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, however in the morning, I noticed there was a 4x4 outside, so maybe not so remote as one would think!

 

13 miles today, ascent 4,905’, descent 1,790’.

Monday 22 July

We were up early for breakfast at 7am. Away by 7.30am. The destination for today’s walk is the small town of Samoens.

 

A short hard up hill to the col ...

 

 

Lac Vert

 

 Looking back to Refuge du Chesery with Lac Vert bottom right.

You can just make out the red roof.

 

Richard

 

 

 ... followed by a long way down.

 

  A remote farmstead.

 

  More pretty gentians, smaller than the first ones we saw.

 

  We walked along the side of the mountain on a good track.

 

  The track turned right and the path took us up towards the border.

 

Very hot all the way then along for a bit before more up again. A group of 30 french walkers caught up with us so it was noisy up to the Col de Cou(x) which is the Swiss/French border.

 

 

RB was determined not to stop on the way up and was absolutely jiggered by the time we got to the top. It took him about 10 minutes to recover. There was a concrete building that had been used by border guards at one time but there was nobody checking us today. We sat down to recover and the group of french walkers turned around and went down the way they had come up.

 

  The view from the border post and Richard recovering from the long slog up to it.

 

 Me crossing the border!

 

 

We started down the other side of the col to a little place called Chardonniere, where we would stop at a buvette and have omelettes for lunch.

 

 A good path led us down the mountain. It was still very hot.

 

 

We did a slight detour on a rather steep path to Chardonnaire to have our lunch. After a relaxing hour we walked across and up the valley towards Col de la Golese.

 

 

 

 The weather behind us was changing for the worse.

 

The heavens opened, thunder and lightening. We put our waterproofs on sharpishly.

A party of french schoolchildren were making their way up to the col too. 

Rather than attempt to go down the other side of the col when there could be more bad weather I suggested we stay at the Refuge de la Golese, which was just a few hundred metres from the top of the col.

 

 

We were allocated a very nice private room and got settled in.

 

 

When we came downstairs we saw the schoolchildren had also come in and they were staying the night too. They were just youngsters 8 – 11 year olds. Gerard, the french chap had made it and there was a very nice american lad who was doing a different walk from us. So the conversation at times was hard (language barrier), but very interesting. It was mid afternoon and was nice to have an early finish to the day although we would have to try and make up some miles tomorrow.

Before tea I went for a short walk without my rucksack, to see if I could see where we would be heading the next day. It looked a very long way down to the town of Samoens.

 

Our room was on the brochure for the refuge.

 

 Refuge de Golese.

 

We had dinner at 7pm. Soup, very rare meat, Dauphinoise potatoes, cheese, followed by crème caramel. Very good. Bed at 8.30pm. It was a lovely room with a good view in the morning.

 

We were supposed to do 15.5 miles today. Probably did about 12 miles. We will have to catch up tomorrow. Total ascent today 2,200. Descent estimated about 4,000’

 

Tuesday 23 July

Breakfast at 7am. Packed up and gone by 7.40am. We were aiming to get beyond Samoens to the village of Sixt today.

 

 Down a gravel track and it soon got quite a bit steeper. Part way down RB missed his footing and fell. He rolled but stopped with his good hand. Big chunk of skin had been scraped back on the gravel. It was dirty and looked very sore – about the size of a 2p piece. I got the first aid kit out of his rucksack and we managed to wash the dirt out. RB insisted I cut off the loose flap of skin, so I did and we bandaged it up. In the heat we were worried about infection. We still had a lot more gravel path to go down. 

 

As we approached the outskirts of Samoens we saw a sign that indicated we should turn right to reach Samoens in 30 mins. We followed the path and it turned up through some woodland, very steep, and hard for RB with his one hand bandaged and his other still plastered from his operation.

We were relieved to get to the town and find a Pharmacy. We bought some more bandages, plasters and antiseptic spray. We filled our water bottles and went to the TIC to book a bed for the night in/near a place called Sixt.

Interesting detail to the gutter on a house in Samoens.

 

 More lovely butterflies.

 

We bought food for lunch and the next day. We soon picked up the path along by the river. It was hot, but lovely to be on the level for a while. We had our lunch by the river and a French man came by. He had lost his hat. On parting he said “It’s a boy”. So I guess that is the Royal baby.

 It seems when we are on holiday the French can’t wait to tell us the English news. It was when we were in a remote part of the Pyrenees that an old chap told us “Lady Di est mort”. We hadn’t a clue what he had said until later that day when we got back to the campsite.  

We didn’t realise that neither of us had made a note of the gite that Julie at the TIC had booked us into! I wasn’t too concerned as I thought we would easily find it as I had thought we were staying somewhere fairly remote and that it would be the only gite there. (Wrong!). More of that later.

