After reaching the highest point of our trek at Col de Chaviere and a stunning view of Mount Blanc nestled in the clouds, it was time to head down. Unfortunately it was a long, steep descent through a path of rocky glacier moraine. But at least there were plenty of beautiful views to keep me and my camera busy.
Amazingly enough, at the very top of the Col I found these beautiful wildflowers and could hardly believe that they grew in such a place. The top of the Col was surrounded in rock and normally quite windy. Yet life not only survived, it thrived.
When you have worn out your shoes, the strength of the shoe leather has passed into the fiber of your body. I measure your health by the number of shoes and hats and clothes you have worn out. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
After a strenuous morning of hiking, we finally made it to the highest point of our week-long trek, the Col de Chaviere at 9,173 feet/2, 796 m. It was indeed a long hike up to the top but once we arrived, it was like no place on earth. A place that was so utterly fantastic, that it took my breath away and reminded me why I love to be up in the mountains on top of the world…
The zigzag trail heading up the mountain to the top.
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away”. – Anonymous
We rose feeling well rested and well loved after our wonderful night’s stay in such a heavenly place. My stomach ached from eater and drinker’s remorse but I knew it was deserved after such an enormous, gourmet french meal. In a few hours after hiking, I’d be fine and hungry once again, as the calories I consumed magically burned off.
We set off into the fog, our first day that wasn’t perfect. Despite the lack of a decent view, the fog was a welcome surprise as it kept us cool as we climbed back up into the Alps.
Author’s note: This is a continuation on my series of trekking La Vanoise National Park in the high Alps of France. To see all posts in this series, click here.
“In the mountains there are only two grades: You can either do it, or you can’t.”— Rusty Baille
I have always liked the saying “What goes up, must come down”. As much as I enjoyed the long hike up to the stunning snow-capped 360 views of the Alps, I knew without a doubt that it would be a long, knee-breaking hike down.
Heading down through a rocky, steep and slippery trail.
Author’s note: This is a continuation on my series of trekking La Vanoise National Park in the high Alps of France. To see all posts in this series, click here.
There was definitely something in the air during our hike to the Refuge de la Dent Parrachee. Between endless giggles and childish jokes, nothing seemed to keep us from laughing. Our overall giddy mood was utterly contagious and unending. Often times like these are the best memories of an entire trip.
Approaching our refuge for the night. We were in for a real treat.
Author’s note: This is a continuation on my series of trekking La Vanoise National Park in the high Alps of France. To see all posts in this series, click here.
“Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.” –Ruth Ann Schabacker
We rose at seven to a misty morning in the mountains. I was a new woman! I had finally slept. Yes I did it! I managed to sleep in a room of 40 fellow smelly hikers head-to-toe, all thanks to my new technique of using my long-sleeved shirt as a mummy wrap around my eyes and ears. Oh how good it felt to finally sleep! I was ready to seize the day…
Morning mist over the Alps gave a mystical effect.
Author’s note: This is a continuation on my series of trekking La Vanoise National Park in the high Alps of France. To see all posts in this series, click here.
All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. – Walk Disney
L’Arpont refuge. About a ten-hour hike from our starting point in Pralognon-la-Vanoise.
After a long day of hiking we finally arrived at our destination for the night: l’Arpont refuge. From afar, it looked like an old rustic stone dwelling left over from the old days. Yet inside it was actually quite nice, with bright open windows overlooking the mountains, wood floors and ceilings and a beautiful bakery. Perhaps I’d get a better night’s sleep.
Author’s note: This is a continuation on my series of trekking La Vanoise National Park in the high Alps of France. To see all posts in this series,click here.
The real beauty of realizing your true nature is in the freshness, peace and deep bodily relaxation which touches to the core of your being, flows into your everyday life and bursts forth naturally into blossoming from within itself. Without you ‘doing’ a thing about any of it.
This is a beautiful and simple change of lifestyle. A lifestyle of letting go and living openhandedly curled up in the sunlit warmth on the lap of the Divine (your heart). – Julie Sarah Powell
After another breathtaking picnic lunch in the heart of Vanoise National Park, we continued on to our accommodations for the night: l’Arpont refuge. The terrain had become much more barren, rocky and remote. By this point in our trek, we were at least seven or eight hours walk away from where we started back in the village of Pralognon la Vanoise. The further away from civilization we got, the more my spirits soared.
Author’s note: This is a continuation on my series of trekking La Vanoise National Park in the high Alps of France. To see all posts in this series, click here.
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” - John Burroughs
Morning clouds over the Col de la Vanoise.
After a rough night’s sleep, I gathered my wits and set off with our group a little past nine o’clock to the rising sun. The fresh air seemed to help immensely and draw me in. Soon, my three-hour night’s sleep was all but a distant dream and I was in my element. Embracing life and breathing it all in with each and every step.
Author’s note: This is a continuation on my series of trekking La Vanoise National Park in the high Alps of France. To see all posts in this series, click here.
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods; There is rapture on the lonely shore; There is society, where none intrudes, by the deep sea and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more.” -Lord Byron
Our first site inside Vanoise National Park, France.
“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
I read this quote and couldn’t think of a more fitting way to begin my journey inside the heart and soul of Vanoise National Park. If you haven’t guessed by now, my preferred method of seeing and exploring a new place is on foot. Many of my recent travels abroad have involved hiking. I experienced the highs and lows of rural village life in the Himalayas of Nepal on foot. I explored the wild wind and crazy weather of the southern tip of Patagonia on foot. I followed the ancient Incan trail of knee-busting stone steps on foot. And, I explored glaciers, mountains and volcanoes of Peru, Guatemala, Iceland and New Zealand all on foot.
If I’m not moving, I’m not really there. I like to feel where I am. I like to see with my eyes wide open, the amazing beauty of this incredibly diverse and sensational earth and its people. I like to smell the flowers and feel the rough earth below my weary feet. There is no better way to travel the world than on foot.
Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins
We rose after a glorious, wine and french-food induced sleep to the brilliant sunshine blanketing Pralognan-la-Vanoise’s lush alpine valley. After a long, tiring journey, it felt like heaven to finally sleep. Our “rucksacks” (as the Brits call them) were packed and ready to go. My body and soul were ready, eager and anxious to begin. I could hardly wait to begin the journey.
Author’s note: This post is a continuation of my series on trekking La Tour de la Vanoise in the French Alps. For previous post, click here.
Lovely, quaint Pralognan-la-Vanoise, a mountain town located in the heart of Savoie in the French Alps.
After our unexpected afternoon in Geneva(for post click here), we returned to the airport to meet our guide Mark along with the other two guests joining us on our trek through La Tour de la Vanoise. Our group would be small, only four trekkers along with our own, personal mountain guide, France-based Brit, Mark of Simply Savoie.
Isn’t this what you envision a French Alpine village to look like?
