From Orsiéres to Bourg St Pierre

Date	10/11/19
Today's Distance:	8 miles / 13 km
MapMyHike	Relive
Total This Camino:	252 miles.
Total All Caminos:	1357 miles
Hostel/Albergue:	Gîte Au Petit Vélan @ 65$; 2 nights

2300 foot climb today.

Thought I was going to be the only person in the dorm room again tonight, but another hiker showed up. Her name is Regina and she is Swiss. She is doing a different set of trails than me but we're in the same place for tonight.

She speaks English. Oh my God! I can talk to somebody.

Cow block video. See pictures below.

Notable memories

Everything was so green today. so where I thought I might be in mountains with snow caps, I really wasn't today. But the fields of crops were gorgeous, the pine trees lining the hills were beautiful and the blue sky contrasting against the mountain ridges made for just a wonderful vista today.

The climb

My big fear about the day was the tremendous altitude change. But it turned out to be a non-starter. It was still exceedingly difficult, but I had a plan. From the beginning, I knew I would take lots and lots and lots of microbreaks, followed by hourly mini breaks and then a full break around lunchtime to eat the lunch that I was carrying in my backpack.

I think the plan worked out well. I made it to my destination in 6 hours which really surprised me because I thought it would take longer. And I arrived in pretty good shape, tired but not physically beat up.

Photographing the climb

Already been going uphill. At altitude 3,550 feet.

I know I don't look happy.

Going up. 3,980 ft altitude.

Altitude 4120 ft

Altitude now 4,340 ft

Altitude 4790 ft

Altitude now 5,350 feet

Cowblock ahead

So this rancher was marking his land but he told me I could keep going. So I took a little break, and when I got back to the string marking the boundary, these guys came rushing towards the line. I had permission to cross, but just looking at all of them, I decided to find a better way.