This was our last day together and as usual we set of at 8.30. We walked up the little road past the church in Trient and then reached the small hamlet of La Peuty. We admired the neat vegetable patches along the way.
Then we left the road, taking a path across the grassy fields where black cows were grazing - the same big horned cows that we saw at Bovine the day before with bells on big belts round their necks.
We crossed a stream and went into the woods. In here the paths became quite steep and our 'last day legs' found it rather hard work. After a week of enjoying the many beautiful alpine flowers it was rewarding to come across some orchids in full bloom on this last day.
On our way through the woods, we came across a family who were enjoying another of Cairn's variants: Tour du Mont Blanc en Famille. The family in question had a guide and two donkeys (one for the bags and the other for the smallest child). The parents and the two other children walked with light loads.
As we emerged from the woods a bit before 10 am, we could see the pass ahead of us - it didn't look very far - but distances are always deceptive.
After a stop for water on a convenient rock, we walked on across the upwar sloping zigzags of this final ascent.
After another half an hour, we passed a little group of farm buildings (Les Hébargeres at 2032 m) with thick stone roofs.
The last two hundred metres of ascent were quite a struggle, but at last we arrived at the Col de Balme (2191m) just before 11 am. The first sight is the refuge on the right - we were tempted to use their toilets but the very unfriendly guardians told us we were not allowed to as we were not staying there. This was the first time we'd had such a response.
But we walked on a few metres past the refuge and were rewarded by a spectacular view of Mont Blanc with the Aiguille Vert on its left and the Chamonix valley to its right.
We walked down a stony path from Col de la Blame to Le Tour. At first we were on a wide track, then we came to the top of the cable car run where two of our party decided to ride in the cabin.
The rest of us walked on the smaller pedestrian path under the line of the cable car, noticing strange shadows on the ground as each car passed overhead.
Then at Le Tour we went to the CAF Gite d'Etape where we sat outside for our final picnic. Officially our tour ended at 2 pm so we all said goodbye to one another, hoping to keep in touch. Three of the Geneva group left first by car while the rest of us caught the bus, which dropped people at various destinations (it missed the train at Montroc), then dropped us in Chamonix. The others were going on to Le Fayet for the train and to Notre Dame de la Gorge to collect their cars.
| Diary of sixth day |