It was supposed to be easier on the second day, or at least so I had thought. Last night was a quiet one as far as backpacking campgrounds go. On this trip I had brought a mini thermometer with me so that I could keep track of how well my sleep system would perform based on the various temperatures throughout the trip.

I woke early to comfortable temperatures in order to catch the sunrise but there wasn't much to see: it was hidden behind a ridge of mountains. I set about packing up my gear, and getting ready for the day. Breakfast was a standard European breakfast: yogurt, bread, and jam/nutella.

The trail started by going uphill, but I was doing a much better job at pacing myself today than yesterday, and was making good progress. It quickly turned into more scrambling and climbing, but compared to yesterday it was much easier.

While it started off as easy today, it was still harder than yesterday with lots of hiking up and down, plus the bits of climbing mixed in, the unrelenting sun (it gets hot in the valleys), and the wind was starting to pick up. There were some sketchy areas were you had to boulder across severe drops with no chains.

The trail heading down from todays peak was mostly loose rocks which was kind of dangerous given how steep some sections were. The descent seemed to last forever. Finally I could see the refuge as a tiny blue dot in the distance.

I eventaully made it to the refuge, even though the trail seemed to be deliberatly taking the long way around.

I had a hard time finding a level tent spot, and ended up using some wood pallets as a base which meant using rocks to hold everything down. It worked, but we'll see how it holds up in the wind tonight.

I hung out with the gang before going to bed early. I can smell the toilets from here. Not a pleasant thing at all.