24th - Vallée des Glaciers – Courmayeur

Waking up we were greeted by a cold morning; situated in the bottom of a valley the sun wouldn’t reach the gite until later, and at that time we were already on our way to our next destination.

Fun fact; despite now being in Italy, the gite we stayed in was owned by French. There has been no indicators that we have crossed into another country.

We soon reached Col de la Seigne (2516m) from where we had a great view of the valley we were aiming for. We had lunch at Rifugio Elisabetta which consisted of lunch packs bought this morning. Despite the unimpressive breakfast the lunch was actually OK.

Afterwards we continued downwards where we soon had the choice of taking a flat and easy route, or taking a high path which would give views of the Mont Blanc range. By democratic vote we took the high route which started off with a steep ascent and leveled off with a gentle descent. On the way down we had to cross several steep patches of snow – some of them more interesting than others.

Finishing off with a short drive we ended in Courmayeur at a beautiful hotel with just as beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.

Tomorrow is a rest day so we will be spending the day relaxing in Courmayeur or whatever we decide to do.

I apparently suck at applying sunscreen. Standing in the hot shower my skin did in some places feel slightly… sore.

The view from the gite in the morning.

Looking down on the gite, 40 minutes after departure.

Marmot. There were quite a few of these, and this crossed the path just as I walked by.

  

Standing at Elisabetta looking down into the valley we were heading to.

Probably the hardest crossing on the trek; steep snow and a very not so well defined path.

After struggling with getting across it was depressing to afterwards see a guy get his bike up on his back and just wander across.

Domesticated north-norwegian wolf (I think it was). Beautiful, but you always had the feeling it was checking you out. Amazing eyes, but just by looking at you you got the urge to check if you still had all fingers intact...