Haute Route - Hiking From Cabine Du Mont Fort to Cabine De Prafleuri

Bad weather in the mountains can turn a hard day into a seemingly never-ending, torture session. We had to climb three passes, the first was at 2,600m / 8,530’. So, we got up early hoping to get over some, if not all the passes, before the rain hit. The skies looked very undecided. As we rounded a corner of the path, the fog slithered up the valley and closed in upon us.

The mountains should have been amazing, but we only caught brief glimpses peeking out from behind a blanket of clouds. Not far from the start, our hopes of a dry ascent were thrashed as the rain started. When we reached the first pass I wanted to stop to get a drink, a bite to eat and to put on my waterproof pants. Jennifer wanted to keep going. I was a bit upset that she did not want stop for me. We had a little spat, which is not good high in the mountains with inclement weather bearing down on you. What I didn’t realize was she only wore a thin waterproof shell for a jacket with her zippers open to vent the sweat from the climb. Neither of us realized she was in the beginning stages of hypothermia. This was with two 2,900m / 9,510’ passes left to climb.

We arrived to the cabin with boots, socks, pants and packs all soaked and added our stuff to a heap of equipment hanging to dry. Joining the chaos of trekkers who had converged on the cabin from many different routes, we warmed up quickly with a bowl of soup and a sandwich before sacking out for a bit.

The story continues...