Haute Route 2013-Day 5-Cabane du Mont Fort to Cabane de Prafleuri

Layers-Mountain Views leaving Cabane du Mont Fort

Haute Route Hiking Stats-Day 4

We woke up around 6:30am in our private little cubby hole room at the Cabane du Mont Fort. We headed down to breakfast early before most of the people except for a large group of older British folks who were heading out the door. Breakfast was the standard fare of bread, butter, jams, and cereal. We then packed up and made our way out for the long days hike to Cabane de Prafleuri. We would be going over 3 large cols today all at just under 10,000 feet elevation.

Our route card from Alpine Exploratory said to take the route that went up a stone road up the mountain where they were doing some road construction with large bulldozers. The alternate route that others were taking seemed a much more pleasing route with better views. We confirmed with our hiking compadres from the UK, Paul and Clare, that they were also taking that route. We started off down to the right of the cabane and traversed the hillside opposite it. We traversed the entire hillside for most of the morning along a very narrow path of about 1-3 feet wide eventually leading to the first col of the day, Col Termin(2648m). Almost the entire way was shaded from the sun and it was a nice cool walk in the morning. The view of the Grand Combin to our left was stunning the entire time.

We stopped at Col Termin for a little while and chatted with Rich from San Luis Obispo who had caught up with us. The rest of the group of single travelers caught up eventually and then we headed on our way still traversing the hillside, but this time in the sun. We now had views of Lake Louvie and the Cabane of the same name far below in the valley. There was also a large dammed lake further beyond in a valley behind it. We passed a group of some other Americans slowly climbing up out of the valley after staying at Cabane Louvie.

Eventually we came to the start of the climb to Col de Louvie(2921m) which turned into more boulders and scree. A path also came in from the left from Col de Chaux, which was were we would probably would have come into if we took the recommended Alpine Exploratory route. Once we crested the col, we stopped and had a lunch of bars we lugged from home. I am kind of wishing I would not have brought so many now. They are heavy for one, but the baguettes and cheese everyone else is eating looks so good. Eventually the rest of the group caught up and had some lunch as well. We chatted a bit with them before making our way through the left over snow right after the col and down across the valley to Col de PraFleuri.

After making our way down the bouldered descent to the dead glacier of Rosanblanche to what is appropriately named the Grand Desert. It is a very rocky and lined with cairns to find your way across to the Col de Prafleuri(2965m). While making our way across we caught up to the older British group who had left when we were heading down to breakfast. They didn’t seem to happy about letting us pass either. We found an alternate route around them while heading up a morraine on the one side. One of the faster guys in that group was up ahead and had spotted an Ibex standing on the top of a nearby cliff. By the time I switched my wide angle lens with my telephoto, the animal had laid down, so I could only get a shot of his head.

Ibex on the Point-Haute Route Switzerland

Denise did not seem very amused by the animal and continued on. She seemed to be in a race for the remainder of the afternoon and I never caught up with her until the Cabane we were staying at. Once I crested the col, it was a steady downhill through a cut that had a large metal pipe running up it. The Cabane was located in what looked to me like a old quarry. There were tracks running along that looked like a bulldozer would use them and some strange man-made platforms at the bottom where you could load one of those large dump trucks.

Heading towards Cabane de Perfleuri

Cabane de Perfleuri

The cabane was located up a steep hill on the other side of the quarry. I saw Denise arrive at the cabane as I was still coming down. By the time I got there she had already checked in. We were sharing a room with an Australian couple we had seen at the previous hut. They were not very chatty and kind of kept to themselves, but they seemed nice. We got the top bunk in the room which was fine. We got some tokens for the shower, which were 5 Francs for 3 minutes. 1 Franc more and 1 minute longer than last night. There is only one bathroom at the Cabane de Prafleuri which is kind of odd. 2 urinals are right out there for men to take a leak while women can be washing up in the sink or showering. A bit of a weird setup. The showers were warm, but lacked any place to put things. They felt so good though after a long hike.

Cabane de Perfleuri

I then enjoyed a couple of beers and snacks outside on the patio while talking with Martijn from the Netherlands. Eventually Rich showed up and so did the others. The showers began to form a long line of people waiting. I was glad to have gotten there so early. I also heard that the hot water had run out. While going the bathroom that evening, I could hear our friend Clare in the showering shivering out loud. The other thing that stinks at Prafleuri is that you cannot drink the water. You have to buy 1.5l bottles for 8 Francs. A bit steep!

Dinner was served around 6:30pm. It was really good. We had a bean/lentil soup to start and then some pork stew on rice for the main meal. Yes the vegan thing is a bit on hold for this vacation. Everything here is about bread, dairy, and meat. Not sure how they eat this stuff and stay so thin. For desert we had some pear with chocolate sauce on it.

After dinner we turned in early and did some reading and journal writing. Another big day tomorrow to the town of Arolla. Looking forward to having a hotel room and private bathroom.