Tour du Mont Blanc or TMB | Hiking the GR6, GR5 & Tour du Mont Blanc

DAY 30: Les Contamines to Les Houches

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 30: Sunday July 1st: Les Contamines to Les Houches:

Walk: 19.5k 8hrs 30min: Fine, misty then rain, 19°C to 15°C

Accommodation: Hotel Beausite Les Houches

Leaving Gai Soleil Les Contamines New shorts, white legs, sunscreen

Misty sky , eerie forests

But magical glimpses of Alps

Col de Tricot 2120 metres - zig zags

After morning tea - 600m climb up

There's 60 people on way down

And the mist rolls in

An ibex on the way down too

Col de Tricot 2120 metres

At the Col de Tricot - 12.30pm

5 mins later the rain sets in

Suspension bridge over Bionnassay Glacier - if only i could see it

Not much to photograph - just cows

Trust me, it's nice down there

Next - Cold de Voza 1650 metres

Repairs to camera case after a wine

- a few pricked fingers.

France Meteo weather forecast got it right - rain in the afternoon. But we managed to climb Col de Tricot (2120 metres) before the rain and mist set in limiting visibility to 20 metres.

When we wake, there's patches of blue sky. First we skype home, I publish my blog then trot off to the boulangerie for fresh bread - we still have 1kg of Beaufort cheese and 2 sausages and with the tomatoes we bought yesterday, that’s lunch. Breakfast at 8am is again a guest house spread of yoghurt, cheeses, fresh bread and croissants with meusli and hot tea. After brekky, we hand our bag of extras to Mme Mamoud. Both our packs are significantly lighter. It's amazingly warm outside at 19°C. with high mist.

We (make that I) want to do the Col de Tricot, a variant of the Tour de Mont Blanc, a near vertical climb up 600 metre, which we hadn't done before. We leave through the back of the village then up into pine forests. It's so warm, we strip off to walk in shorts and tee shirts. There’s eerie glimpses of the alps through the mist. After 2 hrs, we reach a high point in the forest then descend into a green valley on slippery rocks. Once down we have a coffee brak and watch a stream of people coming from the col.

DAY 31: Les Houches to La Flegere

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 31: Monday July 2nd: Les Houches to La Flegiere:

Walk: 19.5k 10hrs: No wind, Rain, mist, rain, mist, 15°C to 5°C

Accommodationa; Refuge La Flagiere above Argentiere

It's raining, it's pouring …….

Now it'smisty

New poncho - just in time

Eerie misty views - Les Houches

Alps in the Mist

Glacier Bossons across velley

At the top of Le Brevent - 2526m

Leaving Le Brevent - snow drifts

On the ladders - which ladders????

Col de Brevant - 2368m

Stand-up Lunch at 4pm

10hrs, 19k day, 5°C, but all is good

Looks OK but refuge is shed behind

Today was a great day. No groups on the track and we passed 6 people in 10 hours, It rained the whole day and kept everyone away. We climbed Le Brevant at 2526 metres, an ascent of 1500 metres from Les Houches (1000m), scaled the ladders down to the Col de Brevant (2368m) and took a record 10hrs.

At 6am, we're up. It's misty outside but we hope it will clear and decide to climb 1,500 metres to Le Brevant at 2526 metres,. We're packed, showered, skyped and down for breakfast at 7.30am. Luke warm tea (always when men serve breakfast), bread, croissants and sweet meuslii. We leave at 8am in wet gear. I spy a Sports 2000 store with someone hanging out ponchos so Ian buys a new one for 10 euro. -His $2.99 Woollies poncho is torn. Our GPS reveals we ‘ve passed the turn by 500 metres so we do a U turn back – lucky, or else no poncho. It's pleasant climbing in the forests in the mists at about 15°C and we get glimpses of the glaciers across the valley. The large glacier Le Bossons is clearly visible. We wonder why there's no one on the track as we haven't seen a single sole for the past 3hrs.

