It would be a good day to marvel at the scenery and not push *quite* so much as the day before. The stage was relatively long, with multiple climbs, plus I was hoping to finish the day with no knee pain as per Goal #2.
A portion of the GR5 trail near Rosuel refuge had been closed for repair, so Philippe and friends came up with an alternate route. We were to follow the pink markings and red/white flagging, that's all we knew. We started out up the dirt road as Philippe and Xavier (Monsieur Masseur) ran on ahead to mark the course.
Group 2 followed us half an hour later:
Near the end of the road, I was in the lead but ran into a directional question. Trails split off in both directions and I didn't see any GTA indications. Based on the previous year's route, I took a right turn and started up the hill. Then I heard yelling from across the way, and Philippe was waving that we were supposed to turn LEFT. Oh, I see the marking down that path now. This little issue would throw each of the three groups (Bram and John also assuming that turning right was the way to go); I just got lucky with quick correction from Philippe.
A tiny path led up the left side of the valley toward multiple waterfalls sprouting out of cliff faces. The rain had fully stocked the creeks and it was a beautiful sight. Of course, one would have to wonder just how we will be crossing those creeks, but I guess Philippe has a plan.
I climbed short switchbacks, accompanied by Christian, Maria, Toni, and Jean-Paul C who started in our group today. We got a great up-close view of one of the waterfalls:
Then the pink arrows basically instructed us to "Cross here -->" so I did. It was clear we would be getting our feet wet today (not enough big rocks to hop across), might as well get it started. Actually, my shoes had not completely dried from yesterday's soaking, so what the heck, douse 'em again. Apparently Xavier was impressed by my lack of hesitation about a creek crossing. Must be the adventure racer in me.
Oooh, that is some COLD glacier water! We crossed several creeks in quick succession, and my toes started going numb.
I came around a corner and found Xavier waiting while Philippe backtracked to figure out where to lead us. I glanced at my watch and made a note of the time, trying to be patient and calm. Jean-Paul joined me, then Maria and Toni hiked up. Philippe came back after 4 minutes, motioning us around some rocks to a bridge over the main creek. He had found the GR5 again and we were good to go. I didn't think I would get those 4 minutes back, but I stored them in my brain just in case they turned out to matter.
Back on the trail that I knew, I continued upward toward the Vanoise. Philippe joined me briefly, saying that he also loves that park. Join us today, Philippe! But he had to decline, I guess for more important duties like organizing the race.
It was a lovely, quiet morning and I got back into the climbing groove. Eventually I was alone, at least until Xavier passed me. He was running the stage today. And I mean "running" - this guy placed 25th out of about 2000 runners in the CCC (Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix) 98-km race. He zoomed on ahead, way ahead, and then I was alone again with just the scenery to keep me company.
And some cows!
I passed a lake and a refuge, then made a steep climb up to the Col du Palet. The area on top was fairly flat, but the views were getting more and more interesting.
Christian D near the col, sometime after I came through:
We were headed toward the main part of the park. But first we had to descend to the ski resort of Val Claret and climb up the other side. We were told that we must follow the marked trail down this section (no more running down the open field like in previous years). Here is one runner starting down this section:
A rather discordant set of buildings in the middle of nature's wonder:
I took an early right-hand turn onto a ski run but quickly determined that the real trail was just below me, so I cut down to it. One more long switchback and a left turn brought me down to civilization. I ran beside the tennis courts and found trail markings on the other side of a parking lot. A bit of assistance from some guys doing construction in the middle of the marked trail, and I was back to quiet climbing.
I turned around to see Laurent cutting straight down the field, with John on the trail above him. We had been completely accepting of whatever shortcuts some people were taking, but this blatant disregard of Philippe's instructions pretty much set John off. We had several discussions afterward and I tried to talk to Philippe about it. I believe Philippe doesn't want to be a hardnosed disciplinarian, but in my opinion the alternative is a set of murky rules, no clear boundaries, and a lack of fairness for competitive runners.
Anyway, c'est la vie for now. Laurent greeted me on the next climb, looking strong. John chased after him with his typical fast climbing. John tended to be slightly faster than Laurent on the uphills but lost time by taking it easy on the descents. I got a quick kiss (from John, that is) and he continued on his way.
Time to see how long I can hold off the masses. With some of the steeper stuff behind me, I worked my way along the upper area between the Col de Fresse and the Col de la Leisse. Mountains all around, various colors of rocks, awesome views of the Glaciers de la Grande Motte, this was a spectacular location and I highly recommend hiking here if you ever get the chance.
Hopefully it won't be as windy for you as it was for us that day. I had thought I might bring out my iPod in here, but a strong wind canceled that idea. No matter, there was plenty to be distracted by.
I passed several hikers and made my way down to a lake.
More traverse and then the second, larger lake appeared. The trail took us right next to it, and I swear there were whitecaps on a mountain lake. Even if this photo doesn't show them:
Next stop: Refuge de la Leisse and the ravito of the day.
