Kevin Downes: Italian Alps, Gran Paradiso Alta Via 2, July 2015: Day 7 - Rhêmes Notre Dame to Rifugio Mario Bezzi, 13.5 miles.

Total ascent, 1723m.
Total descent, 1120m.
Sunday, 26th July.

Along up up along up up up down down down.

I'll start at the end. I'm staying in Rifugio Mario Bezzi, another alpine hut and the best so far. Very friendly and as a bonus I have a room to myself, unless someone staggers in from the dark which is extremely unlikely. I almost ran the last 30 minutes after the weather had closed in after a gorgeous day and I could see rain coming along the valley behind me. I just made it and therefore have still not been rained on. I suppose I should have stood in it as I splashed out on a new waterproof recently, but it saved the hassle of getting things dry.

I've just had dinner (which was fantastic) with four Frenchmen who seemed friendly but obviously were being friendly in French, so they might not have been. Nodding politely and not understanding however is far preferable to actually understanding in this environment. For the first time in a week I can hear my own language being spoken (by I think two Americans and an Englishman) and it's really irritating. There's a lot of complaining, especially about the showers. I mean, we are at 2300 metres with no road anywhere near and they've managed to put up solar panels to provide hot showers. What on earth is there to complain about?! I know that listening in on conversations is usually a fun part of my walks, but it's been great to be totally oblivious to what's being said around me for the past week.

The only English I've heard prior to this evening is when other people have been trying to help me, and my own voice with its peculiar Latin lilt. I still find the 'Joey Barton talks French' video hysterically funny, but only because it was televised. I do exactly the same thing and thankfully it isn't televised. I've realised that it all depends on what I try to say, coupled with the fact that I know a bit of Spanish and a bit less French (from school! "Jean Paul et Claudette adore Marie-France dans le jardin." Just a list of names from my textbooks with a few guesses in between which ends up sounding a bit dodgy.).

For example if I want to say the word 'direction' I can say phonetically "directhion" and be pretty sure they'll know what I mean, as they're quite similar in several languages. However if I want to ask the question, "What time is dinner?" I will start well with "A que hora..." (so far so good, bit of Spanish which might not be totally correct but it's close enough), then follow it with "...ees deenair?", which is completely useless however many times I say it and however long I make the "eeeee" bits. Thank goodness then for my ability to turn into Basil Fawlty at such moments and dramatically mime eating with a knife and fork and make "nom nom" noises.

Anyway I've digressed and need to finish with the middle of the day. Although today's walk wasn't up to yesterday's standards the middle section was astonishing. The weather had been perfect for a long walk up to glacier territory, the bit I'd been looking forward to most of all. I've been fascinated with glaciers since before I went to Iceland many years ago, and was looking forward to climbing a 3337m (10,948ft) peak which was surrounded by three of them. The peak, Becca della Traversière, has only been accessible fairly recently since the permanent ice receded and is quite easy to reach (if you're willing to put in the effort, if that makes sense!). The summit also marks the border with France so it's just as well I had my passport with me.

So now I'm not sure whether I need to go anywhere else ever again, as it won't be as good wherever it is. The distant views were breathtaking (as if the walk wasn't enough!): Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc), Monte Cervino (the Matterhorn), Le (or La) Grand Combin (The Big Combine Harvester), they were all there. And beneath me were these vast, powerful, grubby glaciers that made the valley I'd walked up through earlier look like the surface of the moon. Not pretty but pretty awesome (you can tell there are Americans about!). I may at some point try and post a 12 second video I took panning just 180 degrees of the total view.

So I've left all the photos till the end and I'll decide in the morning whether I'm ever going anywhere ever again. It could pose a problem if I decide not to.