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We woke up and started breakfast at 7am. The hotel breakfast looked impressive, with eggs, bacon, sausage, croissants, lox, fruit, etc., and even desserts.
Before we could dig in though, a woman mentioned to us that a storm was coming and they were going to close the Val Ferret road and there would be no busses. I was a bit confused since the iPhone weather app showed some chance of rain, but nothing that concerning.
We looked at some other weather apps that did look more threatening. Getting wet wasn't that concerning, but the threat of mud and flooding did concern us. We found out that a group of three at the hotel was taking a taxi to the Bonatti at 9am. We had to decide what to do quickly, and we decided to reserve a taxi for 8am up Val Ferret road. However, the taxi service called back and said the road was closing at 8am and we had to go NOW.
We gulped down the rest of our breakfast (sadly missing out on dessert) and scrambled up to our rooms and packed everything up and got in the taxi by around 7:45am.
The cab driver drove like a maniac, but he got us there before the road closed and in one piece. It hadn't started raining yet (it wasn't expected until 11am), but it was completely overcast. This would have probably been the toughest day of the trip, with about 5000 feet of climbing over 12 miles. Instead, we drove through the pleasant valley route and then started the short hike from the end of the road up to the refuge. We wondered if Jerry and Tom had made it in time before the road closed. Possibly, since they were hiking all the way to La Fouly and probably would have wanted to get an early start. We never saw them again on the trip, so
we'll probably never know.
Dora di Ferret (river)
The hike is pretty steep but short. There were 2 or 3 snow crossings, including one very sketchy snow bridge over a gushing stream. We weren't the only ones out there…many people were braving the conditions today and going much further than we were. We all made it across safely, but I wouldn't want to do it in the rain.
Starting the climb
Wildflowers
Climbing up past a waterfall
Looking back down the valley
Wildflowers and valley
Continuing the climb
Sketchy snow section
Looking down at Dora di Ferret (river)
It took us less than an hour to reach the refuge. There were lots of people inside and outside the refuge, some getting ready to leave but others just dawdling. Check-in wasn't until 2:30pm, and it was only 9am, so we had a ton of time to kill.
Backside of Refugio Elena
Rifugio Elena
Rifugio Elena entrance
We played chess and card games, and ate the lunch we had bought in Courmayeur. There were lots of people in the refuge most of the time we were waiting.
There was a large tour group that came in and sat near us; it sounded like they were trying to figure out what to do. I'm not entirely sure, but it
sounded like they eventually found a bus to take them to Courmayeur, cutting their day short (I guess the road might have re-opened later in the day?).
But in general the sense I got was that a lot of people were still doing their full hikes today.
The rain did start, almost like clockwork, at 11am, but it was very light. It let up a bit in the afternoon. It was supposed to get heavier later around 6pm I think. In retrospect we probably could have done our original hike. Although we probably wouldn't have seen much because of the heavy mist.
It did feel weird watching other people trudge in, wet from the rain, while we had hardly broken a sweat and didn't encounter any rain. But, no regrets. One of my sons was sick so probably appreciated the almost zero day. We still had 6 more days to go, including some tough ones.
Finally, at 2:30pm we were able to check in. Rifugio Elena has dorm-style beds. Our room probably had about 40 beds (there was another room as well, though smaller I think). The showers are really short, like 2 minutes. This was the only refuge where the shower time was limited. It was adequate, though.
We did notice a few people missing from dinner that night (some empty place settings), so a few people did skip their hike today. But most seemed to have made it.
Dinner consisted of (in this order) a bean salad, spaghetti, polenta, ham and peas, apples, and pudding. The spaghetti and polenta were ok, but I would have liked something other than the bean salad and ham and peas. So
far, I'd rate it as second worst refuge dinner, just ahead of Combal. But there would still be one worse...
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