Snow, Scrambles, and Lessons from the Mountain: Surviving a Grueling Alpine Day Three
Today was arguably the toughest day yet. It started with an awful breakfast: corn flakes in hot milk and bread with jam.
The trail didn't make it easy as we began our ascent toward the peak. We had to navigate snow bridges, and at one point, my foot actually fell through the crust. With a mule trailing behind us and the surreal sound of someone singing "Edelweiss" in the distance, we kept moving.
We finally hit the valley floor, stopped for a quick bathroom break at the Glacier Villa, and made the 30-minute trek to Refuge des Mottets for lunch. I treated myself to a nutella crepe while my partner stuck to bread, cheese, an apple, and banana chips.
The afternoon was a long, lonely slog. The road started as a soft slope where we were the only people in sight, but it ended in a brutal, steep scramble over loose rocks and slippery snow. The trail became nearly impossible to find, and by the time we reached our refuge, we were exhausted.
We were the first to arrive at our stop (an 11-person refuge). Our room has eight people, and the beds are so close we're basically sharing with strangers. Almost everyone here speaks exclusively French, which made the difficult day feel even more isolating.
After helping a fellow American named Andrew (who was awkwardly stuck without cash) and discussing the snowy shortcut for tomorrow, we made a tough call. Because of the conditions, we're waking up early to go back down the way we came. It adds three hours to the journey, but safety comes first.
Dinner was a lesson in local custom: a thin vegetable soup with bread and cheese (the French hikers insisted the cheese goes in the soup), followed by rice, lentils, and poppyseed cake.
Today was a reminder that the mountain always has the final say.