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Wednesday, Sept 5th, 2007
After a productive rest day in Modane (I bought a pair of gloves, because it is supposed to be very cold over the next few days (but no snow, fortunately), did laundry (well, Christine and Mel did my laundry for me at the laundrette, but I did hang it up to dry afterwards :-), posted off old maps to lighten the pack, picked up money, reserved the next several days' accommodations, wrote and responded to emails and faxes, wrote up and posted a couple of blogs, made and received a couple of telephone calls, ate an enormous lunch at an excellent Italian restaurant, and played a couple of games of Carcassonne), we set off today a diminished group.
As previously reported, Russell and Sally are taking another couple of days off to try to heal their various injuries. They have plans to go to Grenoble to look around and then will come to meet us in Briancon in three days. So Mel, Christine, and I set off around 8:40. It was very cold -- a little above freezing -- but clear and sunny as soon as we got out of Modane's deep valley.
Modane, I should note, lived up to it's reputation, and initial impression, of being a rather unattractive little town, but the hotel owner and personnel were very friendly, the Italian restaurant excellent, and everyone else I came into contact with efficient and helpful, so rather to my surprise I came away with a good impression.
Nevertheless the only regrets I had on leaving it were that I was also leaving Russell and Sally, who had been with me from the beginning of the hike now so long ago.
The hike itself was rather unexciting, and cold, until we crossed the Col de la Vallee Etroite and descended into the very pretty eponymous valley. As with the descent into Modane, one feels here as if one is in a Mediterranean clime (and the fact that everyone speaks Italian only strengthens this impression). The marmots are the same though.
On the injury front, Mel's knees gave him no problems today, despite it being a 6 hour hike with several hundred meters of descent. Perhaps it was because he used two poles (borrowed from Sally), instead of the one he had used before. Or maybe it was the Ibuprofen prescribed by Russell that he took prophylactically, but whatever it was he was much happier than he had been on the descent into Modane. Bodes well for the next couple of days to Briancon.
Christine on the other hand found out that the knee she had thought healed was still weak on steep and rough descents, giving her various twinges and causing her to move carefully and slowly. We'll have to talk at dinner about which of the options (long with more ascent and descent, or short) we should take tomorrow, and since we have some steep and high passes coming up while she plans to hike with us, I'm somewhat concerned.
But that is a worry for later. Right now I'm going to go outside into the bright sunshine under a cloudless blue sky, and sit in one of the reclining deck-chairs that our "refuge" (more like a hotel) for the night -- the charmingly named I Re Magi (the Mage Kings, so named because the three peaks to our east are Melchior, Balthasar, and Gaspard) has put out on their terrace. I am showered, changed, and looking forward to the "Apero" that we have been told will be served at 6:50 before dinner at 7.
Don't let anyone tell you that the H2H is all about exertion and suffering! This is the life....
