Tuesday 16th July
25km (126km) – 1350m ascent – 895m descent

Today began with a steep uphill and it was sweltering. Combined with an extensive population of horse flies attacking my behind and sweat causing my ‘water resistant’ suncream to run into my eyes (naturally inducing semi blindness), I was not particularly joyful. Nevertheless, mother came to the rescue with her supreme bug spray/lotion and despite having already read the hazards which said at no point must this stuff touch your clothing, she went right ahead and slapped it on. Within 20 minutes my leggings began to disintegrate and from there it seemed a race against time to ensure I did not end up walking in my pants. Shortly before arriving at the refuge we also passed through a small town called Les Contamines whose inhabitants apparently enjoy tree knitting (see photos below), so that was interesting. About 10 minutes after our arrival, there was a torrential downpour and thunderstorm which lasted until after we went to sleep (quite a while) and our 3 room mates who were supposed to be arriving never turned up…