Posts Tagged With: glaciers

Tour du Mont Blanc: Time to return to this amazing trail

Posted on July 19, 2016 by carryoncouple.com

 

Look to the left for a slice of Courmayeur on the left after our climb.

The TMB is clearly marked in Italy. It was not so well marked in France.

It was “ciao” to Courmayeur, Italy today after a day of rest in the Alps resort city. The Tour du Mont Blanc has been more than challenging for us, so we needed the break.

Walking into a new country was a new experience on Saturday. We heard “buon giorno” more often than “bonjour” almost immediately and by the time we walked into Courmayeur, it was clear we were no longer in France. We will leave the specific cultural differences for another time, but we noticed them in the city and most definitely along the trail.

Of course, today started with a steep, 2,500-foot climb, but after that it was the easiest hiking day of the Tour so far. We walked about ten miles at 6,500 feet overlooking a steep glacial valley. The Mont Blanc range on the other side seemed close enough to touch. It was stunningly beautiful.

After a steep descent, we found our hotel in another resort town, Levechy, next to a roaring river at the foot of the Alps. A shower and a beer on the deck made for a perfect cap to the day. Dinner tonight in the hotel, part of the package deal.

The warm weather is supposed to hold for at least another day and the guide book says we will have another amazing look at the Tour's namesake as we cross into Switzerland at 8,000 feet tomorrow. That means another steep climb and “ciao” to Italy for now. We will return!

At the bottom of the Italian side of the Alps, if you look closely, is the tunnel entrance. The road goes under Mont Blanc and comes out in Chamonix, France.

This is a closer look at the tunnel entrance.

Sue sits in our shady picnic spot next to the trail. The Mont Blanc range was in the perfect spot.

This was the TMB for much of the day. Few rocks, relatively flat. The first day we have seen such a path on this trek.

Is it the view or the beer that makes the trek worthwhile?

Thank you, Silvia, at Follow the Camino tour company, for finding us lodging here.

Refugios have been so welcoming, allowing us to have our picnic even though we only bought a coffee at their bar. Today, we found one with a most unwelcoming message in each table. We found a warmer place for lunch.

 

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Tour du Mont Blanc: Spirits Lifted

Posted on July 18, 2016 by carryoncouple.com

Muddy hiking boots are removed and left in the entryway of Refugios, and Crocs are provided for inside wear.

 

 

 

 

We awoke Sunday morning (day 5) to more clear blue skies, and after a 6:30 am breakfast packed our things and started our trek.

The hike down from Refugio Elisabetta eventually leveled out onto a wide pathway of relatively easy walking…a welcome relief to the relentless ups and downs of the last few days.

We were pretty sure the easy walking would not last, and of course it didn't. We soon found ourselves headed up and out of the area known as Vallée des Glaciers. Anticipating two nights and a day of rest in the village of Courmayeur, we figured it wouldn't be too tough.

 

We soon found ourselves high above the valley floor with no end in sight. Our path took us by several piles of rubble, described in our guidebook as abandoned buildings.

The hillsides are covered with the most amazing display of wild flowers I have ever seen. The camera doesn't do them justice.

From across the valley we can see Glacier du Miage, which must have once reached the valley floor.

Onward we trekked, hoping to catch our first glimpse of Courmayeur around the next bend.

The village of Courmayeur is a charming place to kick back for a much needed rest.

Our itinerary called for an eleven mile day. After what seemed like at least that, if not more, we arrived at another Refugio situated on a ridge above our destination.

Trail markers pointed us steeply downhill for what was estimated to be another two hours of walking.

Ski lifts to the rescue. We purchased our tickets and hopped on the lift down. Best purchase of the trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We discovered this cute little lunch spot that served delicious crepes.

And they had outdoor seating!

 

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Tour du Mont Blanc: After struggle, the mountain rewards

Posted on July 17, 2016 by carryoncouple.com

It was pastoral calm as we began the third day of the Tour du Mont Blanc.

We had a quick snack before heading into the snow zone. We planned for lunch in a bit, but it never happened.

Ah, a little snow at the col looks fun. At the top, all changed quickly. A late winter and snow just last week has made July feel like anything but summer.

 

From my bottom bunk looking out a small window in a wood-paneled room, I see a glacier and Alpine peaks high above. Our home for tonight, the Elizabetta hut in Italy, is at about 7,500 feet, two miles from the Italy-France border.

The only way we could get to this place, as remote as you can get on the Tour du Mont Blanc, is by walking. Sue and I are in day four of the Tour. Day three was beautiful, grueling, treacherous and much more. More than 8,000 feet in elevation change hardly tells the story.

After we had climbed for four hours and 4,000 difficult feet up on Friday, we reached the col (pass) at 8,100 feet, thinking we had 3,000 feet downhill to our refuge, or hostel.

