Monday, August 26, 2019

Tour du Mont Blanc...Day 8: Trient to Tre le Champ


Trient to Tre le Champ

Mileage:  7.50

Elevation gain:  3000 ft

Camping:  Auberge La Boerne


We had breakfast at the hotel and quickly were on our way.  We passed by Le Peuty, where the camping was located and waved to our friends Roi and Lior.  We would later see them when we stopped for lunch. 

We had a steep climb to start the day and saw a helicopter that was hovering over an area.  I am no rescue expert, but it appeared as if they were looking for someone.  I wondered if someone had gotten hurt on one of the variants. 

The first part of the climb was located inside some trees.  There were really no views to see, but it was short-lived before we were back into the open with beautiful views all around.


We really were not getting tired of these views.


We climbed up to Refuge du Col de Balme and enjoyed a little lunch with Roi and Lior.  They told us that we did not miss anything by staying in a hotel and that the camping was their least favorite of the entire trip at La Peuty.  We also told them we were going to have to hike to Argientere to go to an ATM and they offered to give us Euros if I sent them US dollars via Paypal so we did not have to hike further.  It was so unbelievably nice!  We took them up on their offer and planned on seeing them later in Tre le Champ.

We saw Magnus and Linnea at the refuge and they were considering taking the chair lift down, as Linnea had twisted her ankle earlier and was not sure how the downhill would affect it.  We said our farewells to them just in case we did not see them later.


I was so cold on this hike that I had to pull out my rain jacket.  

On our final col of the trip.  It was kind of sad thinking about it.

Ken had a lot of fun on this hike.

We had a significant hike up a lot of rocks that we ultimately ended up descending.  We were thankful that it was not raining because the rain would have made this section a lot more difficult.

Enjoying the views

We were officially back in France and could see down into Chamonix.

The wildflowers were in full force on this section

We were starting our climb down into Tre le Champ with the Mont Blanc in our face

Having a great time together.  

We set up the camera to get the picture above and there is always a "test" picture that you take to see how it looks.  Well, the picture below was the test picture and might be Ken's favorite picture of me from the trip.  Always a jokester.

I cannot believe I timed it just right!

I am so glad he convinced me to do this hike with him.  I know he had such an amazing time.


The hike down to Tre le Champ seemed long at times, but it was nothing compared to the hike down to Courmayeur.  Soon enough, we were walking into the village.

Happy to almost be finished so I can enjoy a glass of wine!


Walking into Tre le Champ


We set up our tent, showered, and sat outside for drinks with Lior and Roi.  We decided it would be fun to play a few more card games.  We really enjoyed our time getting to know them and talking about a lot of different things.

Enjoying some wine and the cool air at the refuge


We ate dinner at the refuge with the guys and then it was early to bed.  It was our last night to camp before heading back to Chamonix in the morning.

All tucked into our tent for the night.  I cannot believe that I camped in France, Italy, and Switzerland, in a tent!  We went to bed very grateful for the wonderful time we had on our trek.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Tour du Mont Blanc...Day 7: Champex to Trient


Champex to Trient

Mileage:  10.9 miles

Elevation gain:  2519

Camping:  An impromptu hotel stay


We left Champex and found ourselves hiking down a forest service road for a bit before starting our climb.  About an hour into the hike, Ken mentioned that we were almost out of cash.  This worried me because I was unsure if an ATM would be in Trient or not.  If he had said something earlier, we could have gotten more money in Champex.  We had our fingers crossed we would be fine and able to get more money in Trient.

On our way to Bovine, which was rumored to have pie.

The views were amazing!

We met a couple from Atlanta and we took pictures for each other.  This has to be the most nonselfie pictures Ken and I have of the two of us on a European trip!


The views on this hike reminded me a little bit of hiking above Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland.

Once Bovine was visible, we heard my favorite sound while hiking.  Can you guess what that is??  Cow bells!


My beloved Swiss cows!




The cows appeared to be having a lazy day and enjoying the sunshine. 


Marriage tip:  find a guy that does not think it is weird that you love the cows.


Bovine!  This ended up being my favorite place we stopped at on our entire trek.


The flowers looked beautiful

The rumors were true, Bovine had pie (and wine and beer)!  It was delicious apple pie.

We enjoyed our pie with Magnus and Linnea.  We sat and enjoyed the afternoon with them for quite some time.  We ended up talking about guns.  The way the USA is portrayed on the news in Europe, they were surprised to learn that we do not own guns.  It is interesting to discuss tops like this with people from other countries.

Soon enough, it was time to say goodbye to Bovine and continue on to Trient.

The views from Bovine were incredible!


Au revoir Bovine!

We figured it would be all down hill from Bovine, but we had a small climb before the downhill started.  We reached the top and saw more beautiful views before descending into the trees.

