Make it count

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!!!

Early morning view of Mont Blanc

Sun peaking out

Mont Blanc through the trees

Ladder section

Pretty steep

More ladders

Incredible

Lake at the summit of big climb

Refugio at summit - took a break

Hiking solo most of day

Can’t stop taking pictures

Really nice

Long descent

Ascending into Mont Blanc

End of hike

Para-gliders

Amazing

Mesmerized

Chamonix

View from Main Street in Chamonix

Amazing town of Chamonix

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

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.)