Make it count: Day #14

Day #14 - TMB Trek

Wednesday, August 16th

Hiking Day #9 - Tre-le-Champ to Planpraz via Lac Blanc - 8.7 miles, 4,563’ ascent, 2,631’ descent

Best hiking day of the trip! Today we walked all day with views of Mont Blanc and the majestic mountain range encompassing it. We had perfect weather - and the views were stunning!! If you ever just wanted to get a taste of the TMB - but didn’t have the desire to hike the entire loop - pick this section.

It was a really hard hiking day however. The day started with a near 4,000’ climb - in about 3.2 miles. What makes this day special in addition to the incredible views - the route has metal ladders and steep wooden staircase sections. You can choose to bypass them - but we all 3 went for action.

My favorite part of the day was at the end. There was a restaurant that overlooked Mont Blanc. There were para-gliders littering the sky with Mont Blanc as a backdrop. I stopped and had a soda - while lounging in a reclining chair. Peaceful and perfect!!!

So - this trip has been crazy busy. I’m still about 5/10 on the health front - with major sinus stuff going on. I’m generally a walking zombie by the end of the day.

1 more hiking day to go. Tomorrow (Thursday 17th) is Greg’s 50th B-Day. We got to celebrate tomorrow night. And - I’ve been working on something the past couple days. Because I really want to finish the TMB - and the fact we have Friday as a day to just bum around in Chamonix until we get a bus to Geneva - I’ve decided to make a run at the 2 days I missed - but making it happen in 1 day.

I’ve got a car service taking me to La Fouly, Switzerland at 4am on Friday morning. I’ll walk back to Courmayeur and then take a 2 bus combo to Geneva (where I meet back up with Greg and Korby). Those guys plan to chill in Chamonix and may take the gondola to the peak. This is an aggressive undertaking by me - but 1 of the 2 sections I missed was fairly simple. I have exit points available to me if I can’t make it. Here’s to making it happen!!

Not sure if I’ll be able to check in before Friday night with so much happening. Here’s to health and strength- I’ll need a fair bit of both.

Goodnight form the French Alps!!!