DAY 32: La Flegere to Col de Forclaz

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 32: Tuesday July 3rd: La Flegere to Col de Forclaz:

Walk: 23.5k 9hrs: No wind, misty early, patches of Blue, sometimes cloudy, 10°C to 20°C

Accommodation: Hotel de Forclaz

5.30am view from La Flegere

6am Aguile de Midi and Mont Blanc

Sunrise over Mont Blanc Massiff

7.30am - the mist descends again

9.30am - mist lifting

9.30am Mont Blanc out of the mist

A huge ibex appears from the mist

He watches us from above

Think I'll give the ladders a miss

Tete aux Vents 2132 metres

Down to Tres Le Champ

Chamonix Valley from Col de Balme

Col de Balme 2191 metres

Witches hut at the Col de Balme

Keep moving - the witch is out

Beaufort salamis die a slimy death

Down the Valley to Col de Forclaz

Through the pine forests

Overladen donkey - sacs from group

Just in time for Tour de France

We're back in the blue again. Mist to begin with, beautiful day to follow. A long 9hr day with 3 high points Tete aux Vents (2132 metres) and Col de Balme (2191 metres) and Col de Forclaz (1526 metres). A a total descent of 1800 metres - ouch! An eventful day when saw Mont Blanc (4807 metres) in all its glory poking through the mist, our 2 salami sausages that Ian had been carrying for 5 days died - orange and green slime is not a good colour for sausages, we met the witch of the Balme, and we raced down the mountain to see the last 30mins of the Tour de France.

Ian is up early and snaps a magnificent photo of the Mont Blanc Massif at 5.30am followed by a sunrise. We get to have a quickie shower before breakfast - a luxury in a refuge. Breakfast is really nice - they have gone to a lot of trouble to make sure the tea is hot - continually reboiling the jug, and the bread is hot - even if it has been zapped in the microwave. The fine day has become misty again and it's cold - about 5°C - when we leave.

DAY 33: Forclaz to Champex

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 33: Wednesday July 4th: Col de Forclaz to Champex:

Walk: 16k 9hrs: No wind, a little cloudy, Magic day, late storms, 8°C to 18°C

Accommodation: Au Plein Air Champex

8am - Leaving Hotel de Forclaz

Looking back at Col de Balme - yesterday's walk.

Glacier du Trient - getting close

Glacier du Trient - real close now

Blue skies and beautiful alps

Only 1200 m more - straight UP

Just a stone's throw to the glacier

Time for a coffee break 1/2 way up

That gap - Fenetre d'Arpetteat 2665m is where we're heading

Head down, upward and onward

But time to stop and stare

Friends meet - Darren and Andrea - we met at Col de Bonhmoome

Can't help myself - had to include

Top of Fenetre d'Arpette 2665M

C'mon - throw me some cheese

Down again - Ian did ask if I was OK - before he took the photo

Fenetre D'Arpette - the window in the mountains - you can see why

2 hrs later - a long way down from Fenetre d'Arpette in Background

Down to the Forests of Champex

Finally Champex on the Lake

Another magical day - sorry - I've run out of adjectives. We decided to do a difficult variant of the Tour de Mont Blanc, over the Fenetre d'Arpette at 2665 m- a climb of 1200 m. We walked beside the Glacier du Trient, then a helter skelter scramble over boulders on hands and knees to the Fenetre. We passed a milestone today 600k - and that doesn't include back-tracking 6-7k to find my lost Body4U cap.

We’re up early and shower. Our washing strung around the room didn't dry so we’ll need to hang stuff off our backpack- We're downstairs at 6.30am to skype home before breakfast at 7am. It’s nice - hot tea, fresh bread and a croissant, butter and jam. I save my bread for lunch. We’re running low on snacks.

It's a crisp 8°C as we leave the Hotel de Forclaz to walk beside an old irrigation channel built in 1895 to carry water from the Glacier du Trient to the farms in Forclaz. It's flat for 3km. The temperature drops to 5°C near the Glacier and then we start to scramble upwards, often on hands and knees. We catch up to 2 Americans doing the Chamonix to Zermatt High Walk with a personal guide. Half way up we stop for coffee before attacking the second half, a steep 45°. A group of 15 is coming down and they courteously stand aside for us - mountain etiquette means give way to uphill climbers. Soon we meet Darren and Andrea, an Australian couple doing the Tour de Mont Blanc anti clockwise, whom we had met at the southern end of the TMB near the Col de Bonhomme. It was a surprise 40th Birthday present from his girlfriend and we said - see you half way round - and we did – near the Fenetre d’Arpette. The climb gets steeper and after 3 hrs of near vertical climbing we reach the top. The views to both sides are amazing on a near perfect day. Time for a cup of tea and a tiny piece of cheese at the Fenetre d’Arpette.

