DAY 7_AROLLA TO LA SAGE | hauteroute2013

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DAY 7: AROLLA (6581 FT) TO LA SAGE (5469 FT)

(Stage 8)

We slept in until 7:30am and ate breakfast at the hotel. (Also at breakfast were six Americans and Ollie, a Norwegian. We would meet them tomorrow evening at Cabane de Moiry.) We took our time getting ready and left Arolla at 10am. The trail weaved through pine forests on steep switchbacks. There were some fixed cables and chains at exposed sections, but they were mostly unnecessary. We arrived at the unimaginatively-named Lac Bleu (6857 ft) around 11:30am. Dozens of other hikers and locals were sat around the lake enjoying the day. The scenery was frankly a little underwhelming, so we quickly moved on.

We stopped for lunch at Pension du Lac Bleu, in the tiny village of La Gouille (6050 ft). Fan had a amazing steak (drenched in oil), with a large bowl of french fries, a HUGE bottle of mayo, a salad, and a beer. Jie had penne bolognese and shared the salad and fries. Our friendly and chatty hostess carried on conversations with us and patrons at two other tables, smoothly switching from English to French to German. We departed from La Gouille around 1:30pm under light rain.

The descent into Les Hauderes (4764 ft) was fairly easy. We were short on cash and the closest ATM was in the next town (Evolene), so our plan was to hike to La Sage and then Fan would continue hiking to Evolene to get cash. Unfortunately, we got caught in a strong thunderstorm during the last thirty minutes of the approach to La Sage (5469 ft), arriving at Hotel de La Sage around 4pm, drenched and cold. Coincidently, Bruce and Christine checked in a few minutes behind us. The hostess at the hotel kindly agreed to give us some cash in exchange for a credit card charge, saving Fan a hike down into the valley (and back) in the pouring rain.

Hotel de La Sage was one of our favorite stays of the hike, with a fancy, traditional interior decor, a library/lounge, sauna room, billiards/game room, and a large dining room with panoramic views of the valley. Our room was modest, but it had a large, recently renovated bathroom. We hung up our wet clothes, showered, played some billiards, and relaxed in the library. Dinner was a mushroom salad over puff pastry, cashew chicken stir fry, saffron rice with raisins and almonds, steamed carrots, zucchini, and turnips, and for dessert creme brulee and chocolate mousse. We were famished before the appetizer was served and started feeling sleepy even before dessert was over. The rain had stopped after dinner, so we took a very short stroll outside the hotel, chatted a bit with Bruce and Christine, and went to bed exhausted around 9pm.

6.2 miles, 6 hours.