We woke up to a nice surprise on the ground: frost! It’s the first frost of the season, a sure sign that fall is fast approaching in the high mountains. Of course it wasn’t enough to divert us from what we had planned : a climb of the Nublet, a 2500 meters high mountain in the recess of Mount Assiniboine.
We allowed ourselves an easy morning and started our daily hike at 10:30. We first fed the lodge’s 2 pigs with our leftovers from the last 3 days and then we started towards our objective.
We first crossed a conifer forest after which we really started to gain some altitude. A technically easy but fairly long climb allowed us to follow the Nubblet’s crest. Our path was interrupted by many breaks, but all managed to reach the summit located at a little more than 2500 meters.
The moment is sublime and it’s time for a celebration! Young and old are hugging each other and there is a few wet cheeks. The teens then decide to name this a ‘’high moment’’. The result: they can unwrap a surprise that looks like a big potato wrapped in duct tape. Inside are chocolate bars. Glucose never tasted so good up on this summit!
We stayed on the summit a good hour and half to eat lunch and rest. We also took out the kites to take advantage of the good breeze caressing the Nublet. Some of the other teens constructed a few cairns, these small heaps of stone that usually mark a trail.
At some point, I distanced myself from the group to take a picture of the teens on the summit. I sat down to look at the scene. It was quite a sight to see all these people having so much fun: they didn’t even know each other only a week ago. When I closed my eyes I realized that not 3 seconds passed without hearing someone laugh. I like to think that this cascade of laughter has been carried by the wind all the way to you…
We leave tomorrow for a 3 day itinerant trek to Sunshine Village. So we make the most of our last moments here at Assiniboine Lodge. And they are wonderful.