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Tour du Mont Blanc

When we made the decision to come to Europe for the summer as our boat was being built it was taken for granted that we would spend a good amount of time in Chamonix, the most well known mountainous valley in France. Since we were going to be in Chamonix, it made sense to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc, a system of trails that circumnavigates the Mont Blanc massif. It is something like 100 miles long and has a bit of up and down. The route is probably most well known for the eponymous race that takes place once a year, the Ultra Tour du Mont Blanc. Kate had had aspirations of running this race, but in recent years began to have moral objections to the way the race organizers run their events. As a result, we decided to hike the route in a more leisurely 10 days. Kate did all the planning, and got us excellent places to stay each night, so we each carried only a small running pack, and were able to move pretty quickly.

When we got to Chamonix, we had 10 days before our start date, so we tried to get into some kind of shape and get our gear dialed in. The mountains in Chamonix are different from the Sierras in a number of ways, but the most relevant to us was the nature of the trails. They go up. And then they go down. They are full of roots, rocks, and not a lot of attention is paid to making them user friendly. This makes mileage feel much longer than it does at home, and the midsummer heat and humidity in Chamonix did not help.

On the morning of our departure we parked our rental car in Les Houches, and hoped it would be there when we came back. Boarding the cable car to the top of the first pass, we scoffed at the dedicated purists who were laboring up the first muddy miles encased in a fog bank. We had no such qualms, and giggled onto the first part of the wooded trail from the Bellevue cable car. Before too long we were over the Col du Tricot, and onto the first descent of the day. It was muddy and there was still no visibility. Aside from a few sheep and cows we didn’t see much until we crested the second hill and mosied into Les Contamines. We were still hours early for our first hotel, so we walked into town and got some lunch to eat by the fountain. Our first day was 7 miles with 2100 feet of elevation gain. It took us two hours.

After a restful night in a bed and a shower, we awoke to a nice breakfast in the French tradition. All the other hikers had gotten up early and were on their way. We slept in and started out as the sun was making its way into the valley. The day started with a long and sometimes steep trail/ dirt road up towards the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme. There were many people on the trail, at times resembling the Hillary Step on Mount Everest. We passed them all, sometimes almost having to shove our way past. This was a small cultural difference we discovered during our time in France. People do not like to be passed, even if you are clearly moving faster than they are. This is funny, because it is exactly opposite to their behavior on the highway, where they are happy to yield to the faster driver.

We reached the col, and had a brief stop for a snack and a drink of water, before dropping way down into the next valley. We passed through a field of sheep, and my knee began hurting a little bit. Not wanting to damage it on the second day of our trip, I borrowed Kate’s hiking poles and slowly stumbled down the hill to our next hotel, where I proceeded to consume nice cold carafes of white wine. And read my book. We ate cheese and snacks before sitting down to a communal dinner, which was delicious. Our second day was 11.8 miles with 4500 feet of gain. It took us 4 hours, and we spent the night in Les Chapieux, which is a nice little valley where they make good cheese.

The next morning was similar, in that we did not get a crack of dawn start. Our hike began with a long walk up a paved road before crossing over a river and climbing up to the Col de la Seigne, where we passed into Italy. After relaxing at the Col for a moment and admiring the view, we started down and before too long found ourselves at the Elisabetta Soldini refuge, our destination for the night. It was before noon, and we spent the afternoon eating delicious and overpriced snacks, as well as relaxing by the torrent descending from the glacier. This hut had the best views we had seen yet, and we felt we were high in the mountains, although there was much still above us. We had booked standard dormitory beds at this refuge, and were a bit put out by how thin the blanket was and the lack of a real pillow. I guess this means we are getting old. Luckily the kid behind the counter recognized our geriatric nature, and mentioned there was space in a semi-private room. We spent the money for the upgrade, and were quite pleased with our fluffy duvets and thick pillows. I used to be tough….

Our day was 8.6 miles, with 3400 feet of climbing. It took us 3 hours.

The next morning we ate a very skinny breakfast, and ran a bit for the first time of the trip. We had some up and down, but were generally descending towards Courmayeur, the famous Italian town. This morning there were no people on the trail, which was a nice change. Luckily for my knee, which started hurting a bit, there was a cable car to take us down the last 1000 feet. I think Kate would have preferred to run it, but she took pity on my failing joints and we rode in style down to town. Again we had a long time before check in, so we got some pizza and walked around town. I bought some trekking poles, as I had learned the benefit in this terrain. Checking into our hotel, we showered and took a long nap. Our next day was meant to be quite long, so we ate dinner and turned in early. Our day was 8 miles with 1700 feet of climbing. It took us a bit over 2 hours.

Arising early, as we knew this day would be tough, we started with a long climb up to Refugio Giorgio Bertone, where the trail flattened. I was glad of my new poles, and we made good time up to the hut. This section of the trail had the best views of the southern aspect of the Mont Blanc Massif, and we were looking at huge walls and glaciers draining into the Aosta Valley, far below us. We stopped for a quick snack at the Bonatti Refuge, and then did a short descent before a brutal climb up to the Grand Col Ferret where we crossed into Switzerland. Before the climb I fell into a small creek where I was trying to fill my water bottle, so did the climb with wet feet. This made me grumpy, and I was hungry and mad by the time we got to the top. We ate some food, and I changed some socks, but we quickly started down, as it was kind of cold, which was a nice change. During the long, and sometimes steep descent, my knee did not hurt, which was great, and we made good time down the hill. Right at the bottom, just before our hostel, there was an ice cream truck near a nice little creek. We got ice cream, and hiked to our night's lodgings in La Fouley. We had Raclette for dinner, which is melted cheese on things. This day felt a little long, and we covered 19.8 miles, with 6700 feet of gain. It took 7.5 hours.

The next day was short, but the breakfast hours of the hostel forced us to get an early start. We walked down through a very civilized little Swiss valley, sometimes on trail and sometimes on paved secondary roads. We hiked up a bit of a hill, and came to a lake, Champex, something which is somewhat rare in the alps. We walked around the lake, ate some lunch, and then went to our hotel. It turns out that was not our hotel, and Kate had accidentally booked another of the same name, that was very far away. Luckily we got a room at another place, and they fed us dinner. Unfortunately, right around dinner time we began to feel a bit ill, and spent the night puking.

Our day was 8.5 miles with 3500 feet of climbing. It took three hours.

The next morning we were in no shape to hike, so we caught a bus, followed by three trains, and made it back to Chamonix before the sun went down. Luckily our car was still there, and we were able to drive to our AirBnB. Although we didn’t finish the TMB in a push (due to puking) we got a great perspective on the range, and were starting to feel a bit more fit than when we arrived. During the remainder of the summer we picked off the rest, excepting a 10 mile section, which we never got around to. It was a fun hike, and we got to eat lots of different food. It is inspiring that some twisted individuals do this same course in under 20 hours.