Make it count: Day #16-17

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