Looking back at Bovine.  Who wants to meet here for a drink and pie???


I am just assuming that I am considering hiking back for another piece of pie.


We heard and saw a helicopter delivering supplies to a hut.  It kept going back and forth and it was so loud!


That husband of mine sure is funny isn't he.



We ran into the girls from Rhode Island from day two on our way to Trient.  They were having a good time and short a girl that was taking the bus around due to knee trouble.  We chatted with them for a while before saying goodbye on the decent into Trient.

We almost stopped Hotel del Forclaz for the camping option there, which we probably should have done.  I am sure that they would have taken a credit card since it is a hotel, but we did not want to start the next day by hiking downhill.


Beautiful Trient.  That pink church is adorable.

Once we got down into Trient it was confirmed that there was no ATM.  Ken walked into a hotel and asked if they would call a taxi for him to go to the next town for an ATM.  I interrupted and asked instead if they had vacancy.  They sure did and we booked ourselves a hotel for the night.  It just did not seem worth it to travel by taxi to an ATM.  We learned the next day that we made the proper choice as the camping in Trient was less than ideal per our friends from Israel.

An unexpected hotel night was just what I was needing.  I am not used to camping for this long, so it was nice to sleep in a bed again.  We showered and sat outside with drinks.  It was pretty amazing.


We had a view of the beautiful church from the lawn of the hotel.

One thing that we disliked about staying in the hotel was the group dinner.  We prefer to eat what we want when we want, so it was a little disappointing to have to eat dinner with a crowd.  I know everyone says this is part of the TMB experience, but we were kind of just wanting a quiet dinner for two.  We were kind of getting sad that our TMB was getting close to being over.

We ordered two Aperol spritz to enjoy after dinner and we were upstairs and in bed while the sun was still out.  We were super tired!

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Tour du Mont Blanc...Day 6: La Fouly to Champex


La Fouly to Chamex

Mileage:  9.6 miles

Elevation gain:  1587 feet

Camping:  Camping Les Rocailles


We woke up and said farewell to Camping Des Glaciers.  We needed a little breakfast, so we stopped off at the market in town.  I started to buy several of my favorite candy bars and Ken told me that it would be too heavy to carry for a few more days.  I told him I was prepared to carry the burden, but listened to him and only bought one.  I hate when he is right.


We were ready for the easy day of hiking

Of all of the days hiking, this was our least favorite day.  There always has to be one that is your least favorite and this was definitely it.  The scenery was pretty but paled in comparison to the other days.

The first part of the hike was through a lot of trees.  With the entire hiking only climbing about 1500 feet, we had a pretty easy day.  We passed through a few cute villages and stopped for lattes at one of them.  We also ran into Betsy and Stacey, who we had met in the Charlotte airport.  They had left Champex and were heading to La Fouly.


We saw a lot of pretty waterfalls


Swiss scenery for the win

I could live in one of these houses and be completely happy.  

The view from the cafe where we enjoyed lattes


Winding through Plaz de Fort



The people you see walking at the very end turned out to be Betsy and Stacey!


Typical Swiss, extremely neat and tidy


Stopping for a little break on a bench with a pretty view, well I guess two pretty views according to Ken.


We arrived in Champex and stopped for drinks.  Soon after, Magnus and Linnea arrived and joined us.  We chatted with them for a while and then walked through town to get to our lodging.  After we set up our tent, Mick came strolling into the campground and set up by us.  

Our spot for the night


We bought a bottle of wine and it started pouring down rain.  We sat in a covered area and watched it rain and talked to Mick and finally exchanged names with the guys from Israel, Roi and Lio.  

It stopped raining and Ken and walked back into Champex to find a spot around the lake for drinks.  We took a few pictures and enjoyed the scenery.


If we were not planning on finishing the trip in a lake town, I would have begged to take one of the pedal boats out on the lake!


Lake Champex

We saw a mama and her baby ducks all around the lake.


Lake Champex


Speaking of baby ducks...This is probably my favorite video of the trip.  This is how everyday life is at our house with our commentary!


We stopped off at a pizza place and Magnus and Linnea were sitting there, so we joined them.  Magnus blamed us for his craving for pizza since we were talking about pizza the night before.  It was delicious pizza!  

We ended the night at the campground playing cards with Roi and Lio.  They taught us how to play "shithead."  They were so sweet and we really enjoyed spending the evening with them.  

Up next, we hike to Trient!

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Tour du Mont Blanc...Day 5: Tronchey to La Fouly


Tronchey to La Fouly

Mileage:  15

Elevation gain:  2600 feet

Camping:  Camping Des Glaciers


We left just shortly after 0700 since we were planning on climbing back up the mountain from the valley to get back on to the TMB trail.  We knew we could walk down the valley and pick up the trail to climb, but we were not 100% sure where.

