We had our second earliest start at 7:38 am from Bonatti
towards the Swiss town of La Fouly. Bonatti was really a pretty hut in a gorgeous setting, so I'm starting with a photo of the hut from sunset the evening before.
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| Rifugio Walter Bonatti |
The route began with a gentle uphill and a not too bad downhill to
the Val Ferrett in Italy and then a long, steep climb up 2,700 feet/823 m to Col
Ferrett before crossing into Switzerland into the Swiss Val Ferrett to La Fouly. The downhill did involve sharing the trail with a large herd of cows being moved from the high pastures!
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| Nancy carefully making her way down through a large herd of cows - Photo by Sue Priest |
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| Still looking fresh before we started climbing to the Col Ferrett |
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| Not looking as fresh at the top! Photo by Colleen Sinnott |
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| Gorgeous views on the route to the top with end of season fireweed |
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| Part of the 360 degree view from the top of the Col |
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| Looking back down to Italy from where we climbed up |
I took a series of panorama shots at the top of the Col – but should have shot
a short movie to get a better sense of the whole 360 view. From the top we crossed back into Switzerland and walked down the lovely Val Ferret.
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| Walking down the lovely Val Ferret - not sure what this sign means - but I think it means NO POST BUS instead of no blowing horns. This is the symbol for the ubiquitous yellow buses of Switzerland. Photo to left shows Colleen walking by a typical beautiful stone house. |
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We kept criss-crossing with hikers we had met all the way up and then down the route. The Israeli girls were very friendly, and we had to say goodbye to them when we arrived in Le Fouly.
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| Two young graduate students from Israel we met many times on the trail |
Maya Joie was my favorite refuge – we had a large open room,
with a big window looking at the glacier across the valley and we just shared the room with a nice, young Canadian couple. There were also hot showers that
did not require a token. We had good weather so I managed to get laundry hung
in the sun, and we had a lovely view for our “sundowners”.
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| Enjoying "sundowners" and the view at Maya Joie - Photo by Colleen Sinnott |
Dinner was fantastic. We started with a mushroom soup, and a meat
and cheese board with some small gerkin pickles and pearl onions and then were
served an “eat as much as you want” raclette with baby potatoes –so I had three
servings. Yum.
This refuge had a wonderful game room where Sue and Nancy worked together on a puzzle while letting our big dinner digest!
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| Jigsaw puzzle in the game room at the Maya Joie in La Fouly |
Day 8 Summary: Rifugio Walter Bonatti (Italy) to Maya Joie (Switzerland); 12.43 mi/20 km; 2691’/820 m up; 4078’/1243 m
down; 8:32 hrs on trail
