The morning brings me back into alpine terrain and I'm happy as ever. The views are stunning as I'm taken over several climbs. Pushing hard my toes begin to chafe due to the dusty track. In the afternoon while crossing a river delta I run into Astrid and Billy who I had met in stage 1 and we catch up.
The evening is dominated by some ~1500m(4921ft) of descent which absolutely fries my toes until they are raw. I push halfway up a climb to end my day at a free refuge. I dunk my toes into the nearby water trough and try to baby them. I'm joined by a hiker from the Netherlands, Madeleine. She had completed the GR5 and was now just doing other bits of trail. The refuge is amazing and I get to sleep on a decent mattress with fairly clean sheets!
The day starts with a straight shot of ~1000m(3280ft) of climbing which rewards with panoramic views at the crest. Further still I pass by the massive Glacier de Saint-Sorlin around noon until having a long and confusing cross-country descent. I'm continually staring at my phone as the trail is nowhere to be seen and my toes begin to flare up again.
I push through the pain and blast as the late afternoon is flat traversals at the bottom of massive valleys with shear stone walls. I get to a campground in a village called Le Gay around 1530h and immediately set to taking care of my feet. There are tons of hikers around as I'm along the GR54(Tour des Écrins) now which is a fairly popular route.
My morning is dominated by the taking the alternate to loop le Plateau d'Emparis which offers unbeatable views of the snow covered Meije which itself sits at 3984m(13070ft). From there there is a long climb down into the valley passing cute villages along the way. Of course then I have a sheer climb back up to the ski town of Les Deux Alpes.
This resort town is packed and bustling. For whatever reason I become aware of a large Jewish orthodox presence amongst the tourists ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I resupply and have a French lunch while I debate what to do. A potential evening storm and tender toes leads me to book a hotel for the night and take it easy.
After a buffet breakfast at the hotel I descend from the ski resort town then climb up the next valley for 1700m(5557ft) of elevation gain. A descent from there leads into a 800m(2624ft) climb. A descent from there leads into a 600m(1968ft) climb. The views are beautiful but the Écrins are really making me work for it. A bit to my surprise I actually feel great and my feet are not hurting.
My eyes feast on the views all day as I pass huge waterfalls and craggy mountain peaks. I push for another ~600m(1968ft) climb at the end of the day which is a bit of struggle. Eventually I arrive at a small plateau on the side of the mountain where I setup camp looking off into the distant valley below.
In the morning I have to finish the climb I started last evening. It is super steep but eventually it's behind me. I take a break in the town of la Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar for a French lunch before tackling a extremely hot afternoon. I take a swim break as I re-enter the mountains.
The day is full of climbing but I tackle each in turn and I feel great moving along. I end up camping between two significant climbs as I don't want to over stress my body via overuse. I spend the evening watching the sun set and dark clouds gathering in the distance. The storm eventually reaches me and comes down hard. I have a bit of panic when water begins to eventually seep through my tent floor. The heavy rain doesn't last for too long and I'm able to cope. There are three more bouts into the morning.
Upon waking the rain starts up to greet me. I decide to sleep in a bit hoping for it to stop so I can pack up without being pelted. I have a brief chance to pack up and the rain begins again just as I start hiking. It gets heavier and heavier as I approach my climb out of this valley and I struggle on a steep muddy track as the rain washes down huge torrents of muck down my way. I make it through carefully and the rain lets up on the descent.
The rest of the day continues to have short periods of rain and the trail condition worsens. There are never any ditches dug to drain water from the path so the entire path becomes a stream after a small amount of rain... I take a French lunch as I pass through the town of Vallouise. The weather in the afternoon seems a bit better and I make my way to Col d'Arsine to camp. The rain begins just as I get into my tent and comes in hard but clears for the night.
I'm only 9.6km(5.5mi) away from the end of stage 3 at this point. The Alps wait for me and tomorrow I'll start stage 2!