Tour de Mont Blanc – Day 7 – Ferret to Rifugio Elena

Today’s walk on the Tour de Mont Blanc would take us from Ferret in Switzerland, over the high mountain pass into Italy. The previous day’s hike through Alpine meadows and hamlets had been pretty, but we hadn’t gained much altitude. Now we were ready to head into wilder and higher terrain, on this 180km long distance mountain trail through France, Switzerland and Italy.

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Leaving Ferret in the mist

Over breakfast at Hotel Col de Fenetre, we chatted to a group of four American ladies who were doing a self guided tour on the Tour de Mont Blanc. Their walk was part of a pre-arranged holiday package and we secretly congratulated ourselves that we had arranged it all ourselves and spared the expense. 

The hamlet of Ferret was shrouded in mist but Madame at the hotel assured us that it would would clear and that fine weather was forecast for the rest of the week. “Don’t worry” she said, “Il fait beau en haut” – the weather’s fine higher up.

As we prepared to leave the hotel, a couple were outside, saddling up their mule to carry their bags. I stopped for a chat about Quartz the mule and had my photo taken with him, rather wishing that he could be carrying my bags too.

There was just time to look at the small chapel near the hotel. The motif above the door said “Quiconque aime Marie ne lui refuera pas un Ave Maria en passant devant cette Chapelle”  – “Whoever loves Mary, will not refuse her an Ave Maria as they pass before this chapel”. 

We retraced our steps back to the river we crossed the day before, then made a few false starts before we picked up the TMB trail again and were confident we were on the right track.

Climbing above Ferret

The muddy path gained height, and as we had been assured, the mist cleared and the sun came out. After an hour of steady climbing, the toy-town houses of the hamlet of Ferret lay below us.

Now we were high enough to get a clear view down the valley. A stony river and road snaked along the valley bottom, ending just beyond Ferret, with tracks to a few isolated farmsteads.

Sounds of civilisation drifted up from the valley: the rushing of the river and cars driving along the road. Distant cowbells alerted us to the herd of cows down below us, moving in a single file along the road, like a line of black ants trailing along a silver path. 

A little higher at the Combe of Les Creuses, we paused for some photos with a fantastic view down the valley. Although we were high above the valley and well away from the road, the phone signal was good.

In one of those weird “miles from anywhere” moments, my friend took the opportunity to ring and book her hotel in Edinburgh for a business trip on her return.

Refuge at La Peule

The next section of trail brought us to the Refuge at La Peule, a low building with a couple of yurts at one end. At 2071M, with the Swiss flag flying from a pole, I thought this might mark the border into Italy. Later I realised that this was much further along the walk.

It looked as if the Refuge was once a cowshed. The terrace was full of pretty tubs of geraniums and flowers planted in walking boots.

Walkers sat under shady umbrellas eating raclette, or other variations of toasted cheese. We also unloaded our rucksacks and sat down at this welcome stop, for a glass of apple juice “Pomme de Maison”. 

The climb to Grand Col Ferret

After our refreshment, we continued on the hillside above the Refuge for a picnic. We ate the lunch of bread, cheese and salami from our rucksacks, with a steady stream of walkers passing by.

The scenery was wilder here, scrub dotted with pretty yellow and purple wildflowers. I thought the star flowers might be edelweiss, but they turned out to just be thistles!

The path now took us on a steady climb up towards the highest point of our trek, the Grand Col Ferret at 2537M. On the opposite side of the valley, the mountains were becoming more jagged. Grey rock faces were covered with shale and lower down with rivulets of snow.

I had been walking in brilliant sunshine, stripped down to shorts and a vest. But walkers coming down from the Col were dressed as if for ski-ing, with jackets zipped and hoods up.

The temperature started to drop noticeably and I also put on my fleece and jacket. We passed pockets of snow just below the Col that hadn’t melted through the summer. 

Views of Grand Col Ferret

The spectacular Grand Col Ferret marks the border between Switzerland and Italy. Streams from these slopes feed the River Po that flows into the Adriatic on the Italian side and the Rhine on the Swiss side.

Reaching the trig point on the summit of the Grand Col Ferret, I walked along the ridge. I was now well wrapped up as the wind was biting and cold.

Kestrels circled above on the upstream. The two glaciers of Pre de Bar and Triolot hung before us, feeling close enough to touch.

