Day #13 - TMB Trek

 Day #13 - TMB Trek

Tuesday, August 15

Hiking Day #8 - Trient to Tre Le Champ via Le Tour + Les Houches to the top station of the Bellevue gondola - 12.5 miles, 3,300’ ascent, 5,438’ descent

There were 2 options on today’s hike.   The first portion, which included a big 3,200’ climb, was consistent for both routes.  At the top of the big climb - you could ascend another 400’ or take the descent through the ski runs.   I’ve been incredibly weak the past couple days.  I started the day about 30 minutes before Greg and Korby.  They caught up to me at the first peak.  They opted for the additional climb - I decided to descend.  My route was actually the standard TMB route.  

For the next 3 nights - we’ll be staying in Chamonix.  Because of this - we’ll be taking buses or gondolas from our end point back into Chamonix - then retrace our steps the next morning.   We finished up at a place called Tre Le Champ.  I grabbed the bus into town, checked into the hotel, then ate some lunch.  Greg and Korby got to the hotel about 30 minutes after me. 

Today was different than any day so far - because I wasn’t done hiking.   Greg and I had chosen to take the gondola on the first day of the hike so we didn’t start with a killer day.  Today we got a bus back to Les Houches - took the gondola up and finished the 5 miles we had missed.  I really want to do all the miles on the TMB - this cleans up everything but the 2 days I missed due to sickness.

We had an incredible dinner at an Italian restaurant right by our hotel to end the night.  I was one tired feller after dinner and crashed  once I hit the room.  It’s actually Wednesday night now (8/17) and I’m trying to catch up on the blog.  

2 more hiking days to go.  Still meeting interesting people.  The trails are active - scenery still unreal. 

Leaving Trient - early start

Sun peaking out in the morning

Smooth hiking trail

Switzerland-France border

Clouds rolling in - rain held off

Distant trail

Walking down the ski slope

Start of hike to Les Houches

Awesome

Halfway to Les Houches

Incredible

Amazing

Perfect

Chamonix Hotel - Hotel De L’Arve

Hotel right by mountain river

Day #12 - TMB Trek

 Day #12 - TMB Trek

Monday, August 14th

Hiking Day #7 - Champex to Trient via Alp Bovine - 10.9 miles - 2,519’ ascent - 3,103’ descent.  

A really solid effort today!   I got the first full night of sleep I’ve had in 5-6 days last night, and I awoke with only a minor sore throat.  My resting pulse rate was also just about back to normal.   All very good things!!  Thankful!!

I started and was able to stay with Greg and Korby all day.  The first 3-4 miles were easy, flat terrain.  This was followed by an aggressive 2,500’ climb.  It was steep - but I was able to hang on.  The final part of the day consisted of a pretty good downhill into Trient.

Trient is a quiet little Swiss town tucked away in this valley.  Very small town - no Wi-Fi tonight unfortunately.  We were only able to check-in at 3pm, so we lounged in this backyard garden area for a couple hours.  They had really comfortable, lounging chairs.  I was under a nice shade tree, with a gentle breeze blowing, beautiful, towering Swiss Alps in my distant view.  I drifted off for an hour nap - incredible!!!

We checked into our room, grabbed a shower, then hung out on the outside deck of a restaurant for a couple drinks with Jack.  Dinner will be served at 7pm.   A great comeback day!

……..Great dinner.  Pasta, salad, and a dessert cake.  Each hotel is different - and some of them assign seats for the evening meals.  Tonight - Greg and I were seated with a husband and wife from Queenstown, South Island - New Zealand, and a man (from Alberta, Canada) and his daughter (from the Yukon in Canada).   Very interesting conversations- my favorite time of the day!

Goodnight from the Swiss Alps.  Tomorrow we’ll re-enter France to complete our three country loop and return where we started.  3 hiking days left (Plus maybe more - been strategizing a way to complete the TMB after all - details later.)

Start to the morning in Champex

Really neat buildings everywhere 

Flat stretch to start the day

Distant mountains 

Entering the woods

Awesome

Typical trail

More views

Lots of cows

Cows with noisy cowbells

Very nice

More views

Final couple miles into town

Entering Trient

Day #11 - TMB Trek

                             Day #11 - TMB Trek

Sunday, August 13th

Hiking Day #6 - LaFouly to Champex - 9.3 miles, 1,637’ ascent, 2,073’ descent. 

Hiking day success!!   Just what I needed today.  6 miles of relatively flat, sloping downhill followed by a little 1,500’ uphill at the end of the day to get some confidence back.  Definitely the easiest day on the TMB thus far - and it was positioned at a really good time. 

I woke up feeling a little better - but not great.  I was nervous about how my body would react after being down and out a couple days - so I started the day early before Greg and Korby.  I ate a quick breakfast and hit the trail - while they were still eating.  First couple miles I was shaky, and sweating when I probably should not have been. About mile #3 - I decided to put my headphones in and just start listening to some music.  Sometimes I’m my worst enemy- I think about way too many things.  I’ve found that music is a perfect distraction and always picks me up.  The next 7 miles went by in a flash.  Korby and Greg never caught up to me.  I met them at the finish. I wasn’t going fast - just a consistent pace

I’m currently in Champex, Switzerland - a super-cool mountain town.  There is a huge lake in the middle of town which draws everybody together - paddle-boarding, kayaking, fishing, swimming.  We actually finished the hike around 11am and we couldn’t check into the hotel until 1-1:30pm.  We decided to grab a couple drinks and just sit in the grass by the lake.  It was relaxing and perfect!!   