 

 

 We carried on walking across a meadow and then turning up through a wood to

 Gorges des Tines.

 

 

It was a little cooler in the shade of the trees. There was no water in the gorge and we had to climb three metal ladders to get up it and then cables to hold on to near the top. Richard managed ok.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The path continued through the woods until we came to a sign that didn’t have our destination on it, so we guessed at one of the paths, (wrongly), and went out of our way by 15 minutes. So back on right path led us to the village of Sixt.

 

 

 More interesting butterflies. We filled our water bottles and wandered up through the village looking for the gite and in the end RB telephoned the TIC who told us where to go!

Half a mile later we found the gite at 3.30pm in the village of Salvagny. The gite opened at 5pm so we made ourselves comfortable on the porch of the closed ski station. The heavens opened, thunder again. We were glad we were under the porch.

 

 

 At 5pm the rain had stopped and we booked into the double room. We asked Monsieur if he would ring the Chalets d’Anterne (now known as Alfred Wills Refuge) to book us in for the following night. They were already full so he booked us into the next refuge along the route, Refuge Moede Anterne. It would be a long day. The evening meal was at 7.30pm so we had time to wash and sort our gear out. RB’s hand looks awful but he says it is fine! There are a few clouds around but it is brightening up.

A good meal of salad, bread, sausages and pasta. A choice of fresh fruit for pudding. Turned in about 8.30-9pm. Nice quiet night except more thunder at 2.30am.

 

We had managed to make up a little ground today. We had walked about 18 miles (guestimate). Ascent of 5,950’ and descent of over 6,000’.

 

Wednesday 24 July 

Awoke about 6pm. Must have been raining in night. Everywhere is damp.

Breakfast at 7.30am. Today we have to get to Refuge Moede Anterne for the night.

After breakfast we re-traced our steps to the river bank and walked upstream.

 

 

  

 

 It was still quite hot. We made good progress and crossed the river at a bridge.

 

 

The road zigzagged up the wooded hillside with shortcuts for walkers.

We were soon up at Cascade du Rouget.

 

 

The waterfall came down the mountain and went under the road to continue on the other side. The spray from it was wonderfully cooling, just what we needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We continued up the hillside until we reached a nature reserve. And followed a track uphill through the trees and then through scrub. Another amazing waterfall.

 

 

 

 The path turned and struck up the side of this immense valley. It was steep at times and the views were amazing of craggy outcrops and massive mountains all around. Not much wildlife though.

 

 

The place we had stayed at the night before looked tiny from up here.

 

 

 

By lunchtime we had reached Collett d’Anterne (5,892’)(a small col).

There was an alpine meadow and we had our lunch on a grassy knoll near to the cross.

 

 

 

Views from the col.

 

 

 There were all sorts of wild flowers, including wild chives. We had ham, bread, taboulie, plums, apricots, lovely. Saw a swallow tail and more butterflies and fritillaries.

 

 

We are heading for the snow fields on the left hand side of the horizon, Col d'Anterne.

 

Ahead of us we could see patches of snow on Mont Anterne. We would have to go through some of them to reach the col, before dropping down to the Refuge. What a long way.

 

 

 

 After lunch it was very pleasant in open alpage littered with big boulders

but a good path led us through.

 

 

We met this girl leading her burro down the mountain.

 

 

We reached Alfred Wills Refuge (5,932’) and stopped for oranginas.

 

What inhospitable, unfriendly staff, so glad we are not staying there tonight.

We drank our drinks and left.

 

 

Looking back to Alfred Wills Refuge.

 

 

Now the marmots are everywhere, with their warning whistles.

We start climbing up out of this upland valley.

 

 

  The views back are stunning

.

 

And across the valley.

 

 

Onwards and upwards.

 

 

 

 

 

Over the top we start to see the marmots much closer.

 

 

 

 The marmots don’t seem to be so bothered about warning whistles and just trundle away from us if we get too close. 

 

Marmot marking his territory at the GR5 waymark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We skirt round the edge of Lac d’Anterne (6,760’).

This is the lake that disappears down a sink hole at one end,

but unfortunately we don’t have the time or energy to go and have a look.

The ground was a bit waterlogged here.

 

 

The river at the top end of the lake is full of water and no bridge. We managed to get across without getting our feet wet. Lovely gentians here.

 

 

 Looking back to Lac d'Anterne.

 

  

We continue to climb up to the col across some frozen snow. I use my poles again, but I can step in the prints of others here so it is not so bad. We have only used our poles for crossing snow on this trip. In previous years we have been more reliant on them for the steep descents.

 

Once at the top of the Col d’Anterne (7,405’), wow what a view.

You can see Mont Blanc just peeping its head through fluffy clouds and the back of Le Brevent where we will be tomorrow afternoon.

