We have not been particularly lucky with our attempts to hike to Refuge Font Turbat (2169m) in Valjouffrey valley. Our first attempt  was four years ago in December. It was a perfect sunny day but the sun did not reach to the bottom of the valley, so we were freezing. When leaving from Grenoble it is hard to imagine what the conditions are on the mountains, or how cold it is. Many popular hiking or winter sport sites have webcams on which one check the conditions, but Valjouffrey does not have any. And weather forecasts are notoriously unreliable. That year the first snow had fallen in October, but there wasn’t much left, but we had a number icy streams to cross. On the third we turned back, since we could not find a way over it.

Yesterday (Sat 27/6)  we were in Valjouffrey valley again. We saw some patches of blue sky when driving to Le Désert en Valjouffrey (1250m), but at the time we started walking all we saw was dark grey clouds. At kilometer three it started raining, but it did not last long. At kilometer five the sun came out, and it got hot and muggy. At kilometer eight it started raining again, and we decided to turn back. According to the signpost we were still one hour away from the Refuge, even if the whole climb should have been only eight kilometers long. On our way back it was raining on and off, and we even heard some thunder. Despite the rain, we never felt cold — quite the contrary!

The beginning of the climb was quite easy; the trail was smooth and wide.  At some point it got steeper and  rockier, which slowed us down. At hindsight, we couldn’t have done the whole distance to Font Turbat and back in one day. Maybe that’s why they have the refuge there in the first place: people hike there on the first day, take the rest, and return the next day.

Again we had quite a few streams to cross. There was new bridges over  a couple of them, then there were some quite easy ones, but the last two before we turned back were trickier. I decided that getting my feet wet is a lesser harm compared to falling and injuring myself, so I boldly stepped on rocks I judged stable enough regardless how submerged they were.

 

Again we saw a variety of wild flowers, and also found some blueberries! They were small and tasted rather bland, though.

We spent 5h18mins on our 16 kilometer hike with 754m of ascent and descent.The trail was not crowded by any means, but we met quite a few people, mostly young adults in their lower twenties, hiking in groups. They looked like they were going to spend the night at the refuge. I still wonder how the keeper(s) of the refuge transport all the food etc. up there. There is no road all the way.

On our drive home we passed this gorgeous covered bridge. We stopped to enjoy our lunch sandwiches at the picnic area next to the bridge.