DAY 39 - ST-PIERRE-D'ENTREMONT TO ST-PIERRE-DE-CHARTREUSE

This morning we were still excited to be seeing snow-capped mountains from our room. 

We enjoyed looking at the snow-capped mountains from our room 

Our hostess at last night's chambre d'hôte is a talented artist. She produced this sketch while we were having breakfast:

Two Australian walkers enjoying breakfast 

When we started walking we kept an eye on the odometer. We reached 4.1 kilometres just below the hamlet of Le Château. This spot marked 1,000 kilometres since we began our walk. Of course, we celebrated in the traditional way:

1,000 kilometre selfie in the Chartreuse (1)

The view of the Chartreuse mountains was so impressive we treated ourselves to a second selfie. 

1,000 kilometre selfie in the Chartreuse (2)

Once the celebrations had run their course, we had a look around Le Château. It had a traditional communal washing facility (lavoir), to which was attached a communal wood-fired oven. We have been told that this is a common feature of lavoirs in this area.

A useful lavoir - drinking water (which we used) and a communal wood-fired oven (which we didn't)

Le Château is about 300 metres higher than St-Pierre-d'Entremont, and looks out over the same mountains. 

The two mountains we saw from last night's accommodation - the Granier on the left and the Pinet on the right

Le Château is named after an old castle, which was (according to a storyboard on site) built in 1306 and destroyed in 1789.

The ruined castle which gives the hamlet of Château its name

From Le Château we continued our climb up the Col de Bovinant, our route to St-Pierre-de-Chartreuse. We stopped briefly for tarts in the forest.

We do enjoy our healthy fruit for morning tea

Then we continued to climb. We were very excited to see snow by the side of the path.

Snow!

And then on the path . . .

More snow!

And then everywhere.

Even more snow - near the Col de Bovinant

We eventually reached the Col de Bovinant. At almost 1,650 metres above sea level it is 1,000 metres higher than our starting point for the day.

Australian walker surrounded by snow on the Col de Bovinant.

Then we started the long descent down the other side.

About to start the descent through the snow

We descended through the snow.

Descending through the snow

Below the snowline, we continued to descend until we joined the road into St-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, where we are staying tonight.

Below the snowline. Still descending.

Day:  39
Distance: 21.78km
Walking time:  5hrs 8mins
Elevation gain:  782 metres (? maybe the altimeter stopped working in the snow)
Cumulative distance:  1017.68 km