I looked up and could make out moving figures far above, climbing through the snow to another pass.

“I am so glad we don't have to do that,” I thought.

Think again. Two hours later, we had endured slippery snow banks and rocky passages, and were so exhausted that taking photographs was just too much. There were moments when we wondered why we were here.

Today, we had four hours of steep climbing, but very little snow. It took us to an 8,200-foot col, at the Italy-France border, and as we arrived, so did our view of Mont Blanc, at 15,770 feet. It appeared close enough to touch, outlined by brilliant blue sky. While eating our picnic lunch, it was crystal-clear why we were here.

Reg heads up, toward the second col. The conditions got much worse and the camera took a break while we focused on making it to the top.

Day four started after a night at a remote refugio at about 5,000 feet.

 

We were awe-struck at our introduction to Mont Blanc. We are about halfway to the top of the 15,770-foot mountain. It looked much more imposing in person.

A baguette, cheese and Mont Blanc made a perfect picnic combination.

Refugio Elizabetta is a rustic remote outpost on the Tour. Trekkers are packed into the small building, with triple bunks and single mattresses pushed right up against each other. We lucked out with a private room.

Refugio Elizabetta is nearly lost in the Alpine landscape in the photo above.

The Elizabetta offered rustic accommodations, but a good, three-course evening meal.

 

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Tour du Mont Blanc: More from Day One

Posted on July 13, 2016 by carryoncouple.com

This hut about a third of the way down was our lunch stop. Rustic, to say the least, perched on a cliff, great coffee!

 

Chains provided a security blanket at a couple of places.

 

On a clear day, you could see 5,000 feet down to Chamonix and across the valley to Mont Blanc, at more than 15,000 feet. Clearing weather is in the forecast! At times today, it felt like we were walking in the jet stream.

 

 

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Tour du Mont Blanc: Our challenge begins

Posted on July 13, 2016 by carryoncouple.com

 

Sue begins our trek down from Le Brévant.

Reg takes it slow and easy across a snow field at about 8,000 feet.

We were strongly advised to begin our trek with two gondola rides from Chamonix, taking us more than 5,000 feet up above spectacular terrain to Le Brevant, more than 8,000 feet high. Clouds blocked our view across the valley to Mont Blanc and made visibility poor for most of the day.

So, after ascending into the clouds, all we had to do is walk to Les Houtches, about 10 miles away, but more than a mile below. It is impossible to describe how challenging, exciting, tiring, painful, and wonderful it was. We walked across snow fields and hung on to railings and chains as our feet made their way on rocky ledges. Most of the way, each step had to be measured.

The skies held their moisture most of the way, but there were a few episodes of icy rain and we finished with an hour of rain.

We arrived at our hotel after seven hours, exhausted but filled with vivid memories of our first day on the Tour du Mont Blanc. We shall see if we can walk when Day Two begins!

 

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The way to Chamonix: Trains and costly surprises

Posted on July 12, 2016 by carryoncouple.com

Glaciers are revealed, but the clouds hide Mont Blanc in this view from our hotel this morning.

 

Naïveté, bad luck and good fortune all had parts in our eventful journey from sunny Strasbourg to rainy Chamonix in the French Alps on Monday.

Three trains were to take us on the nine-hour trip, but a bus and a very expensive taxi ride saved the day in the end.

The second train ride, meant to take us from Lyon in southern France to Saint Gervais, started well. But, when we got to the end of the line, we discovered we were in Evian! (Try that word backwards.)

Our hotel, La Chaumiere, in Chamonix. A nice breakfast buffet and a bottomless cup of coffee (our first on this trip) were a great start to the day.

We had lost half our train! It turned out that at one of the stops, the last three cars decoupled and they went to Saint Gervais, without us.

It was 9 p.m. and we were in Evian, a long way from our hotel room. We found the train engineer and he found us a bus, which took us back to Annemasse. He said to tell the folks at the train station what happened and that they would call a taxi to take us to Chamonix. A Japanese photographer in the same boat followed us.

We pulled into the Annemasse train station about 10 p.m. The bus driver spoke little English, but had been told of our plight and waited while we sought help.

However, the station was deserted. Now what? The benches looked like last-resort beds. Ouch!

Sue tried calling a taxi, but the first call went unanswered and the second got a recording in indecipherable French. The driver needed to go. We needed a taxi. A bilingual woman on the bus hopped off and called a taxi for the three of us.

It was nearly 11 p.m. when we pulled into Chamonix. The meter read 240€. As Sue and I approached the locked lobby of the La Chaumiere Hotel, tourists from London unlocked the door. An envelope on the counter welcomed the Spittles, our key inside!

It has been raining all day in Chamonix; our Tour du Mont Blanc begins tomorrow with more rain forecast. We will begin, rain or shine.

In Scotland, they might say “It never rains on the trail!”

 

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