DAY 34: Champex to La Fouly

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 34: Thursday July 5th: Champex to La Fouly:

Walk: 17k 5hrs: No wind, a little cloudy, foresty day, midday storms, 7°C to 18°C

Accommodation: Hotel Edelweiss La Fouly

Plein Air Champex - ready to go

Today is mostly pine forests

We're following the mushroom path

We've seen one solitary mushroom - the rest have been picked

Pretty Swiss villages - Issert

We'll try to beat the storm

Time to smell the roses again

The streets are swept every hour

The wood stack is perfectly aligned

Morning coffee at village fountain

Graham's bench - minus sit-pad

Waterfalls above forest line

The storms's coming - run run run

Lunch in room at Hotel Edelweiss

That's where we're going tomorrow

We've now turned the corner around the Tour de Mont Blanc (click here for the map) and on the homeward stretch. Today was an easy peasy day - 8k down through pine forests, 9k up through pine forests, through pretty Swiss villages - typically Swiss without a blade of grass out of place. No cols or mountains today. But there's something relaxing about a stroll through the forests, arriving in La Fouly in time to have lunch then watching the Wimbledon tennis and the Tour de France on the TV in our room.

6am we're up and skyping home. Then showered - that's nice in the morning - packed and down to breakfast. Hot bread, hot tea - that's all it takes to make a nice breakfast. We're out the door before 8am and buy a really fresh Baguette from the Boulangerie, then down to the small grocery store - one tomato and a small slice of cheese. After our slimy salami episode I'm banned from shopping by myself. Prices are very expensive in Switzerland - about 3 times the cost in France - and 4 times the cost in Australia - so a baguette costs less than 1 Euro in France but almost 3 Swiss Francs - about 3 Euro in Switzerland. Likewise for everything from yoghurt to cheese.

DAY 35: La Fouly to Walter Bonatti

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 35: Friday July 6th: La Fouly to Walter Bonatti:

Walk: 22.5k, 8hrs 15mins: 7°C to 10°C (except for 1hr at 16°C), patchy sun, mostly overcast, no rain

Accommodation: Rifugio Walter Bonatti

8am - Ian sets the GPS Tracker

Climbing above the mist

Switzerland - alps, snow, green meadows, and cows

Coffee at La Peule - out of the wind behind a group's arab tents

Now to the Col de Grand Ferret

Blue skies ahead

But there's a storm behind us

Standing room only at the col

Col de Grand Ferret - 2537metres - it's cold and windy - but no rain

The other side of the mountain

Lunch at Glacier de Pre de Bar

Wood stack - not Swiss style - we're definitely in Italy now

Glacier du Triolet - very receded

Picturesque Val de Ferret

2 days away - The Col de La Seigne - memories of a whiteout in 2009

Walter Bonatti Refuge - it's full

A man on a bike and his dog

Nearly there - and still smiling

It's mountain magic- no rain, mist in the valleys, snow on the alps, cows in pastures and hanging glaciers. Both times we’ve climbed Col de Grand Ferret (2537m) were a mini disaster - this time I want to enjoy.

We're awake at 6am, showered, packed and at breakfast by 7am. Breakfast is hot tea, meuslii, yoghurt, cheese, ham, hot bread, croissants and jams. We collect our shoes from the boot room then leave. Ian sets the GPS tracker but we haven't seen others with one. It must catch on soon. The Samsung tablet is small enough to fit in his pant's pocket. It's poncho weather - damp, cold (8°C) and misty rain as we head to Ferret - but when Ian checks the GPS (too wet earlier), we've walked 1k off route. Back to Ferret, then on to the correct uphill track. Soon we're above the mist and warmed up enough to take the ponchos off. We reach the small dairy farm La Peule which sells cheese and where there’s toilets. It's cold and windy so we crouch behind some Yurt tents for a coffee, bun and cheese to keep us going to the col.

DAY 36: Walter Bonatti to Courmayeur (Maison Vieulle)

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 36: Saturday July 7th: Walter Bonatti to Maison Vieille:

Walk 22.0k, 8hrs 45mins: 10°C to 23°C blue skies, light cloud,

Accommodation: Maison Vieulle Courmayeur

How's this for a start to he day

Leaving Walter Bonatti - 8°C

By my Thermometer - still 8°C

Meadows and wildflowers

Time to check the GPS tracker

Looking back - Col de Grand Ferret

Mont Blanc peeping through clouds

Looks good- but on the wrong track

In the jungle - still on wrong track

Closed track - took 1hr to find out

Coffee on a rock near La Pallud

Telecabina - La Palud to Chamonix

Entrance to Mont Blanc Tunnel

Courmayeur for lunch - 23°C

Looking down the Aosta Valley

1/2 way up - looking back down on Courmayeur and Dolonne

It's really hard walking up - but they're on bikes riding down

Time to look up at the view

Maison Vieille - home for the night

Another fabulous day in the Alps. It's cool and clear with light fluffy clouds. A saunter down the valley to Courmayeur then the afternoon climbing the Col de Checrouit (1956 metres) to our refuge Maison Vielle 750 metres up a steep dusty path above Courmayeur.

