Page 30 - Army Mountaineer Winter 2022

MISCARTICLE
than we had settled than there was a virtual eclipse as the sun disappeared. We realised that we were in a high sided valley and the whole valley was now in shade. The lack of sun also meant that the clothes we had worn and washed were now not drying as we hoped – but worse things have happened. Our stay in the Galisia was comfortable and the supper they served was tasty and substantial. With coffee, we drank Genepy the ‘digestif’ flavoured with wormwood which grows wild on the alpine pastures. It was a fitting end to my birthday.
The next morning, my diary records, that breakfast was a spartan affair with no meats or cheese, just bread and jam and coffee. So, we did not linger as the pass we had to climb was at 2840m and we were at 1722m. There was a challenging vertical kilometre to climb before midday. Our path out of the village soon led to a narrow-wooded valley down which a stream tumbled. We zig-zagged steeply up through the pine trees until the path levelled off and we got our breath back. This was pleasant walking and we had
Isobel, Col Fenetre and Mont Blanc in the distance
made a good dent into the height we had to climb.
We soon came to pasture with a small shepherd’s hut and around it was a herd of Valdostana Castana the native cows of the area which are noted for their ‘vivacious and warlike temperament!’ We have met many types of cows over the years and our standard tactic is to take a long detour around them, however frustrating that can be. But on this occasion, we were constricted by the raging torrent of a stream on our left and a high cliff to the right of the path. Now some cows will continue to chew the cud as you approach, others will drift away out of timidity but this small herd of about fifteen full-grown animals were walking fast towards us. There are many records of walkers being trampled to death in these circumstances, so we decided to back off and retraced our steps. Just behind us was a large rock about the size of a delivery van. I called to Isobel to climb up fast – she replied that she could not do that with her rucksack on. Her back was to the cows as she considered the sides of the rock upon which I was now
perched. When I said that the cows were now very close, she suddenly found that she could climb up and join me after all. From this safe but uncomfortable stance, we could see that the leader of the herd was a large bull with horns about four feet across.
He was now pawing the brown dry soil with his forefeet and eyeballing us from about thirty feet. I felt he would have been able to get at us where we were, so I suggested to Isobel that we drop over the large boulder to the streamside where there was a ledge before the long drop to the stream below. Isobel replied quite firmly that she was not able to climb over to the ledge where I was now standing. Then the bull moved forward and suddenly Isobel found the strength and courage to vault the top of the boulder and join me on the ledge while avoiding looking at the drop to the stream. Being safe we now began to see the funny side of things and so we shared some sweets and the minutes passed by. Before long the bull had been lured away by some pretty cows and we were able to safely climb back down to the path.
We reached Col Fenetre (2840m) before midday and could not resist stopping for a drink and a bowl of polenta when we reached Rifugio Chalet de L’Epee. This family run refuge provides food and accommodation and has splendid views across to Ruitor peak (3486m) and its adjacent glacier. A long winding descent brought us to our day’s objective the attractive, but modest, ski resort of Val- grisenche, where we celebrated our safe arrival with two large pink Magnums.
30 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER
The author at Col Fenetre