We were excited about this day because we were going to be crossing over to our favorite county, Switzerland!!


Our morning started off with beautiful views in the valley along the river


We stopped off for a coffee at Hotel Lavachey.  It was amazing.  That is the one downfall to camping, we were not always guaranteed easy access to coffee.

We saw a sign that pointed toward Refugio Bonatti and the trail went straight up.  I told Ken that remembered from reading someone's blog that we could stay on the valley floor until the end and we would meet the trail.  Looking at the bus map, it also alluded to this.  We continued on, walking the valley floor.

Just a beautiful morning, hiking with my best friend.  

At some point, Ken started to panic about the road possibly not meeting up with the trail.  I assured him I knew it did and pulled up Google Maps (Sprint coming in clutch!) and found that it did indeed.  We walked on and saw the bus dropping hikers off at the end of the valley and we saw the TMB signs.

Once we arrived at Val Ferret, we realized that we made a great decision by not hiking up to Bonatti because we would have had to hike back down to the valley and hike back up to get to Refugio Elena.  

The view on the way to Elena


We arrived at Refugio Elena and bought a few salami sandwiches and cokes.  Elena looked to be a very nice Refugio.

Refugio Elena


After leaving Elena, we started the long climb to get to Switzerland via the Grand Col Ferret.  We had beautiful views looking back at the valley where we had started our day.

Some guys came down on mountain bikes.  You could not pay me enough money to do that.


We met a couple from Colorado and they were kind enough to take a few pictures of us and we did the same for them.  

This ended up being my favorite picture of us from the entire trip.  This day of hiking was also my favorite day of hiking.  The views were absolutely amazing all day long.


There were a few areas that were steep dropoffs and one slip of the foot would mean certain death.

The hike was steep, but we were having a great time  
  

It is hard to believe we were on the valley floor a few hours prior.

Ken was loving the hike

I love this picture of Ken.  Almost to the top of the Col!


Saying goodbye to Italy as we summit the Col and move into Switzerland!


From Ciao, Ciao to Hallo!

Ken looking into Switzerland

My favorite part of the day was when Ken said: "the guidebook said that the next part of the hike is straight out of the Sound of Music and the Hills have Eyes."  I just about peed my pants.  After I collected myself I told him I think he meant the Hills are Alive.  We had a good laugh about it.  

We knew were about to run into a little snow as we crossed over into Switzerland.  The way the trail was, it was not scary at all to pass as there were no steep drop-offs.

Passing through the snow like a boss.  Please note, this is only because there is no steep drop-off so no fear of death.


Looking back at where we were.  

We enjoyed our descent and suddenly heard a very familiar sound, besides me singing songs from the Sound of Music.

Cows!


I absolutely adore Swiss cows and their cowbells




A Swiss cow selfie.  Notice my flower?  Ken always picks me a follow when we are hiking.  

This lady was a young cow with a tiny bell.

This is my favorite color of cow.  That is a statement I never really expected to say out loud.


Yes, we have cows in the USA and no, they are not this cute.

After bidding farewell to our cow friends, we descended to La Peule, a small farm that offers snacks, drinks, and a few sleeping accommodations.  We were there for drinks and snacks, obviously.


Wine and snacks!  I knew the hard climbs were behind us, so a glass of wine was in order!


Enjoying the scenery around La Peule

We filled up our water, stopped at the bathroom, and were on our way to La Fouly.  


Looking back at the La Peule farm.  

Blue skies, mountains, and wildflowers.  So beautiful.

Ken telling me that the sign says that I am a pain in the ass.  Just for you Ken, just for you!

Picture perfect Switzerland.  I could live here.

I love all of the flowers and flower boxes that we saw during the TMB.  They were everywhere.


We stopped in Ferret and enjoyed a few drinks before going on to La Fouly.  The staff at the restaurant in Ferret were so nice!  



We made it to La Fouly and find the campground, Camping Des Glaciers.  We set our tent up near the river and left to find some dinner and drinks.  We really wanted pizza, but sadly the pizza place is closed on Mondays and it happened to be a Monday.  Magnus and Linnea joined us for drinks and we waited for the restaurant to start serving dinner.  It ended up being quite the ordeal to get dinner, but we eventually enjoyed some delicious pasta.  We also found my favorite chocolate bar ever at the grocery store.  

We went back to our campsite and saw that our friends from Israel were set up next to us along with our buddy Mick from Utah.  

Check out my sweet tan line

We ended the night with a bottle of wine and Swiss chocolate.  That is about as good as it gets!


Wrapping up such a fun day.  We (or I) may have selected the bottle of wine due to it having a porcupine on the label.  (P.S. that is Mick and our friends from Israel behind us).