Day 4: from Plan Jovet to Refuge de Presset

We got up and peeked out of our tents, and saw a lot of hikers ascending the mountain. We realized that we were sharing the trail with the TMB trekkers (Tour du Mont Blanc). We felt lucky to explore the quieter mountains of the GRP Tour du Beaufortain. Many of the TMB trekkers passed us on the flat section of the trail, but we soon caught up with them as the trail began to climb. We chatted with some of them, who came from Canada, England, USA, and other countries. We reached Col du Bonhomme and admired the view:

We continued our hike, talking with other trekkers and overtaking some of them on the trail. We arrived at Refuge du Col de la Croix du Bonhomme.

The place was packed, so we just refilled our bottle, petted the two donkeys and resumed our journey. We decided to take a variation of the official trek and hike up to Crête des Gittes. We were rewarded by a beautiful view of the area.

After our lunch break at Col de la Sauce, we took a shortcut that led us straight to the famous Cormet de Roselend pass.

We saw a hiking sign indicating 3h30 to Refuge de Presset. We decided to go there and get ready for the very long trail ahead of us. On the long trail along the Ruisseau de la Neuva, we crossed many military men training.

We kept climbing until we saw Pointe de Presset. We were happy to find fresh water behind the peak on the trail.

After this long day of hiking, we were glad to see Refuge de Presset when we reached Col du Grand Fond.

At the refuge, we were warmly greeted by the staff. After having a fresh drink, one of them showed us our reserved area for tonight (we made a free reservation by phone the same day around 2pm). Tonight we cooked and ate our food, with a scenic view of the beautiful mountain named Pierra Menta.

Just before dusk, we saw an old Alpine ibex (Bouquetin) grazing near the refuge.

Our dirty wet reserved spot for the night:

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