After waking up early and packing up the tent outside the gite, I went inside for breakfast and said farewell to a few friends I met at the dinner table the night before. A couple we’re doing the GR-52, same as I am, and a father and his young daughters were doing a summit hike to the peak of the Mercantour, a nice place for panoramas of the national park.
I left at 8pm, immediately hopping on the trail and passing a couple dozen people in my typical rapid pace. Today was a special day, though. I felt especially energized knowing that I was in a national park hiking towards the area known as the valley of marvels! And I intended to bivuoac at the Lac Basto, the gateway to the marvelous valley, 25km distant across three separate climbs and descents, about 2000m of climbing altogether.
I sped up the trail, and found a great lac to stop and have a sandwich with coffee before the final ascent over the pass.
From the col, I made up a route on some various trails to ride the ridge and see a gorgeous bonus Lac.
Then down into the valley, a short bushwhack to cut off a needless 200m descent to a refuge, linking back up with the GR-52 for the second climb of the day, this one traversing 500m up! Much of the terrain was very rocky and steep, but always beautiful.
The second col was a notch in the mountain with a steep and narrow crevasse to descend the other side.
Then, upon climbing down to the next valley, I came to the refuge/lac De Nice, where a helicopter crew seemed to be practicing some rescue techniques.
I had a rest at the picnic area, filled up on water, and continued to the third and final climb of the day, a 500m ascent up to a mountain at 2,700m.
From here, pretty worn out, I slowly made it down to the first glacial lake, and knowing that lac Basto was on the other side of the ridge making up the lake, I climbed up the ridge, instantly rewarded with views of the famous lake, and a perfect flat plot to camp on. Amazing!
The views of the sunset and the full moon were a moment of perfect symmetry, and the colors were to die for.
Tomorrow, I enter the Valley of Marvels. Let’s go!