Rough and rocky

Dormatory type sleep is not the best and my head cold was horrible. Found some Advil cold and sinus and hoped it would get me thru the day. I was not going to let this prevent me from hiking. Today we were going up and down two challenging passes and across rock fields that we had to scrabble on. We saw Ibex in the mountains. They are like mountain goats but the males have incredible horns. Tall, ringed horns. It was a real treat to see them. 3 males and 8 females in all. We reached the highest pass on the Haute Route. Again, unbelievable views. On our last pass we descended into a rocky glacier section that looked like we were on the moon. No vegetation, just rocks and some run-off streams and small lakes. Very bare and a dramatic contrast to our previous hiking. This was a tough day. My cold effected my energy and thanks to Tessa, one of our guides, she let me go at my own pace which was about 10 minutes behind the group. We revised some of our paths and found easier ways across the rocks while we discussed everything. We finally saw our hut for the night from above. It did not look like it would take us long to get there but the descent down was rocky and steep. We had to cross a fast moving glacial stream and then a very steep hike up to the hut. All of us were drained. Good food and early to bed. When I can load picture, they will say it all.










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