Monday, 23.8.2021

Today's route: Refuge de Moëde (2000 m) - Pont d'Arlevé (1597 m) - Col du Brévent (2368 m) - Mont du Brévent (2525 m) - Chamonix (by cable car) - Les Houches (by bus) - Bellevue / La Chalette (1801 m; by cable car) - Bionnassay (1320 m)

We chose not to undertake the 1500-meter steep descent from Mont du Brévent to Les Houches for the sake of our joints, so we took the cable car to Chamonix. After shopping and having a small meal in the highly touristy town, we continued to use other means of transportation to avoid this touristy area. We started hiking again from Bellevue above Les Houches.

Hüttengroove for the second time: At Refuge de Moëde, we met old acquaintances from Refuge de Chésery, especially our Monsieur Orange, whose real name is Ivan Jallat. We also met four middle-aged hiking friends from Lille, two women and two men, of whom we never knew until the end who was with whom or if they were even in a relationship, and the 66-year-old woman from Annecy, whose friend had to quit the hike due to an infected foot. We didn't come across the hardcore hikers from Beaujolais and Holland anymore. The atmosphere was different from the last refuge: the beer-drinking youth faction outnumbered the wine-drinking senior faction in terms of numbers and volume, and even the hosts were only limitedly friendly.