Day 6 - Friday 28th August 2015 - Cabane du Mont Fort to Cabane de Prafleuri

Total distance walked:	13.30 km	8.26 miles
Total hours walked including stops	9 hrs 10 mins
Total hours walked excluding stops	8 hrs 29 mins
Height at start	2457 metres	8061 feet
Height at finish	2624 metres	8609 feet
Total Height Gain	1216 metres	3990 feet
Total Height Loss	1019 metres	3342 feet
Maximum Height	2982 metres	9783 feet
Average speed excluding stops	1.57 km/hr	0.97 miles/hr

I was up at 6.30 am, washed, dressed, packed and down to breakfast at about 7.00 am.  Standard breakfast but no orange juice.  I set off at 7.50am for the climb to Col Termin.  An easy pleasant climb on a contour path and I reached the col at about 10.10 am.  I saw a group of Chamois above me on the climb not long after leaving the refuge and one solitary Chamois high above us at the col (2648m).  I didn’t stay long at the col and headed off downhill before a steady climb towards Col de Louvie (2921m).  I met Dave, the young Scotsman before the final climb up to the col.  He had been camping near the Lac de Louvie and had started off at about 11 o’clock and we walked together for the rest of the day.

It was hard climb down from the Col de Louvie and a rocky climb up to the Col de Prafleuri (2965m) although never particularly steep.  We had to cross two rivers which I managed without getting my feet wet but Dave took his walking shoes off for the first river and got his shoes wet on the second.  It was then a relatively easy descent although steep at first to the Cabane de Prafleuri where we arrived at about 5 o’clock after about nine hours on the road.  I checked in and ordered a large beer and a can of Sprite.  I then had a shower, not hot but not cold, shaved and washed some clothes.  The shower cost CHF 5.00.  I then had another beer and bought one for Dave who was almost out of cash and also for Patrick and Veronique who had just arrived about an hour after us.  It had been very hot during the day and despite using suntan lotion my arms got burnt.

Dinner was at 6.30 pm and we had soup (3 bowls), then a mixed salad followed by minced beef with mashed potatoes followed by a desert, together with a half bottle of red wine.  The total price for dinner, bed and breakfast plus beers for myself, Dave, Patrick and Veronique plus the red wine including my shower and a shower form Dave was CHF 124.00.

After dinner, to bed and read for a while and then slept although not very well, I felt that something was crawling on me although I didn’t feel any bites.  I was in a large dormitory for about 20 people with only about 8 people in it.  I discovered a slight itch the next day and by Saturday afternoon my back and arms were covered in red blotches and I was itching like mad.  I had all the symptoms of being bitten by bedbugs.  I wrote to the refuge twice but never received a reply from them although I did get an apology from the Ombudsstelle Schweizer Hotellerie.  I couldn’t recommend staying at this refuge but there is probably no alternative if one wants to walk from Cabane du Mont Fort to Arolla.