The hike was a fairly easy one: up a short distance to a 2600m pass, down to 2100m at Val Claret (an ugly-as-sin, purpose-built ski resort consisting of a jumble of high-rise buildings in a barren valley), then up to a 2760m pass, before a long and gentle descent to our refuge. Took me about 5 hours (not counting breaks), took Russ and Sally about 6 because of some nagging injuries that seem to be getting worse.
In Russell's case it is the meniscus in his knee -- the same one he injured when he slipped on ice while in college and that he reinjured when he hiked in stiff-soled (Alpine class) boots for five days to Samoens. It has swelled up the last couple of days and he has been forced to take Ibuprofen during the hikes to manage the pain.
In Sally's case it is shin-splints (not sure what the technical term is), and she reckons she injured them while running through Chamonix in flip-flops in the rain a week or so ago. Similarly she had to take pain-killers during the hike today.
Both injuries are unfortunately not the type that tends to heal quickly, so I'm apprehensive about whether or not they will be able to hike much further. We will see....
Had a nice lunch at the Refuge de la Leisse, accompanied by a tame marmot and friendly chickens, before continuing on to the Refuge d'Entre-deux-Eaux, which seemed like a palace to us because it had both warm showers and real (as opposed to Turkish) toilets. It is funny how quickly one's standards and aspirations adjust: a couple of weeks ago we were at the 6 star Montreux Raffles Palace Hotel, now we are overjoyed when a place has showers and normal toilets, even if said toilets are located a short walk away outside!
Perhaps in consequence of the perception of luxury, we all felt strangely compelled to make the cold trek to the toilets during the night... in some cases more than once. At breakfast the following morning the gardienne asked us if we were the ones who had been up and down the stairs all night, and when we compared notes we realized that the answer was probably yes. I had been once, Russell twice, and Sally a record four times :-).
There are days when the H2H produces deep thoughts and sublime impressions, but this was apparently not one of those days.
:-)
