Total ascent, 1027m.
Total descent, 985m.
Monday, 7th August.
I do seriously like this photo. I'm going to call it 'Bog At Dusk' until I get a better suggestion.
I need to explain how it works. The shower is cold. Water is pumped (weakly) up from the lake behind and gravity assists. The toilet is one of those you stand over, and when you've finished you fill the hanging bucket from the tap and 'flush'. Neither the shower nor the toilet have a door, so you have a great view of the mountains whilst you're dealing with things. Likewise you have to make lots of noise so that people know you're there!
I sat with a group of four Spaniards for dinner so at times I could participate, though one of the ladies sympathetically spoke English when it was obvious I was making no sense whatsoever. One of them looked totally exhausted and kept dozing off while she was eating. The place was packed (all 20 places plus the tent, loads of kids, a dog!), which meant the bedroom was full. Going to bed was tricky, as the only approach was via the foot end and I was the last in because I'm British and therefore want to drink beer until told to stop. I bet the people either side of me were delighted!
The very low ceilinged bedroom. Orgy just out of shot.
At 6:15 I was first awake, first to clear out of the room and first to eat breakfast. The rifugio was in dense fog. I chatted to Flávio, the manager, for a while. You can only get to the refuge for 3 months a year and he stays for the entire time. Food is brought up on foot, which explains the bread (at both breakfast and in my packed lunch - appropriately rock hard!). My 2 weather Apps today said that there would be storms today, Flávio said that it would clear but be cloudy again later. Italy 2, Weather Apps 0.
I might have been first up but I was last to leave. I was happily reading, drinking coffee and watching the fog swirling about and beginning to clear. I also had a pretty straightforward walk: descend a bit, ascend a bit, descend a bit more, ascend a bit more. And I wanted to see views as I was now in the heart of the Parco Naturale Alpi Marittime (correction from yesterday!).
I don't need to describe a whole day's worth of fantastic views, though I finally got a close up of the main event here, the colossal (don't think I've used that adjective yet) Argentera massif, at 3297m the highest thing around. The final ascent was a steep, exhilarating 600m pull up to tonight's rifugio, and as there was no descent to follow I was able to hammer up it without having to save any energy, leaving the chamois in my wake!
"Argentera! Argentera! Argentera!"
Rifugio Remondino, at 2430m (7970ft) my highest sleep of the trip, is much more modern and nowhere near as quirky as Emilio Questa, but after walking, sleeping and walking in the same clothes for the past 2 days I was happy to swap quirkiness for a shower. It was €5, but worth every cent. The girl I gave the money to passed me the key to the shower and asked me to return it when I'd finished. I was tempted to tell her that I would never finish.
Note man on left painting the refuge. Will it all be white by morning?!
I had a nose round afterwards. The place is surrounded by chamois (shy) and ibex (not shy) and is directly beneath the cliffs of the Argentera. A negative is no wifi (though not a surprise, I was more surprised that I had it yesterday) and a positive is I have a proper bed. A bottom bunk of three, but a bed nonetheless.
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