Day 5: from Refuge de Presset to Lac de Saint-Guérin

We had to pack our tents in a wet and dirty condition, as we camped near the lake on a bare spot assigned by the refuge. The sun was hidden behind the mountains, so we could not dry our tents. We hoped to clean them later to avoid rotting in our backpacks. We decided to take a variation of the official trek and aimed for the “Passage de la Mintaz” pass, which is just behind Pierra Menta.

We reached the pass after some easy climbing and enjoyed the view. We saw some alpinists climbing Pierra Menta.

Here is a picture of the other side of Pierra Menta. It does not look like a shark tooth from this angle.

We continued our descent and arrived at Lac d’Amour.

We encountered many baby frogs on the trail along the lake.

After the lake, we hiked on a very steep trail and got to Col du Coin, where we could see the rest of the trail.

After a long descent, we got to Refuge de la Coire. We cooked and ate there, along with fresh drinks from the refuge. After eating, we had a long nap and relaxed at the refuge, where they provided lounge chairs and binoculars to look at the surrounding mountains.

Then, we resumed our hike and reached Lac des Fées.

On our way to Lac de Saint-Guérin, we passed by some farms selling cheese and saw some pigs napping.

We finally arrived at the stunning Lac de Saint-Guérin.

We decided to camp there for the night. As it was forbidden to camp within 100m of the lakes in Beaufortain, we looked at the signs:

And we eventually found a nice flat spot to pitch our tents near this parking lot:

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