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Today's hike is neither long nor particularly exciting, going as it does along a road, up through a modern and rather unattractive ski resort, and then round a wooded shoulder (albeit with a lovely view). So, after you arrive you'll have plenty of time for... well, for what?

Not to sight-see (there's not much going on or worth looking at in the hamlet of Roya). Nor to read (you aren't going to be carrying many books or magazines with you on the H2H). Nor to surf the Net (the Web interfaces of smartphones and PDAs are usable, but not good enough to make idle surfing a pleasure).

In fact, when you think about it, most activities and hobbies aren't very compatible with the H2H. You may have a deck of cards with you... but you'll have played every card game you know hundreds of times by this point. And even my wife’s legendary powers of conversation would be challenged by 120+/- straight days on the road together.

So, what are you going to do in your free time along the H2H? You'll talk to people you meet, of course, and you'll write in your journals... but what else? Definitely something worth thinking about before starting out.

Route
Today's route is identical with the GR5 and the Via Alpina . From St.-Etienne head along the minor road southeast down the valley towards Drogon, then climb to the right up to the Auron resort (1650m). Thread your way through the "village" and then continue climbing southeast to the Col du Blainon (2014m). On the far side descend via Clot Giordan (1779m) to Roya.

Alternatives: you could shorten the day and avoid the road walking by taking a taxi to Auron... or for that matter, all the way to Roya... but it isn't like it is a long day anyway. Pick up food for a picnic during the following stage either in Auron or before you leave St.-Etienne-de-Tinée.
Map: IGN-3639OT Haute Tinée 1.

Journal
The House to House blog... stage 67.

Photos
<A couple of representative photos from this stage will be added here after the hike>
In the meantime, click here to go to all of the H2H photos on Flickr.

GPS Track
<To be added during or after hike>

Room and Board Options
Lunch: either picnic or have lunch in Auron.
Dinner and overnight: there is only one place to stay and eat at in Roya, Ma Vieille École (+33-(0)04.93.03.43.05, 21 beds in 5 bunkrooms of 2, 3, 4 ,4, and 8 places). If it should be full, you can stay in Auron, but this adds 3h, +400m, -540m, 6km to the next stage... which makes for a very long day. So book Roya as long in advance as you can. For a list of places to stay in Auron, see here.

Getting There and Back
St.-Etienne-de-Tinée: from Nice, where there is a railway station and a major airport, a twice-daily bus takes two hours to get to St.-Etienne-de-Tinée (for schedule information for the bus, see here, and for the train, see the SNCF).
Roya: either walk this stage in reverse, or take a taxi 15km, to St.-Etienne-de-Tinée (for taxi information, see here).
ViaMichelin Road Map and Driving Directions: centered on St.-Etienne-de-Tinée, centered on Roya.

Background Information and Links
Many and various...

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