TMB - Day 4 (Rifugio Elisabetta to Courmayeur)

On our way down to Lac De Combal from Rifugio Elisabetta

After a sleepless night, we decided to just leave early so we can have more time in Courmayeur. From  the rifugio, we descended to Lac de Combal and it was a beautiful hike between two lakes with the magnificent view of Glacier du Miage to our left. 

From the lake, we then climbed for about 3000 feet for a magnificent hike high above Val Veni. Since we started early on the hiking season, we have encountered avalanches and some of the rivers were still dangerous to traverse because of the glacial melt. On this day, we had to cross a raging river where the freezing water was high enough that we had to remove our boots and fold our pants up so as not to get wet. It was scary but very exciting.

And just when I thought the view can never get better after yesterday's hike, we had an unobstructed view of the Mont Blanc Massif for miles as the weather was again amazing on our third day! 

After the easy and glorious hike, we then headed to Maison Vieille for lunch. We ate pizza and pasta (we were in Italy, after all) with our friends from the trail. We also met a Japanese guy who is an experienced hiker with amazing stories of his hike around the world. I went to grad school in Tokyo where I met my husband who also went to school there. We haven't been back since we left Tokyo six years ago so it was nice to speak Japanese again. We spent an hour chatting and eating which, unknowingly, was a great idea as  things started to go downhill literally and figuratively from here.

From Maison Vieille, the route to Courmayeur was steep and never ending. It was also the middle of the afternoon so it was hot and humid. With over 25 lbs on my back and the steep zigzags, I thought I was going to break my knee. Thankfully, I didn't, but a couple of people that we met in the trail got injured on this day so this was a really tough day! I cannot imagine enjoying this hike had we taken it in July or August. For those who plan to do it on those months, just take the chairlift and save your knees! 

It took us 8 hours to finish this part of the trek and we were tired, dusty and sweaty by the time we reached our destination. It was nice to stay in a hotel after camping on day 2 and staying in a crowded rifugio on day 3. We even had our clothes washed and folded for just 14 euros! We rested for about an hour, took a really hot bath and off we went to their "main street" for some gelati followed by the best Italian dinner you can find in the trail at Ristorante La Tirrazza, again with our friends from the trail.

Courmayeur

DAY 4 SUMMARY

Rifugio Elisabetta to Courmayeur 

Distance: about 15.3 KM (9.5 miles)

Time: 8 hours (with rest stops)

Highest Elevation: 2420 m (~7940 feet)

Rating: Easy at first, "knee-breaking" towards the end

  

TMB - Day 3 (Les Contamines to Rifugio Elisabetta)

Picture taking before Col de la Seigne

I have read some blogs where hikers said Day 3 was tough. I think after our grueling hike the day before, this was a walk in the park. 

Tired from yesterday's hike, we woke up at around 9 AM only because inside our tent, it started feeling like a sauna. If not for the heat, we would've slept until noon. After packing our tent, we went back to Refuge de la Nova for another hot shower and had breakfast of their yummy omelette and cappuccino. At around 9:30 AM, it was only us in the Refuge so it was very quiet and very relaxing. I think it was around 10:30 by the time we left for Col de la Seigne. 

For me, the most challenging part of this hike was walking from Les Chapieux to Refuge des Mottets. The temperature was in the high 20's, we were walking along a tarmac and it was a cloudless sky! It was really really hot not to mention an excruciating 300 meter climb. The view got better and better though so it was worth every uphill climb.

On our way to Refuge des Mottets with views of Aiguille Des Glaciers

We also met many hikers who spent the night at Refuge de la Croix Du Bonhomme. They had to go down to Les Chapieux (where we camped), as the alternative route, via Col Des Fours, still had too much snow. Together with the other hikers, we had dessert and some cold drinks at Mottets before tackling the 750 meter climb to Col de la Seigne at 2516 meters. 

Another river that we had to traverse

We came from ALL THE WAY DOWN THERE!

Although I've been whining in the morning about the heat and the cloudless sky, I am thankful for it as we gained altitude. The temperature got better and better the closer we got to Col de la Seigne. Mother nature has been blessing us with great weather so far and the views were amazing as we reached the border between France and Italy.