A couple hikers and the refuge guardienne were very nice, also completely in awe of what we were doing. It was good to be out of the wind for a couple minutes, but then I had to get moving. Just as I was heading back to the trail, several GTA runners came down toward me. Bonjour, y'all!
I knew the next downhill section well. It's long and shallow, bending gradually around a wide corner and seemingly lasting a really long time. I picked out a boulder ahead of me and ran to it. Pick another boulder, repeat. A bit of in and out along the hillside, and I felt like I was making progress.
Oops, there's a herd of sheep on the trail! Here is where John was almost attacked by patou sheep dogs in 2006, so I was very wary. I walked through the herd cautiously, then noticed a shepherd watching. Thank goodness. I'm pretty sure the patous defer to the shepherds when they are there.
A lovely photo by Christian D:
The next climb came into view but it took a while to reach it. Still, there was no one else close behind me, so I must be doing OK. I crossed the little stone bridge and started up the switchbacks. It was the last climb of the day, but I was quite aware that it could be a doozy.
It also afforded a great view of the trail behind me. I could see a couple runners catching up as I stopped to drink some SPIZ.
On the same section of trail, Maria and Toni followed a while later:
Of course, better than watching other runners was gawking at the scenery!
OK, time to move. Manu and Pascal ran by together and said good morning. Manu looked much happier today, maybe because he was enjoying Pascal's company. I put my trekking poles in gear and followed after them. The climb went well and I was happy to reach the top without any ill effects.
The plateau heading toward the Col de la Vanoise was long and rocky. Bram always says he loves to run the trails on day 6, but I always find that they require some work. Well, I guess it was time to get to work, then. The SPIZ kicked in and I tried to run as much as possible. I wondered at what point another runner would come up behind me, but I didn't bother to look.
Parts of the trail were rather wet today, imagine that.
Oh, and there was wildlife! :)
Plus lots of scenery to try to watch without tripping over myself.
I passed near the refuge at the col and headed for the final, knee-stressing drop into Pralognan. On the way down I saw a photographer with a number on his vest and he snapped a photo of my rock-hopping descent. I also ran across Fanilly (Mademoiselle Masseuse) who was out for an afternoon hike.
More rocky downhilling, heading toward the Lac des Vaches.
Lac des Vaches is always a delight. First, there's the name (Lake of the Cows), which is incomprehensible to me since I never see cows anywhere near here. Then there's the fact that it's a really shallow lake, more like several inches of water, never more, never less. Finally, there is a line of rocks set up through the middle of it, making it look like you are walking on water depending on what angle you look at it.
I giggled and ran across the rocks, always enjoying the chance to see the Lac des Vaches again.
Now for the hard part. It started with a steep section that is always covered in hikers. It wasn't too crowded this time and I was able to focus on a careful but quick cadence. Near the next refuge I was passed by a pleasant SOMFY runner. Almost there, he says! Yes, but the very hardest part is still to come.
The trail signs pointed straight down next to a ski slope. Something about the severe grade and the smooth trail (except for some small gravel) makes this a challenge on my knees. I tried everything I could think of, from adding my own mini-switchbacks to aggressively braking with my poles to walking backwards for 10 paces to running flat-out for short distances. Still, some pain was building in my knees. I took an ibuprofen to hopefully minimize any damage this was causing.
Further along, I ran down a short, steep bit of pavement and across a parking lot. Ouch, really. Happily, the last section included many step-downs and stairs, which turned out to be much easier to manage. As long as I could lean on my poles and then plant my feet flat, life was good. Hallelujah for trekking poles!
Rodolphe and several runners passed me somewhere in here, but it didn't matter, I was just aiming for the finish. I made it into town and followed flagging past the Office de Tourisme where a large squirrel (or marmot? Some kind of rodent, in any case) danced to some music. That was weird. He/she/it pointed me further along the street to the finish line of the day. Yay!
Well, I decided that I accomplished about 75% of Goal #2. My knees didn't hurt nearly as much as last time on that final descent, but there was some pain. Hopefully I could manage it over the coming days. In addition, I was ready to think about the following:
Goal #3 = Reach the end of day 9 without major problems.
For now I was happy with how things were going. I somehow beat Sylvie again that day, by 8 minutes. She was looking a bit haggard, and Gilles had finished ahead of her.
Laurent beat John by 19 minutes, opening up a gap of over half an hour total. John told me he was just hoping to stay reasonably close but he didn't expect anything to change unless Laurent had major problems. Laurent was looking like a machine by now.
We stayed in a nice group vacation home with a buffet spaghetti dinner. Bram and Erwin were in our room and helped us eat the pizza that John awesomely purchased and snuck in mid-afternoon. Mmmm, pizza. I marveled at the number of shoes that were drying on our patio. We also had a nice view of the hills around us.
Results:
John = 5:31:01 / 2nd among full-course runners (overall placing = 2nd)
Marcy = 7:34:07 / 13th among full-course runners (overall placing = 14th)