Day 8 Hiking, Champex, Switzerland

Hikers on the TMB

To date we have hiked 116 K and climbed over 6000 M. Today, however, was, as described by our Routcard, "the least demanding of the tour", except for the mental challenge of route finding through villages. We hiked a mere 15.5 K and only climbed  500 M. No high passes to cross. We are now in the very pretty Swiss Val (vally) Ferret, the home of the famous St. Bernard Dogs.

We have been seeing the most fabulous vegetable gardens. The first was in the center of Courmayeur, both a vegetable and cut flower garden, complete with a little, bent over, old lady watering. Yesterday, in La Fouly, there was a garden with beautiful pumpkins. Today, we walked past several more, one even had black berries.

Our hotel, the Splendide, in Champex is quite spectacular. We have a huge room on the 3rd floor with two balconies looking out over the valley to snow covered peaks beyond. We have been very happy with all of the accommodation arranged by our tour company, Alpine Exploratory.

Our hike today took us on a long woodland trail with many wood carvings cut from tree trunks, all very quaint. There were deer, rabbits, mushrooms, a pig etc. etc.

Our water source for our daily hikes has been a series of water spouts running constantly into wooden or stone troughs. The water is potable but we do not know where it comes from. Just like we do not know what the Alpine cattle herders do with all the fresh milk everyday. We have heard there is a festival taking place after we leave, celebrating the cows coming down from the high pastures. Having walked through several of the herds, and listened to their bells even when we could not see them, it is a shame we will miss the event!

Tomorrow is sightseeing. We will hit the tourist office bright and early to plan our day!

PS: Late note - we learned that, during the summer, all the milk from the Alpine cows is made into cheese on site in "cheese factories" and stored in "cheese cellars". No wonder we have cheese  in several courses every meal.  

Day 6 & 7 Hikes, La Fouly

Jane in the doorway of our hotel in La Fouly

Just finished day 7 hiking, it was long, 22 K, 970 M elevation gain and 1400 M loss. We climbed up to Grand Col Ferrat (a saddle or dip in a mountain ridge) and started our first day hiking in Switzerland (the border was at the top of the Col). We hiked up into fog and drizzle, even a little snow and ice on the last of the Alpine flowers. We lost our great mountain views but the fog had its own beauty and our fellow hikers appeared and disappeared like ghosts. We often felt quite alone in the world. Twice, however, we found a place for hot tea, once at a Refugio and then at a farm cafe. Despite the weather we stayed on the mountain trails and did not resort to hiking down to the valley roads.

Back to yesterday, we left Courmayeur and hiked up about 700M, the first up of the day, then up some more. It is described as the toughest stage physically. We stayed on the traditional TMB (Tour Mont Blanc) balcony trail with fabulous views of the Mont Blanc summit and the wall of mountains on the SE face of the massive. We were able to watch the Skyway (cable car) in the distance for the first half of the day.

We spent our fourth night in yet another Refugio, Refugio Bonatti, the newest on the TMB, built in the late 90's, and very much like a back country lodge in the Rockies. It was very nice, very clean and we had a lovely twin private room.

Staying at a Refugio is very communal; it is where you create community on the trail. You see the same hikers. You get to eat family style with different people, and you share where you are from, and your other hiking experiences. It is in listening to where others hike, that you get your inspiration for the next hike. Many consider staying at a Refugio to be essential for a true "alpine experience". 

Refugio Lac Blanc

There are "rules" to staying at Refugio's.
1. No boots inside. Instead, you leave your boots in a boot room, and depending on the Refugio, you wear anything from crocs to felted clogs with edelweiss pins.
2. Assigned seating for dinner. You are always with your "party" so we are always together, but you get placed with other hikers which helps you meet your fellow travelers. Most of the tables seat 8.
2. Don't waste food - so far this has not been a problem. Last night's meal may have been the best so far. We were all excited to see salad as the first course (this was the first salad we have had). Then hot bean soup over croutons and a fontina cheese slice (I mention the cheese as this is the cheese of this region.) Then meatballs and grilled veggies, and fruit salad. This was an unusual Refugio meal based on our experience, because of the amount of fresh fruit and veg. While all the meals have been excellent, this was by far the best.
3. Help clear the table - at the end of each course, you scrap, pass, and stack your dishes with the rest of the table. All meals are a set menu and served family style. If the platter is set by you, another rule is that you serve the table - and you do your best get the quantities right.

Note to Catherine: We did take the sardine can cable car- as it was the only choice on the Italian side, there were only about 30 people even though the sign said "rated for 80", and, as the floor rotated 360 degrees around the center on the ascent and descent, we all had a great view. Also, just want to let you know that the fastest runner in the 2015 marathon did 160 K in the mountains in under 21 hours, the last person came in two days later, apparently having run non-stop.

Courmayeur

Mont Blanc from observation deck

Looking down to "Courmayeur

We met some Brits yesterday at Refugio Elizabetta who told us about the Skyway Mont Blanc, a cable car from Courmayeur that runs up and over the Mont Blanc massive to Chamonix, France. As this is our "sightseeing" day we had to go and it was fabulous, worth every euro. The trip to the top (and Italian border) cost 40 euro (32 euro for over 65!!). It would have cost another 160 euro to go to Chamonix and first we thought "those French" but then learned the cable car on the Italian side carries up to 80 people, the one on the French side carries 4! It was quite amazing, the observation deck at the top station was at 3466M (11371 feet), just 1350M below the Mont Blanc summit. You stand on the observation platform in your warmest jacket looking up at the summit and down on glaciers. We felt the altitude, and exposure, as we picked out yesterdays and tomorrow's trails across the valleys below .There was a lot to do at the two Italian stations: a crystal exhibit (Mont Blanc is one of the best places in the world for pink quartz), cafes and restaurants, gift stores, and an alpine garden with 900 species.