Enjoying the view before crossing the border to Italy

Mont Blanc as our background

We do not know how to selfie...

A better picture but the wind was fierce!

Ater Col de la Seigne, off we went to Italy and it was an easy downhill hike to Rifugio Elisabetta. I have been looking forward to this stage of the TMB because I love Italian food but I have never tried the local cuisine of Aosta Valley. The beauty of doing these intense hikes is I can stuff myself with carbs (pasta, pizza, wine!) without feeling guilty.

The way to Rifugio Elisabetta

The only picture I have of the rifugio. Its location is actually nice and I wish I have taken a picture of it from afar.

View from the rifugio

We arrived at Rifugio Elisabetta at around 4:30 PM. After checking in, they showed us to our room that we shared with 16 people! It was unbelievable! I would've preferred to wild camp but I wanted to take a hot shower and I was looking forward to hot food so hubby and I decided to stay there. We paid 45 euros each for the bed, dinner and breakfast the next day. I e-mailed them (info@rifugioelisabetta.com) about three weeks before we left for the TMB and I got a confirmation right away. Even if the sleeping conditions were not desirable, we were able to meet fellow hikers who became our friends throughout the hike and the view was amazing from the rifugio. I guess it was worth the sleepless night. One of the hikers that we met was aware of this condition so she booked a bed and breakfast that is about 45 minutes away from Elisabetta. She had a great night's sleep!

   DAY 3 SUMMARY

Les Chapieux to Rifugio Elisabetta 

Distance: about 13.5 KM (8.5 miles)

Time: 6 hours (with rest stops)

Highest Elevation: 2516 m (~8255 feet)

Rating: Moderate

TMB - Day 2 (Les Contamines to Le Chapieux)

Beginning of Day 2 at the town of Les Contamines 

The good news is Delta finally found my bag and they delivered it to our hotel the night before. So on Day 2, I was wearing my own clothes and the bag that I used while training for this trek. The bad news is there were still a lot of snow at Col Du Bonhomme and Col de la Croix du Bonhomme. I even overheard a couple in our hotel who decided to bypass this stage as they did not bring crampons and ice ax.

The first three hours of the trek is quite deceiving. We started by walking along a river for about an hour (no elevation) until we reach a baroque church called Notre Dame de la Gorge. The church is tiny but very solemn inside so we stopped by for a few minutes to pray for a safe journey. Looking back, we really needed it!

Notre Dame de la Gorge as our background.

From the church, it was an uphill climb through a heavily wooded area via Chemin Romain (old Roman road). I was sweating so hard at this point as I am carrying over 20 pounds but this is really really easy compared to the latter half of the day. After we emerged from the woods, it was views galore! The trail passes through farms and pastures and great mountain views ahead. Again, we saw so much cows with bells around their neck. The bells create a very calming sound (at least for us) that we stopped by so many times to enjoy our surroundings and the magnificent view.

After a couple of hours of easy and enjoyable hiking, the snow emerged and it went on and on for hours! What should have been an 8 hour hike in the middle of summer took us over 10 hours to complete because of kilometers of snow in the high passes. We started the hike early in the season because we wanted to avoid the summer crowd. Prior to this trek, we've never done alpine hiking with considerable amount of snow so walking along the snowy ridges was nerve wracking. 

After over 10 hours of hiking, we reached the small town of Les Chapieux and camped for free in a designated camping area right across Refuge de la Nova. There is a toilet in the camp but we wanted to take a hot shower so we paid 8 euros (for both of us) at Refuge de la Nova to get one. We also had dinner there of pasta and French omelette which were really good!    

Finally, the snow ended on our way down to Les Chapieux.

The good thing about training hard for this trek was I got to build my strength and stamina so I was able to enjoy the hike more even if it was tough and sometimes scary. I am glad I religiously trained for this because I got to appreciate the amazing views on the high passes. It may have been difficult but I did it with just crampons and no ice ax! 

DAY 2 SUMMARY

Les Contamines to Les Chapieux 

Distance: about 17 KM (10.5 miles)

Time: over 10 hours (with rest stops)

Highest Elevation: 2542 m (~8340 feet)

Rating: Difficult!!!

