Madone de la Fenestre -> Refuge de Nice – The Path is long

11. June 2025

 

 

15,7 km

1.210 m up

900 m down

7:45 hrs.

says Mapy.

 

And because I’m so slow and need breaks, I’d be on the trail for quite a while. But I had the option to abort! There was a section of road where I could have just stopped.

 

I started off in good spirits – but just three minutes later, I met a young couple from the hut. They were climbing high peaks with ropes and were in a good mood. But not anymore. She hobbled back down the path, contorted in pain. Sprained ankle or something. In any case, it hurt a lot. The blessing in disguise was that it happened so close to the hut and thus also to the (private) road, which is easy to end up in the hospital. And I thought again: uff, no matter how fast and safe you are in the mountains, you can always take a stupid step and then you’re in trouble. So: be really careful!

 

Shortly after starting, the turnoff came, and then I hiked up to the first pass in the early morning shade, and it was very, very beautiful. I always really love the morning atmosphere. Especially when I’m alone for a while. Soon a whole horde of French people came along, but they quickly passed me.

 

 

 

 

There were even 2 options at the beginning: one a bit longer with less of an incline and faster, or this variant that led past the 5 lakes. I imagined that would be more attractive. However, I only spotted 4.

 

 

 

 

 

Then the trail descended a bit and climbed a pass again. Knowing how long the route was, I didn’t linger as much as I would have liked. Such beautiful scenery!

 

 

 

The next pass then opened up the view to the next valley – where, however, you couldn’t see much at first.

 

 

The road was quite far down, and at some point my struggle began. I’m not good at jumping down, especially when there are rocks along the path where I’m afraid of slipping. It was getting tough. Here I was actually completely alone. To motivate myself, I downloaded a long podcast with many episodes, which was exciting and well-made, and I listened to it almost nonstop. That made my struggle a little easier.

 

Then I didn’t take any photos for a long stretch. Not on the way down, and then on the road. At the bottom, there was a kind of dead-end street with a few houses on either side (most seemed empty), at the end of which was a large parking lot, from where you could climb up to two huts. It was quite warm there, and I was sweating constantly going uphill. But the asphalt did allow me to make a bit more progress.

 

Beyond the parking lot, things got great again.

 

 

Mercantour is a national park with somewhat more generous rules: you’re allowed to camp! Admittedly, only between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., but that’s still plenty. There were also a few people with tents—and they often set them up near the huts. But many were probably camping elsewhere as well.

 

The landscape became wilder and rockier—and at first, incredibly full. At first, the path from the parking lot gently climbs along a river, and many people who weren’t particularly athletic were doing this. A few more ambitious hikers went to the huts, had a nice meal there, and then headed back down. They all passed me. And then the climb became steeper again, and the landscape captivated me. I love rocks!

 

 

 

At some point, it was already quite late, and no one was coming towards me. But someone from the side: 2 people, were also heading for the hut. We arrived almost at the same time—just in time for dinner (around 7:00 p.m.). And very nice: they were from Germany and lived in Hamburg! Both have interesting jobs in the environmental field, so we had a bit to talk about.

 

 

 

The hut also had a very pleasant atmosphere, was attractively furnished, and there was no signal– but I was exhausted. The American was also back; he had taken the shorter route and found it difficult. We all then had a few conversations and reflections. The further route would be difficult again, especially through snowfields. There was an alternative: the path back down to the parking lot and back up the side. Neither option sounded ideal.

 

What would I do? See the next blog post!