Alex Brinkman (Chuck Grody)
Google
WARNING to anyone walking the GR11 and need to camp at this Refugio: only do so if it is PERFECT Weather, meaning zero wind, rain, etc. If you are camping here on a windy night, then expect your tent to be damaged or outright break.
My brother and me were on the GR11 and was informed at the gate to the National Park that my brother and I were obligated to camp only at this Refugio. I later saw that there are signs stating where you are legally allowed to camp at, and sure enough that was true. We camped there and it was the worst decision we made during the whole trek. It howled 30+ MPH winds all night, our tents flopped around nonstop and would have broke had we not reinforced them with our trekking poles. Multiple other campers at the Refugio were not as lucky and ended up with snapped poles, something we heard throughout the night with people yelling and crying. We got around 1 hour of sleep which was dangerous given the next section of the trek is two of the steepest descents in the GR11. Had we had the option of camping in the valley, then we would have not had to endure this, but that was outlawed in 2022 (more than likely due to over tourism from the pandemic).
The issue is that the campground was not properly planned. I have no clue whether or not they even allowed people to camp here back before the 2022 rule change, but it doesn't seem like it. The campground is just random spots on a hillside to the bald mountain that are marked with wooden posts with numbers emblazoned on them. They are not in good locations (a lot are just simply uneven sloped spots) and have zero wind protection: something that is kind of important at 2200 meters in an alpine area above tree line. My brother chose a flat dirt spot thinking that it would be ideal for a nice cozy night, but instead it had loose alpine sediment that blew like a dust storm in his tent and everything he had with him got completely covered in fine dust. We were also not given any kind of warning that there was wind that night and that camping would be at our own risk. There is zero cellphone signal in the park and the last area that had it was the tourism center at the entrance to the park, and even that was only around the actual building; so, basically, check the weather there or be surprised later on. One other gripe I had was with the showers and just how short they are. My brother and a woman that we met both had their showers end abruptly while they still had soap in their hair/body and were left essentially stranded. I had to sacrifice my shower by putting my token in for him to finish his shower which made me just a tid bit ticked off. Just be aware that it is rather short so you have to be quick.
Some positives to end this review on: the dinner was great and was served in a kind of mess hall style where they make large portions of food and serve them to each table for everyone to dish out individual portions based on how hungry each person is. We had never experienced this before and it was a fun experience. I think everyone at the table knew that we had been on the trail for quite a long time (quite obvious by our cleanliness and the smell I'm sure lol) so they gave us the largest portions of food, which was kind of them. The dinner came in three courses: a soup, main course, and a pudding desert. It was delicious and I can recommend it. The hut is well laid out and is a cozy enough place to hang out. The hutsmen/women are professional and bilingual so if you are an English speaker they are easy to talk to. The area is gorgeous and the hike beyond it is one of the more technical and beautiful on the GR11 so at least when staying here you get a full day after to enjoy all of that.
And thats about it. Please exercise caution when camping here if there is wind and rain. Do not take camping in the alpine lightly: it is dangerous. I learned that while staying here.