Tonight we are meeting some fellow hikers for dinner, then early to bed before our 1000 M elevation gain/hike up the mountain ridge tomorrow morning. Weather is getting a bit cooler but that makes for perfect hiking. No posts tomorrow as we will be at Refuge Bonatti, another alpine hut.

Day 2, 3, 4, & 5 Hikes - Refuge Bonhomme to Courmayeur, Italy

One of many water fountains on the TMB

Since the last time we blogged we have hiked over 50K, climbing almost 3,000M total elevation gain. Most of our elevation gain and loss has been crossing three saddles with the last one, the Col de la Seigne, a 2,516 meter border crossing into Italy.  All of our accommodation the past three nights has been in Alpine huts or Refuges (Rifugios in Italy). The word "hut" is deceiving as it does not describe accommodation for 75 or more people. Each had its own personality. And each has a range of accommodation which may include privater rooms, small dorms, or large rooms with a dozen or more mattresses laid side by side on a raised platform on each side.

A view on trail to Refuge Des Mottets

Our first, Refuge Bonhomme, was similar to a Canadian hostel with the addition of family style meals and a good selection of beer and wine. The second, Refuge des Mottets was like a back country lodge. We had a private room, crisp white sheets, a dining room decorated with antiques and post dinner entertainment (a barrel organ). We had three course meals served family style. Two rules we learned about walking the Tour de Mont Blanc: "do not waste food" and "help clear the table". The food was excellent: veg soup, roast pork, potatoes, local cheese, chocolate cake etc. The last, Rifugio Elisabetta, was a bit between, we had a private room with bunk beds but it was otherwise quite basic.

A beer on Refugio patio

Crossing into Italy - first view of Mont Blanc yet to come!

The highlight of the past days, and all the elevation gain and loss, was our first sighting of Mont Blanc, just past the Italian border. All scenery is consistently spectacular however snow covered Mont Blanc and it surrounding peaks is very dramatic. The weather has been sunny for the most part, with just one day of light rain.

Every hiker is on a different schedule. We added a day to the usual route, as we wanted to have a relaxing hike. The additional day ended up on a part of the route were there are only alpine huts, leaving us with a bit too much time to kill in places where there is nothing to do but walk. We are meeting people from just about everywhere, some are couples or small groups, others are hiking alone (including five women we have meet so far - interestingly the majority of this group of solo hikers intended to be completing the trail with someone who bowed out for a number of reasons).

Day 1 Hike - Les Houcehs to Les Contamines

TMB Route on Sign

One of many view on the TMB

Great start, we actually made the 20K and 900M climb in the time suggested by our route guide (6.5 hours). In fact we beat our luggage which arrived at our hotel over 2 hours later. We also beat the three men we met at breakfast, last we saw they were sitting in the shade of a wood shed (not that we are competitive!). We can't take all the credit as they were only using a 1:25,000 (10 cm =250m) map and we had a detailed route guide plus a map and compass.

The countryside is spectacular, we walked through little French villages with pretty chalets, flower baskets, climbing roses etc. Everything is lush and green. And then there is the backdrop of snow covered Alps.

We walked up mountain biking trails past ski lifts and left that behind when we crossed the Mont Blanc tramway and headed west into the next valley. It was sunny but a bit too warm, about 26-28 C.

Our hotel, the Gai Soleil

We were able to get a set dinner at our hotel for a good price, and it was fabulous: tomato soup, veal stew with carrots, mashed potatoes, and butter rum soaked cake. We notice food here is simple, fresh and flavorful.

We will not be posting until Wednesday as the next three nights are at mountain huts (refuges or rifugios) and we are unlikely to have internet. Besides, our iPads will go ahead in our luggage to be waiting at the next hotel. 

Les Houches, France

We are sitting in our charming little inn, very French Alps chalet style, looking out on the Mont Blanc massive. Spectacular. Dinner was Crouette (a local baked bread and cheese dish) with green salad and ham. We ate on a sidewalk patio with front row seats for the 2015 ultra trail du Mont Blanc (a 120k run) with over 2000 participants listening to the crowd cheer everyone off. Interesting that they start in the evening. We think it is just as well no one lines up to cheer for the walkers. Getting here was easy, we are in Europe and public transportation is fast and simple. We quickly  left Switzerland behind passing into France just outside Geneva. We have not seen any of the famous alpine dairy cows yet, just one village after another. We found tomorrow's start point, after the first 100 meters or so we will start up the first, of many, mountain ridges.

Geneva

It is 1030 pm, 28C, we are sitting outside in our hotel patio with a beverage. It has been quite the day as we have touched ground in four countries, one by accident. We thought we could save by taking a hotel shuttle, seemed easy, until we discovered that there is more than one "airport" Novatel hotel. Unfortunately, we got the shuttle to the one across the boarder in France, where we did not have a reservation. We are now safely at the Geneva Novatel hotel, which had our reservation, planning tomorrow's travel to the kick off point - Les Houches in either France or Switzerland TBD! Fortunately there is a big mall and bus stop across the street.