TMB - Day 1 (Les Houches to Les Contamines)

Start of Day 1

We started late on Day 1 (10:30 AM) because Delta Airlines lost my luggage. I had to buy some new stuffs prior to the hike so it's a good thing our hotel (Hotel Chris-tal) is near some sports stores. And since we started late, we took the cable car from Les Houches to Col De Voza. The cable car station is about 15 minutes from our hotel. According to our guidebook, the trek from Les Houches to Col De Voza is a "steep and punishing ascent of 600 meters". Honestly, I am glad we took the cable car because Day 2 and Day 3 were, by far, steeper and more punishing! But more on that on my next post.

From Col De Voza, the route we took is via Bionnassay which is the easier of the two possibilities. We passed through a forest, walked along a dam, crossed a raging river, walked along many farmlands and saw many cows with bells around their neck.  Although it was a bit scary at first to be close to these huge animals, the sound the bells around their neck create was very relaxing and we soon forgot  our fear.

The beautiful wild flowers of the Alps!

One of the many water sources where you can wash your hand and get some water to drink. We never paid for bottled water during the trek. The free water here is better than Evian--straight from the source!

Still under the tree line. I did not like these parts of the trek -- good thing there were not many of them.

This was really cool! We passed by a dilapidated house which happens to be the birthplace of the astronomer who discovered Neptune (based on my limited French)!

River crossing -- one of the many that we did during the trek.

One of the many raging rivers we saw during the trek.

Thank God there was a bridge!

Day 1 - Completed! At the town of Les Contamines, looking for our hotel.

After 4.5 hours of hiking, we reached the town of Les Contamines. I like this than Les Houches because of the views from the town and our hotel, and the many stores that you can explore after the trek. Since we started early and completed the trek early, we had time to check-in our hotel (Hotel Christiana), take a hot soak in the tub and relax for a bit before checking out the town. 

For the hotel, we paid about $93 for our very nice room and additional $22 for a breakfast for two. The staff were very nice and one of them even stayed with me in the lobby until 10 PM while I wait for my lost bag to be delivered. I am glad we did not camp on Day 1 as I am not sure if my bag will ever reach me if we did! We also found a good pizza stand just right across our hotel. The prices, as you can see from the picture below, is not too bad. We bought the combo for dinner and it was really really good! 

We ate the pizza in our hotel veranda with a great mountain view. 

DAY 1 SUMMARY

Les Houches to Les Contamines 

Distance: about 10 KM (6.2 miles)

Time: 4.5 hours (with rest stops)

Highest Elevation: 1653 m (5423 feet)

Rating: EASY PEASY! :)

TMB - Day 0

From New York City, we flew to Geneva, Switzerland on June 24, 2016 with a brief stopover in Amsterdam. We arrived in the morning of June 25 and from Geneva Airport we took the ALPY BUS (http://www.alpybus.com) to our hotel  for 49 euros each. It was very easy to reserve for a seat and the bus company sent me a very detailed information on where to meet the driver. The bus took us directly to our hotel in Les Houches called Hotel Chris-tal. We did our reservation a couple of weeks before we left for our trek and we did it directly through their website (http://www.chris-tal.com). The owner was very nice and communicated with us through e-mail in a timely manner when I had questions about our reservations. He also speaks really good English. For one night, we paid 95.15 euros for our room and paid an extra 10 euros each for breakfast. 

Since we arrived around noon in Les Houches, we decided to go to Chamonix to grab some late lunch/dinner. The hotel provided us with free bus tickets and the bus stop is just a few steps from the hotel.

Chamonix is a very nice town with so much stores and restaurants. Prior to the trek we did not have a map so we bought one here from one of the many sports stores for 10 euros. It is much cheaper compared to what they are selling here in the States. Unfortunately, we only used it once as the book we purchased was very detailed and included maps that were easy to follow.

Chamonix

There are so many restaurants to choose from! You can find restaurants serving French, American, Chinese, Indian, Italian, etc. food. Our guide book had many suggestions on where to eat but since we were in France, we decided to go to a French restaurant.

After our late lunch/ early dinner, we went back to our hotel in Les Houches for a long rest before the start of our Tour Du Mont Blanc the next day.