Col de la Forclaz to Champex via Fenetre d’Arpette (Sunday, August 25th)

There are two hikes to get to Champex - the Fenetre d'Arpette (which we did) or the Bovine Route.  The former is much more difficult and steeper, yet offers amazing views and is always on the "must do" lists of all the Haute Route websites, books, and blogs.  We knew some people that took the Bovine Route (and it is the only route open in bad weather) and it was also beautiful. However we went for the Fenetre and knew it would be our most difficult hike of the entire journey.

We had our alarm set for 6:15am and we were packed and pretty much ready to go when we went to breakfast at 7am, Interestingly, although for dinner they offered unlimited amounts of food, it wasn't the same for breakfast - we were each given one croissant, a cup of orange juice, one hard boiled egg, and tea or coffee. There was cereal to eat if one was still hungry. We hit the trail at 7:50am and the first 2.1 miles was the same as the last 2.1 miles from yesterday - the path to the Chalet du Glacier. This time we did take some pictures........it was a much nicer walk than the previous afternoon - cooler and less people. Here is a water bisse - there were tons of these along the Haute Route and one could fill their water bottles and not need to treat the water.

There was also this strange waterwheel thing - we have no idea what it was for........

We arrived at the Chalet du Glacier in about 50 minutes and then the hike truly started.  It was uphill in the woods for a while.....

And we continued to have views of the Glacier du Trient as we walked along the "other" side of it from yesterday.........

And an even better view of the Relais d'Arpette..........

 And more steepness.......

Here's perspective.........

More glacier views.........

And more perspective of how high we were getting..........

Remember, we were "below" the glacier at the start of today's hike........

I think Brad stopped to tie his shoe, so Suzanne took more pics with the camera......

And played with the zoom lens.........

The steepness continued..........

Then we hit the boulder field. Do YOU See a trail? We sure-as-shit didn't, but it was there.......

Again, we ask - TRAIL???

So this was amazingly steep in some places - Suzanne got a bit beaten-up getting over some of these boulders......

But we were getting closer......

Is that a smile or a grimace? 😏

And finally - 3 1/2 hours later - The Fenetre! (Fenetre is "window" in French.) Here's the view to the other side...........

Along with everyone else, we stopped for a bit for lunch. Yup - baguette, cheese, and sausage! 

After a quick 15-minute rest, we were back at it, this time downhill on the steepest decline we've ever hiked - and it was loose gravel/rock - super slow-going. A knee-killer for sure!

Then after all the scree......yup - more boulders!

Again, do YOU see a trail??  Trust us, we got "off-trail" many times, along with pretty much everyone else. 

Finally, the promise of a dirt path...........

And it's flat! (For a wee bit.) It eventually got rocky again......

There is a little town down-valley - that's where we're heading - that's Champex.  We hiked in the forest for a bit......

And then along a flat road, which was nice........

And by now, we thought we were lost since we were coming upon some houses, but the signs kept pointing to Champex, so onward we went.......

Literally past a couple houses...... People were actually outside doing Sunday afternoon chores.

Then back into the woods again, and by now we really thought we were lost. 

Especially when the trail came out onto the main (okay, the only) road into town......

But we continued to walk, looking for the hotel......

Which was at the very far end of town. (of course!) Oh, and we were actually never lost - this was the way to Champex and our hotel - Hotel Splendide. But trust us - at one point when we thought we were in Champex, and we saw a sign that said "30 minutes" to go until Champex - UGH! Then another 30 minutes to walk to the hotel at THE OTHER END OF THE TOWN! We finally got there at 5:40pm - pretty much a 10 hour day of hiking with one 15 minute break (and a few other quick snack, pee, photo breaks as well).

Hotel Splendide was lovely -  we made reservations for this hotel a couple days prior when we were in Chamonix once we knew that the weather would be good for hiking and that we were on our way. 

After checking-in, we were brought to the boot room......

Where we also left our hiking poles.....

And then up to the largest, nicest room of the entire three weeks. (And I don't say this only because there was chocolate waiting for us on the bed.) 

And the views from our balcony were wonderful. 

Again we did the half-board and dinner was a mixed salad (which was very good), pork filet (for Brad) vegetable "patty thing" for Suzanne, fresh pasta, vegetables, and sorbet for dessert. 

We knew we had a shorter, much easier day the next day, so it was nice going to bed knowing that we could sleep later......

Today’s numbers:

	Miles	Elevation change
Hotel du Col de la Forclaz to Chalet du Glacier	3.1	328
Chalet du Glacier to Fenetre	3.4	3,504
Fenetre to Champex	3.8	2,123
	9.3	5,955

Today's Word: Relentless.