 

 

 

 

The Refuge is still some way below us on the path. I had put my waterproof jacket on when rain threatened, but I really needn’t have bothered. It was cooler up here so I took my waterproof off and put my thin jumper on for the descent to the refuge.

 

  

 

 This refuge is accessible by 4x4 and is more like a hotel. We were still high in the mountains with views all round. Lots of people here – all nationalities.

 

 

We really wanted to stay at Bellachat Refuge tomorrow night but it is fully booked so will probably drop down into Chamonix from the Le Brevant. Bellachat is a very small refuge that sits high on the mountainside looking across to Mont Blanc. It is on the GR5 and TMB trails so does get booked up quickly.

We are still being plagued by the original clegg bites. RB’s hand is healing well.

 

We had a choice of menus tonight and we chose fondue. What a laugh watching RB dropping his bread in the melted cheese. By 8.30pm we were ready for bed. We are in a dormitory of 12 beds. In the night I heard RB snoring so gave him a dig in the ribs. He turned over and the snoring continued. Then I realised it was the chap on the other side of RB that was making the noise. There were 12 of us in the room and the only one who got a good night’s sleep was Mr Snorey!

 

Total of about 13 miles, ascent of 5,905’ and descent of 1,655’. 

Thursday 25 July 

We ate a hearty breakfast of cornflakes, bread, butter & jam and

 were packed and away for 7am.

 

 

 Looking back to where we had dropped down last night ...

 

 ... and then forward to the view of Mont Blanc in the distance.

 

 It was a little cooler at first and the walk was downhill to start.

Some clouds on high peaks, but the sun rose and the clouds cleared a bit. We crossed the Pont d’Arleve and from the valley bottom we started the climb to Le Brevent (8,284’). We walked up through the woods and across the grassy slopes, strewn with boulders.

It was a good path.

 

We met two Ultra runners who must have come from the Le Brevent. It was hot and hard. RB was struggling with his breathing for some of the time. More wild chives, azaleas (the little wild pink ones), more orchids and butterflies.

 I think the French call azaleas rhododendrons.

 

We climbed for most of the morning.

 Looking back down we could see the path zigzagging far below us ...

 

 

 ... and across the valley the Refuge was no more than a speck on the hillside.

 

 Then the path steepened, more rocky terrain and we were very high. The sun was on us and it was hot. We made it to the col before we met anyone coming down. A man had camped just below the col (7,769’) and was sitting outside his tent having a late breakfast. In good weather what a great place to spend the night.  He looked like a real mountain man!

 

We kept going until we were on the back of Le Brevent and sat down to have some early lunch at 11.15am. We had snow to cross and ladders to climb to reach the top so it was important that we were fuelled up for it. We had not seen a chamois or bouquetin on this journey. Last time we saw chamois & bouquetin on Le Brevent. The snow was easier to cross than I had anticipated, but a girl in front of us fell. She got up and when I got to her I asked if she was ok and she just said it was very cold!

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back to Refuge Anterne 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We climbed up the ladder and a short walk took us up to the cable car station. 

 

 

 

 

 Fabulous views of Mont Blanc and Aguille du Midi in front of us. Within minutes the view was back in the clouds. We were so lucky. Lots of people come up, (some in the most inappropriate footwear you are likely to see at the top of a mountain) on the cable car from Chamonix and wander about taking photos. It was noon and it was considerably cooler on top. We decided to get the cable car down into Plan Praz and on to Chamonix, as we felt we had done enough.

 

So ended our terrific journey from Geneva to Chamonix. It had been long and hot, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Now we could relax and spend some time in the wonderful Chamonix valley.

 

The cable car was free. In the valley bottom (Chamonix town) it was unbearably hot. We went straight to the TIC to arrange B & B. The whole valley was just about booked up. We managed to get one night at Le Cremerie Balmat and 7 nights at La Prairie. They were a 40 minute walk from the town but we didn’t mind.  

 

Nothing odd there, except that La Prairie was the hotel that Gran had taken us to for breakfast in 1991 when we camped at Les Dru Campsite with the children. Back then the hotel was very quaint and full of history of the Alps. We walked to La Prairie to introduce ourselves to Madame and found it hadn’t changed in all those years. The Madame had died and her daughter Geneveve Lochet was now running the place in the same traditional style.

The walk was 13 miles today, but we cut it short by taking the cable car, although we probably did about that distance in total by going to the accommodation and back into town and back again! Ascent 3,280’. Descent would have been 6,350’ but of course we didn’t walk down into Chamonix from Le Brevent so quite a bit less than that.

 

If you've enjoyed reading this and are interested in walking part or all of the GR5 treat yourself to the guide book The GR5 Trail from Cicerone Press by Paddy Dillon.