Stage 6 – Rifugio Bonatti (Val Ferret) to La Fouly

Start: Hotel Lavachey in Val Ferret
End: Hotel Col du Fenêtre in La Fouly (Ferret)
Difficulty: Moderate
Time: 7 hours including a slice of pie at Rifugio Elena and some lunch at Alpage de la Peule

I began the day with an additional ascent compared to those that stayed at Bonatti, because I had to hike back up the valley floor from Hotel Lavachey in order to start the hike at Bonatti. Most of the people at my hotel took the bus to Chalet Val Ferret to skip an unnecessary ascent and descent, but I decided I would rather do the full thing. I was pretty happy with that decision, especially due to the total solitude it afforded me in the beginning of the day!

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Especially from Bonatti, the day starts out easy enough. I learned quickly on the TMB that I prefer my big ascents to happen as early as possible while it’s still cool out. This one to the Col Ferret, on the other hand, started about 2 hours into the hike and took about 2 hours in total.

The ascent from Chalet Val Ferret to Col Ferret is pretty exposed. Rifugio Elena was well placed along the way, although the staff there were not nice, especially on the phone. I would not recommend staying there as I’ve heard similar things from other travelers and there are better-appointed options nearby anyway.

At the top of the Col Ferret (quite a slog, and fairly crowded compared to other days — maybe due to the lack of a variant) you say goodbye temporarily to the dramatic mountain scenery of the Italian range and hello to the valleys of Switzerland.

The ascent down was much less crowded, probably because everyone had spread out. Some snowfield crossings were required but by this time in the trip that’s an old hat for everyone. I got lunch at Alpage de la Peule, an old dairy farm. By the time I made it to Hotel Col du Fenêtre, I was quite ready to have a beer in their nice beer garden!

Hotel Col du Fenêtre was one of my favorite stops. Truly in an idyllic location right before La Fouly. I highly recommend it compared to staying in La Fouly proper, which I passed through the next day. The staff helped me out of a snafu where my luggage transfer got lost in transit from the previous hotel (Auberge de la Maison). In addition, they made me a special dinner due to dietary restrictions, which was much appreciated. Their dinner was really good, and I was sad to leave the next day.

Previous: Stage 5 – Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti (Val Ferret)
Next: Stage 7 – La Fouly to Champex