I then checked into my hotel and just decided to chill inside and rest/sleep the remainder of the afternoon.  Greg and Korby went back out to check out the town - but I’ll meet up with them tonight at dinner (6:30pm).  

Hoping to do a zoom call with my AT Tramily at 9pm my time - so got some things going for later.  

I plan to approach tomorrow similar to today.  Start early and go really slow and consistent. Lots of lingering stuff - but I’m on the upward tick!   

4 more hiking days left - and everybody says the homestretch is the most scenic and beautiful part of the whole trail. If that’s true - it’s going to be epic for sure.   Keep the Faith!!

Start of the day 

A lot of smooth track today

Reminded me of Colorado

Great view

Down in valley most of the day

Big trails

A walk through the woods

Very nice

We walked through several small towns

Cool town

More road walks

Mountains around the valley

My favorite of the day

Neat carving

Final road into town

Lake in middle of town

More lake views

Champex, Switzerland 

Day #9-10 - TMB Trek

                        Day #9 - #10 - TMB Trek

Friday-Saturday, August 11-12th

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. 

Well - life doesn’t always workout the way you have it planned.  The 2 days listed above would have been what I hiked - but I had 2 consecutive sick-days instead.  This post is really hard for me. It’s so difficult to not achieve what you set out to do   But - I’ve been digesting this all day.  Sometimes failing/not achieving your goals can make us better.  If you never fail - then maybe you never pushed yourself to that uncomfortable place - where you can grow.  I don’t know - that’s what I’m telling myself right now.  Hey - if I can hike 8/10 days on the TMB - that’s not too bad.  And who’s stopping me from coming back to Europe and completing my missed days at some point in the future.  

It’s 1pm local time - I am on the first bus of a 4-bus combination that I hope will take me from Courmayeur, Italy to LaFouly, Switzerland by around 7pm tonight. 

I woke up yesterday completely out of it - with pretty bad fever.  I got all my hiking clothes on, packed up my gear to be dropped off, and went down to breakfast.  I got a little food on my plate.  I took 1 bite of an egg - and just couldn’t stomach another bite.  Absolutely zero appetite.   I was there with Greg and everything in the world seemed against me at that moment. 

OK - What do you do?   First off - I’m not someone who likes to fail - and I’m definitely not someone who wants to quit or give up.  However - I can’t be foolish and reckless to make something happen.  

The situation- I was faced with a steep 3,400’ climb right from the start of the hike out of Courmayeur.  We were set to go to the single location where transportation is not accessible on the entire TMB - Refugio Bonatti.  Because of this - I was carrying a lot of extra weight in my pack because our main duffles were being transferred to LaFouly (the next day’s finish).  I had fever & chills, I had a painful and sore throat, I couldn’t stomach any food, I wasn’t thinking real clearly, and I wasn’t walking great - stumbling around.    Conclusion - I had to take the day off. 

I ended up getting a hotel room in Courmayeur - laying around and sleeping all day.  I finally got a bit of an appetite back around 7pm.  I walked out and got a slice of pizza.  

By this time - fever was still present.  I hadn’t made much recovery over the course of the day. Conclusion - I decided to take the next day off as well from hiking.  I was going to sleep in until 10am - get breakfast and checkout from the hotel by 11am.  

That brings me to where I am right now - somewhere on a bus in Italy headed to a small town in Switzerland.   If successful- I will be back with Greg and Korby tonight - and depending on how the night goes - it gives me the option to hike tomorrow or take transportation again to the next town.  The nice part of the TMB - minus the night in Refugio Bonatti - you really have options if you can’t hike for whatever reason (sick, injured, etc).  

Since I’ve already paid for all these hotels along the way - I might as well use them.  Greg and I had been sharing a room and Korby typically has his own room.  I could stay in the single room and let them share to avoid my sickness.   I’ll keep my mask on if I have to share a room with Greg

…….Well - I’m on bus #2 of the 4- bus combo today.  It’s 2:15 pm - still heading in the right direction.  

…..I guess I’m doing play by play today - because I have a lot of down time - in areas I really can’t sleep.  It’s 4:15 pm local time.   I’m sitting at a cafe drinking hot tea, about 20 yards from my bus stop. My 2nd bus took me to the Italy/Switzerland border - at a place called St Bernard Hospice (pretty amazing place by the way - incredible views in all direction.  These may be my only pics from today).  After departing the bus - I walked across the Italy/Switzerland border.  No immigration or passport needed.  Kind of cool I guess.  In coming on this trip, I wanted to walk into three countries.  I thought I missed my chance with Switzerland- but I got it done anyway - just not on the TMB.   My 3rd bus departs at 4:50pm - this takes me to some arbitrary destination in Switzerland.  Hopefully, from there, I’ll get a bus to my final destination. 

……….It’s 9:15pm - I made it to my hotel - Hotel Edelweiss in LaFouly, Switzerland.  My final 2 bus trips went well - arrived around 6:15pm.  Perfect timing.  Dinner was being served at 6:30pm.  I ate dinner with Greg, Korby, and Jack - it was really nice to talk with those guys - who have been extremely supportive of me. 

 

I’ve only taken 1 ibuprofen since 8am and the fever appears to be suppressed.  I still have swollen glands and major sore throat and congestion. Tomorrow is the easiest leg of the TMB - I’m going to give it a go unless I wake up with a lot more problems. It should only be a 4-hr day — but I plan to go really slow. I’ve asked Greg and Korby to plan to go ahead of me. 

Keep the Faith!  Hopefully just a sinus infection that needs a little time.  Let’s see what tomorrow brings.  

Italy/Switzerland border

Beautiful scenery at the border

Cafe where I drank some hot tea

Incredible views everywhere