After such a hectic few days of high mountain hikes, we needed an easy day for our leg to recover. We transferred across to Les Gets, another picturesque high mountain village based solely around skiing and mountain biking. We found the Aire quite easily- it was not as posh as the one in Morzine, but it served us well- good valley views, at the foothill of the slopes with the cheeky bonus (if you can call it that) of very basic 1970’s self-cleaning loos in the ski lift building close by…a sight and experience to behold!
We spent the day finding our bearings around the village, planning for the next few days climbing and chatting to our British neighbour who was just coming to the end of his epic 90 day alpine biking adventure and was planning to go home in the next few days. Charlie his dog was popular company for the night. This was the first night that we really felt the temperature really draw in and we started to feel the end of the summer coming!
The following day, we awoke to a glorious morning, seemingly the rain had passed. We walked into the village in search of the Tourist information office as we had seen online that they had free wifi, we had been working hard to get our next YouTube vlog ready to upload and were excited to get it published. 15 minutes later, with rapid quick wifi, our mission was accomplished (if only it was always that easy). Next stop was the supermarket to stock up on bread for a packed lunch on the hillside. We trekked the mile back to the van for Lunch and to pack up for a long hike in the mountains. Lunch has now become a pretty standard staple of bread, cheese, saucisson and a bit of salad. Our plan was to buy a 6 journey lift pass which, compared to other ski resorts we have visited in the summer, seemed great value.
Lift pass purchased, we excitedly caught the chair lift and headed high into the mountains. For anyone that knows Jackie, She is not keen on heights so this is always a test for her., however we both revelled in getting a birds eye view of the Les Gets Mountain bike World Championships course. At this point, the weather was closing in a little and there were not many bikers out.
From the top of the chairlift, we spent about 10 minutes trying to orientate ourselves and find the correct path for our planned walk. In ski resorts these are usually really well marked with frequent signposts. We got to the first destination easily enough, however from there , no signposts could be found. Jackie with her great sense of direction insisted that she could see the horse shoe of peaks we were wanting to navigate and strode off confidently. When we got to a lake at the bottom of a steep descent, there were dozens of signs, however not a single one had our destinations on! We were totally and utterly lost with the only solution to trek a mile back up the steep hill to start again. Lesson learnt… again, always go in the opposite direction to Jackie! The rest of the navigation was easy once we were on the right path and a fab afternoon walk was had. The weather was a little cloudy and damp, but sometimes that just adds to the fun. There is nothing better than a cold beer after a long walk and a big bowl of pasta. Charlie the dog came to visit us again, I think he was hoping to have a pasta dinner too.
The evening was complete when an amazing expedition vehicle joined us in the aire - van porn for Richard.
Determined to the make the most of the fantastic weather forecast and the lift pass, we were up and off early the next day. We packed up a lunch, including cold beers, and headed off for the Mont-Chery gondola. As we rose into the air, with not a cloud in the sky, the peak of Mont Blanc could be clearly seen. Signposts were much more plentiful and we soon found ourselves off the beaten track of the many mountain bikers and deep in a gladed forest. The views at every point on this walk were spectacular, every corner we turned had us reaching for our cameras. Nearing the peak of the walk, Mont-Chery, we came across a huge ski mountain restaurant which was closed for the summer, a bonus for us as we had the whole balcony to ourselves for lunch with a view, and what a view it was.
The heat intensified after our lunch and if we are honest, we found it quite stifling and energy sapping, it was a good job that the next restaurant we came across was open for business and a nice cold beer was consumed. The atmosphere was amazing, huge families were gathered for Sunday feasts of traditional mountain foods (lots of melted cheeses) and copious glasses of cold white wine. We definitely had food envy! The walk back to the lift was long and hard. we recorded over 15km in total for the day.
We were in desperate need of a good shower and electricity to charge the lap tops, so we decided to head down into the next valley to a town called Samoens, we had earmarked a campsite that was only €18 using our ASCI card. When we arrived at 5.45 on a Sunday afternoon there were 4 vans trying to book in and no one was answering the phone on the number listed, so our group consensus was to just find a pitch and pay in the morning. The sunset that evening was stunning, lighting up the mountains down the valley.
Check out part 8 of our summer adventures here.
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