Friday, 20.8.2021

Hut groove: For the first time in probably 10 years we spent the night in a mountain hut again, and it's as expected. Crowded wardrobe with the usual scents of socks and shoes and certain body parts. Crowded in front of the only sanitary cell with shower, toilet, and drinking fountain. (Everyone thinks they have to shower.) All available sockets for charging smartphones etc. occupied (priority for the first arrivals?). 20 people in the small hut. 16 French, 2 Dutch, Lis and Ignaz. Many men, but also several women. Before and during the typical dinner, hearty and not unlike a military kitchen, conversations mainly about the topic 'hiking'. A group of four sturdy men around 60 from Beaujolais are taking the same tour as us, limited to 30 days (because their wives allegedly don't allow more free men's time). Their hike is scheduled, every day determined, written down, with daily hiking times up to 11 hours. The official 'Monsieur Orange', who is recognizable from a distance because of his orange backpack cover, an electrical engineer from Belfort, started with us in St-Gingolph. He seems very enthusiastic about hiking, always arrives early at the destination and then waits alone for the evening. The two nature boys from Holland, in their 50s, seem to be quite tough. One of them completed our route in 24 days, which means an average of 12 hours of hiking per day. Hard work with a lot of overtime. Not our thing. We give ourselves about 50 days and only plan from day to day, unless the weather forecast suggests otherwise.

The eager hikers are already gone. We start marching around 8 o'clock.

Our route today: Refuge de Chésery - Portes de l'Hiver - Le Lapisa - Col de Coux - Col de la Golèse - Chalets de Bervalles (above Samoëns)