Saturday, August 19, 2023

Day #16-17 - TMB Trek

 Day #16-#17- TMB Trek


Friday, August 18th

Saturday, August 19th


Makeup Hiking Days 4-5. (Done in reverse)

Hiking Day #4 - Courmayeur to Refugio Bonatti- 7.3 miles, 3,471’ ascent, 853’ descent 


Hiking Day #5 - Refugio Bonatti to LaFouly - 12.3 miles, 3,034’ ascent, 4,425’ descent. 


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Hiking success!!!  TMB fully completed!!!


Wow - what a couple crazy days.  I’m coming to you live  aboard Delta Flight#DL99 from Geneva, Switzerland headed to JFK in New York.   We departed Geneva at 12:50pm on Saturday (19th) afternoon.  The flight is scheduled to take 8 hours.  Geneva is 6 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone in the US - so we’ll land at 2:50pm (just a couple hours after departure)


It’s 4 hours into the flight.  I’m seated in an aisle seat in the middle 3-seat section of the plane.  Full flight - no empty seats that I can see.  I’ve watched a couple movies, now I’m inspired to write a little bit. 


First off - I just wanted to say how thankful I am that everything worked out in the end with the trip.  It was fantastic, beautiful, inspiring, energizing, demanding, painful, crushing, and rewarding - all packed into a couple week’s timeframe. 


I haven’t expanded much on the blog throughout the trip simply because I was sick a great majority of the time and my energy/abilities were largely diminished.  


So - let’s talk about the adventure that was Friday, August 18th.   You know - there’s a handful of days  in your life that you’ll always remember - with every colorful detail - yesterday was one of those days.   My aunt recently told me how she sometimes compares days/events to the computer pixels that fill a screen.  Some details are so tiny and minimal - they will never create an image to remember.  Other days will take up more pixels and create a long-lasting image - just like yesterday.  


Friday, August 18th started with a 2:45am wakeup in Chamonix, France.  I gathered all my gear, finished packing my big duffel that Greg/Korby would be taking with them, and hurried to the hotel entry awaiting my 3:30 am pickup by a car service I had setup 1 day earlier. (with the large communication assist going to the hotel staff).  


I got into the lobby a little early - about 3:15am.  A car pulled up at 3:22am - to take me to a small village in rural Switzerland- La Fouly, Switzerland.  The driver spoke no English.  He understood my name and the destination- no other words were spoken. 


To add  relevance to the story, you must understand that nobody starts their day in this area of Europe until 8am at the earliest - at the absolute earliest.  No shops, no food - it is a ghost land until mid-morning.   I had bought some orange juice, water, and a couple bars to eat on the ride the evening before. 


The drive took a little over an hour.  The car pulls up to a dark, abandoned car lot in the middle of La Fouly.  I jump out and pay the driver.  He takes off and I’m now standing alone in the middle of the night in a remote village in a foreign country.  My only means of navigation is my phone - that I have pulled up to the map showing the section of the TMB I’m prepared to hike.   I have my headlamp around my forehead.  I have backup batteries in my daypack.  I have 3-liters of waters, some energy gels, rain gear, and an emergency Garmin SOS device if needed.   It’s 4:35am - go time!


Health wise - I’m feeling OK at the start.  No headache- still lingering sinus issues.  I’m both nervous and excited at the same time - because I honestly don’t know if I can pull off 20 miles with this ascent/descent, in this terrain, at 60-70% power. 


I  start off the first half a mile down a desolate road.  I then took a right turn into the deep woods - knowing it would be pitch black outside for at least the next 1hr-30 min.   (To add some credibility to what I was doing - I do have experience hiking in the dark in the woods - just not in a foreign country).   About 45 minutes into the hike an animal (large) runs about 25-30 yards in front of me.   It scared the living snout out of me - literally.  Before the trip - I had done a rough search on animals in this area.   There were mentions of wolves - but nothing too crazy.  I think it had to be a deer I saw by the way it ran and bounded away - I just wasn’t expecting it because we’ve seen basically zero animals on trail - with no mention of deer in the area at all.  


I continued on - up some extremely steep terrain.  I’m sweating  heavily - and it’s a cool 60 degrees in the dark.  I pushed on.  My Garmin watch kept ticking the miles - Mile#3, Mile #4.  At about 6:15am - with the sun starting to rise behind the huge mountains surrounding me - my eyes were adjusted enough to turn off my light.   I had still not seen a human on the trail - lots of spiders though. 


