Tuesday, 24.8.2021

Today, a week ago, we started the hike in St-Gingolph. Until yesterday, we have covered approximately 92 km, mastered 6300 meters of altitude, and descended 4200 meters (not counting Brévent - Chamonix by cable car, of course).

Today's route: Bionnassay (1320 m) - Les Contamines-Montjoie (1164 m) - Notre Dame de la Gorge (1210 m) - Pont de la Rollaz (1515 m)

A rather leisurely day, at least without too much elevation gain. Ignaz waited for Lis in Les Contamines for two and a half hours because she realized halfway there that her favorite pants to dry were no longer hanging on the backpack, so she ran back. In Les Contamines, we had lunch before walking to Notre Dame at the end of the valley and then hiking steeply up to Vallée de la Rollaz. Rain was forecasted, but there was no space left in the La Balme hostel, so we camped in a specifically designated area. We have never had such an uncomfortable night. It started raining when we set up the tarp, and it rained quite heavily until about 9 p.m. It was so cool and damp that we crawled into our sleeping bags at 7 p.m. - a record so far - never quite sure if the rainwater would wet the sleeping bags. Fortunately, it stopped raining, but it remained damp and cold. (Lis had put on almost her entire set of clothes to sleep.)