Thursday 11th September: Sunny morning, overcast afternoon, rain late afternoon: 8°C to 18°C
Moede Anterne to Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval: 22.0k: 8am to 4pm: 8hrs
Accommodation: Gite de Selvagny, Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval
High Tetras behind Refuge
Mont Blanc, last white cap on right
Edward and Sue about to leave
Now we can see Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc in full glory
Col d'Anterne 2257 metres
But I'm still getting to the top
In awe of Mont Blanc
Over the Col d'Anterne
Lac d'Anterne in High Plains
Misty moorlands
Best photo in 10 shots of marmot
Refuge Alfred Wills Anterne
Coffee by waterwheel Alfred Wills
Crossover of GR5 and Via Alpini
High Plains of Anterne
Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval 1000m below
Cascades de la Sauffz
cascades du Roguet
In garden of Gite de Selvagny
We had thought this leg of the trip would be unspectacular, having left the Alps behind but far from it, today was totally different in a most spectacular way. First we had some of the best views of Mont Blanc we’d ever seen, then the High Plains of Anterne with its lake, deep gullies and spectacular waterfalls.
We were right. The thermos tea was cold by 7am. We suspect the two wardens have day jobs and need to leave early in the morning. In addition to the luke warm tea, there was only cold toast and jam. Other than that, the Refuge Moede Anterne was very nice and we had a lovely chat to Edward and Sue.
It's cold outside, our food bag is very cold when we pack to leave at 8am. But the sun is fast rising over the mountains in time to see the glory of Mont Blanc across two mountain ranges and two valleys. It sits high above fluffy white clouds and stays in view for an hour until we reach the Col d'Anterne, a short walk up behind the Refuge. The breakfast tea was so awful that we stop early for a hot cup of Jet Boiled tea on the top of the col with Mont Blanc in full view. This will be our last view of Mont Blanc.
Down the other side on a stony path to a huge flat plain with Lake d'Anterne with campers on its edge. Along the flat then over a petite col with marmots running everywhere. 10 photos later, Ian has one good photo of a fat one which couldn’t run fast. Down a very slippery muddy slope for a few hundred metres, we walk past the Refuge Alfred Wills d'Anterne. It's 12pm and time for another coffee. It's very busy as we sit by the old water mill and watch about 50 day walkers coming from all directions. This refuge is a cross point for the GR5 from Amsterdam to Nice and the Alpine way from Slovenia to Monaco.
Up over another petite col, below the gigantic mountains of Anterne high above, we start our long down hill trek of 1000 metres into the valley of the Gorges des Tines. The meadows turn to moorish scrub, and the underground varies between spongy and muddy to shaley and slippery. We need to be careful going down. The scrub becomes pine forests and at 1.30pm, there's a sunny spot besides the Cascades de la Sauffaz. You can't beat French bread, Beaufort cheese, tomatoes and Mace with dried ham.
We've had two morning coffees and lunch so far (coffees take 15 minutes, lunches 30 minutes) but there's still a long way to go, so we're pleased we're stopping in Sixt-Fer-a-Chaval and not going all the way to Samoens as suggested in the guide book. Down and down we pass another set of falls, the Cascades de Rouget and from there it's another 30 minutes to Selvagny, the little village next to Sixt-Fer-a-Chaval, where we have booked the Gite de Selvagny. It's closed until 5pm, so we sit in the garden and use up all my battery on the MacAir and Samsung waiting for the guardian Christophe to arrive.
At 5pm, Christophe arrives with a smile. Our double room is a small double bed - but it has clean sheets and towels. The shower is down the hall. I’m first in and it’s hot. Ian showers then we wash everything. There's two more nights in huts that mightn't be as nice as this which has a drying room downstairs. Dinner is at 7.30pm so time to do a more blogging and check the weather - it's good for the next 2 days - then have a beer and nuts - Micks nuts are still lasting but will run out tomorrow. We check supermarkets in Samoens where we'll be by morning tea tomorrow to buy lunches and re stock our backpacks. There's a Carrefours, like to a Coles or Woollies, it's a bit out of the way but worth the extra 2k.
There's 5 other people for dinner, 2 girls and 3 guys, all walkers. Dinner is superb. A green salad with tomatoes, followed by tasty sausages, beans and pasta, with fresh bread, and dessert is ice cream on apple tart. Our a double room to ourselves, hot showers, sheets and towels, dinner and breakfast, all cost 45 Euro pp. Some places just go to that extra trouble and others don't seem to care. We're stuffed when we leave the table at 8.30pm, check on our washing in the basement (it's till wet), and go to bed.