Right around 7am - I had a trail runner pass me.  This was a sense of relief - there’s now other people out on trail.  I still had another hour of climbing the 4,000’ initial ascent.  At 8am - up ahead - I could see it.  It was the Grand Col Ferrett - the peak of my ascent, as well as the border of Switzerland and Italy.   The scenery was beautiful- amazing. There was a group of 6 tenters at the peak.  I had them take my picture. I completed my first huge goal of the day - I had walked into Italy.  


I was feeling energized and motivated at this time.  I was filled with emotion - I can do this!!  I used these emotions to take me the next 2-1/2 hours into Refugio Bonatti.   I was able to average 21-22 minute/mile pace during this stretch - even with rolling hills.  Refugio Bonatti was the completion point for the first segment of my 2-segment journey.  I arrived at 10:35am - 1-1/2 hours before my goal of 12noon.   I was 12 miles into my 20 mile hike.  


I took a planned break here - drinking a soda, eating a couple cookies and a snicker bar.  I was able to refill my water bottles as well.  After a 30 minute break taking in the incredible view of Mont Blanc in front of me (so close you felt like you could reach out and touch it) - I headed down the trail. 


By this time of the day - the trail was littered with hundreds of people.  My final 8 miles consisted of 5 miles of rolling hills - then a brutal, technical 3-mile, 3,400’ descent into Courmayeur, Italy.  The 5-miles went great.  I felt stronger than I had the entire TMB.  I knew I could make it now - “just don’t go down”.   


When I got to the last 3 mile descent - I was pretty fatigued.  Descents are grueling on the legs and the mind.  You have to be very accurate with every foot placement - while paying close attention to loose rock at all times.  This section was a major struggle - trying to control the sense of relief/letup that I would soon enjoy with the task at hand.  


I rolled into Courmayeur- the completion of my day - at 2:10pm.   I did it!!   I completed and walked every step of the 100-mile TMB in 9 total hiking days!!!


I sat down for about 15 minutes on the steps of this church - overlooking Courmayeur.  Relief, appreciation, and gratitude filled my body.  This is what it’s all about - that feeling of accomplishment- creating one of those images that will make a lasting impression on your computer screen - forever!!


I then worked my way over to the bus stop.  I had bought a 6pm ticket yesterday - as I expected my completion to be around 4-4:30pm.  I was able to switch my bus back to Chamonix for a 3:45pm departure.  Very nice!


Up to this point - the day could not have gone better.  Then - the first hiccup.  Major traffic delays leaving Courmayeur.  My bus arrived over an hour late into Chamonix.  There had been a 5:15pm bus available to Geneva - but I missed it due to the traffic delay.  Greg/Korby had a bus leaving at 6:30pm for Geneva - but it was completely booked.   I had a 9pm bus secured - but I was crashing fast and needed to lay down.  


I waited around until 6:30pm.  I met up with Greg/Korby.  I decided to hang around until their bus arrived - maybe there will be a no-show.   Yes!!   I was able to get the very last open seat on the bus!   So very fortunate.  


We rolled into Geneva, Switzerland at 8pm.  After a cab ride to the hotel - I showered and crashed.  I was one tired, not fully functional feller.  


This trip continues to teach me things and make me a better person.  One of my biggest flaws is that I’m always so focused, driving to the next goal, if it’s not going exactly how I planned- then I’m not happy.  Well - as I sit on this plane at 1pm EST on Sat, August 19th - I am feeling very blessed and very thankful for my life and the adventures/journeys I’ve been able to create along the way.  Enjoy the ride - not just the destination - words to live by.  


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It’s 4:40pm EST on Sat, August 20th.  We made it back to the states.  We’re in JFK airport - flight leaving for Raleigh at 7:29pm tonight.   


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It’s 9:20pm - just landed in Raleigh, NC   I’m a tired fella once again   I’m going to sign off now on my TMB Trek   What an amazing experience this has been!!


Totals for the hike:   

102 miles, 30,445’ ascent, 39,096’ descent


Early morning sunrise

Mountains coming to life

First Refugio I came upon

Long grinding ascent 

Near the Swiss/Italian border

Early morning 

Mid-morning 

At the Swiss/Italy border

Border pic

Border pic - taken by some tenters

Headed downhill

Beautiful morning hike

Close views

Can see forever

Back uphill

Rolling hills

Nearing Refugio Bonatti

Mountain closeup 

Pic from Refugio Bonatti deck

Refugio Bonatti pic

Refugio Bonatti pic

Bringing it home

Awesome

Really nice walk

Amazing 

Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc

Awesome

Final stats



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