Les Fonds de Cervieres- Col Malrif


It's true that you should start your day as early as possible in the mountains; not only is the air the freshest (afternoons are too hot to start climbing), but also the weather is at its best. Normally we don't need to worry about the latter one, because the Southern Alps are basically the sunniest part of France (read: almost 300 days of sun), but this time we knew the weather would close in later on. So we kicked off in the early morning while the air was still crisp, there were pretty drops of morning dew on plants, and we got some sunrays through the beautiful mist.

This place is actually a long valley that we often do with cross-country skies, and the spot where we started now is the furthest point of the track in the winter. The hike felt somewhat like being back in Iceland with all the greeneries, little waterfalls and clouds hanging really low. By the time we got to the ridge overlooking to the Italian side, we were in and above clouds, and the visibility was getting worse. We thought there was no point in pushing any further knowing we would probably not get any views from higher up, and so we turned back. And it’s good that we did, because just when we got back to our car it started to rain! Talking about good timing...