We're up at 6am, pack, no shower, just a cold splash , then breakfast at 7am. The dining room is 1/4 full - the young ones slept in. Breakfast is nice for a refuge - almost hot tea, almost fresh bread yoghurt, jams and butter. We collect our washing and shoes from the drying room and by 7.30am we're out the door. Today we’re walking down Val Ferret instead of the high route via Col de Sapin at 2436 m which we've done twice before. It’s a cold 8°C as the sun is still behind the alps. We look back to Col de Grand Ferret - not a cloud in the sky but there’s a ring of fluffy white cloud around the tip of Mont Blanc.

DAY 37: Courymayeur (Maison Vieulle) to Les Chapieux

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 37: Sunday July 8th: Maison Vieille to Les Chapieux:

Walk: 25.0k, 9hrs: 5°C to 20°C , rain, wind then blue skies

Accommodation: Refuge de la Nova, Les Chapieux

6am: Rain pouring off roof - ugh

8am: 5°C, rainn, 7 layers of clothes

There's hope yet - it might fine up

It's cold but cloud is lifting - yeh!!

Getting colder but sky is bluer

We can see the Col de La Seigne

The Elusive Elisabetta is in sight

Looking back - it's blue skies

Looking forward - can see the col

Col de la Seigne - WW11 scenes

Yes, we can almost see Mont Blanc

Yes now we can see Mont Blanc

Col de La Seigne - rear Mont Blanc

Tea at the top

Down the other side to Chapieux

Looking back to Col de la Seigne

Ponchos off - blue skies ahead

Des Mottets - newly rennovated

A beautiful afternoon on way down

How good is this afternoon

Lunch at the creek

2009 - Jenny and I put on10 layers of clothing in this garbage shed appropriately called Poubelles

Another magical day - blue skies on the Col de La Seigne at 2516 metres and views to Mont Blanc. It didn't start that way - rain, cold, wind – with 7 layers of clothing. The long day of 25k was one of our best on the TMB considering in 2009 it was one of our worst after being caught in a whiteout blizzard.

We're up at 6am - it's dark, cold and raining heavily. After a hot shower, we pack but our rustling wakes everyone up. To get to breakfast, we have to run in the cold rain to the dining room. Breakfast is muesli, yoghurt, jams, semi stale bread and luke wam tea. Shes from Argentinia and fell in love with the place - and a man. We stall at breakfast, chatting to the 2 Americans who have decided to get a cable car down to Courmayeur. It's supposed to fine up later, but if we wait, we'll be finishing the 25k walk at midnight!!

DAY 38: Les Chapieux to Les Contamines

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:53:42 +1000

DAY 38: Monday July 9th: Les Chapieux to Les Contamines:

Walk: 25.0k, 7hrs 15mins: 8°C to 22°C, blue, blue skies

Accommodation: Hotel Gai Soleil Les Contamines

8am start - blue skies and meadows

Time to strip off - it's warm

Procession of climbers on mountain

A picture perfect day

Not a cloud in the sky - blue blue

TMB circuit completed - back at the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme

Coffee at the Col de la Croix

Aussie group - about 14

Busy - lined up to cross the snow

Down the valley to Les Contamines

Lunch on seat 1/2 way down

Still a long way down to a beer

A reminder of a really perfect day

At the back of Hotel Gai Soleil

Finished - 730k, 36 walking days, 2 rest days, average 20.3k per day

A wonderful day in more ways than one. Firstly, it was blue skies all day. We climbed 2 Cols, the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme at 2433 metres and the Col du Bonhomme at 2329 metres. But the best was at 3.30pm when we finished our 720k trek through the French alps - 36 walking days, 2 rest days - 20.3k average per day. We are both excited when we finally arrive in Les Contamines - and go straight to the Carrefour's supermarket to buy a wine and a beer to take to our room to celebrate our finish.

We wake early, but the floor boards are so creaky that one up - all up. We shower, pack then breakfast. The refuge is so full that the queue is out the door and we stand in the cold 8°C for 15 minutes to get in. Breakfast is nice - meusli, yoghurt, hot tea and fresh bread. We sit with 4 Aussies who are going our way. There seems to be more people walking clockwise this year than the traditional anti clockwise.