A few paces below the summit it was more sheltered and I found my friend laid down in the sunshine to meditate on the glorious scenery. I showed my appreciation of the landscape by taking a few more photos.

The Hannibal Project

Further down near the trig point, I was intrigued by the sight of a man taking photos of a large orange inflatable plastic elephant, so went down to investigate.

He explained to a crowd of interested walkers, that it was part of an artistic Hannibal project. The elephant travels to various different mountains and beauty spots around Europe to be photographed.

You can find out more about Thomas Falk and his Hannibal project at tfkunstkonzept.wordpress.com. Having taken my photo with the orange elephant, I took a few of Thomas and his little dog for his album.

On the Italian side of the Col we could see Rifugio Elena in the valley below us. Experience told us that while it looked just a stone’s throw away, it would take another hour or two to walk down to the refuge. The path down the mountain was braided and in places rope mesh had been placed over the muddy tracks to prevent erosion.

Finally in the late afternoon we reached the terrace of Rifugio Elena and immediately realised that we were in Italy. We switched our Bonjours to Buongiornos and our Mercis to Pregos and Grazies.

The walk to Rifugio Elena

We were shown to our en suite twin room at the end of the corridor, which although simply furnished, felt like luxury after a long and sweaty walk.

We ordered a beer and by 7 o’clock were sitting down to dinner with two jolly Dutch couples who recounted to us, in perfect English, their tales of walking through deep snow on other parts of the Tour de Mont Blanc.

The Italian refuges have a reputation for serving better food than the French ones. Here the menu had turned Italian with a plate of pasta to start. This was followed by pork and a small slice of polenta and ratatouille. Desert was a big bowl of green apples followed by slices of jam tart.

By 9 pm we realised that it was time for bed when the lady from the refuge started stacking the stools up on our table. Once she had started hovering around us we took the hint and turned in for the evening.

We needed to be ready for an early start the next morning when we would continue to Refuge Bonnati.

Read about the next day’s walk: Tour de Mont Blanc – Day 8 – Rifugio Elena to Rifugio Bonatti

Watch my Tour de Mont Blanc Video

This video from our third year of walking on the Tour de Mont Blanc covers Days 6, 7 and 8 of the walk.

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Resources for walking the Tour de Mont Blanc

We used the Cicerone Tour of Mont Blanc guide by Kev Reynolds. It’s an excellent guide for both the clockwise and anti-clockwise route. There’s a detailed route guide, maps, accommodation information and points of interest along the route.

We stayed at Hotel Col de Fenetre at Ferret in Switzerland. We had a twin room with en suite bathroom with dinner and breakfast. The hotel does not have a website but reservations can be made by e-mailing [email protected] Tel. +41 027 7831 188. Alternatively, make a booking through the Mon tour du Mont Blanc Website.

The second night, we stayed at Rifugio Elena in Italy where we had a twin room with en suite bathroom which included dinner and breakfast. The Refuge has room for 130 people in both dormitory accommodation and private en suite twin rooms. There is an e-mail address given on the website but we did not get any response to our e-mail reservation request. If you have similar problems, you will need to telephone them for a reservation. Tel (+39) 0165844688

Bookings for some refuges (but not Rifugio Elena) can also be made on the Mon Tour de Mont Blanc website. To avoid disappointment and a long walk, you should book your place in all refuges. You can normally do so a day or two before, or from the previous refuge.

The Autour du Mont Blanc website has useful information to help you plan your Tour de Mont Blanc walk.

Read Next

Read about the next day’s walk: Tour de Mont Blanc Day 8 – Rifugio Elena to Rifugio Bonatti

More tales from the Tour de Mont Blanc

• Tour de Mont Blanc Day 1 – Les Houches to Refuge la Bellachat
• Tour de Mont Blanc Day 2 – Refuge de Bellachat to la Flegere
• Tour de Mont Blanc Day 3 – Refuge Flégère to Lac Blanc
• Tour de Mont Blanc Day 4 – Flégère to Refuge Col de Balme
• Tour de Mont Blanc Day 5 – Col de Balme to Champex Lac
• Tour de Mont Blanc Day 6 – Champex Lac to Ferret
• Tour de Mont Blanc Day 7 – This article
• Tour de Mont Blanc Day 8 – Rifugio Elena to Rifugio Bonatti

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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