Mont Blanc Trek
The trail goes through several towns and visits backcountry shelters, offering easy resupply and accommodation options. Cumulative elevation gain was over 10 kilometres, and my highest altitude was 2580 metres. I primarily followed the official TMB route with some detours and side trails.
The holy grail of all things alpine (Chamonix France)
Terrain model of the Graian Alps
Peering into the Chamonix Valley from the ski hill above Les Houches. This would actually be my last view of the Arve Valley until about 10 days later when my trek completes the loop and ends here again.
Col the Voza (1653m)
Auberge de Bionnassay (1320m)
Potable water fountain in La Frasse
Le Bonnant River
Les Cantamines (1167m)
Refuge de la Balme (1406m)
Col de la Fenetre (2250m)
Looking over the west side of the saddle
Mont Tomdu dominating the view
Lacs Jovet (2194m)
Col du Bonhomme (2329m)
Approaching the Col de la Croix (2483m)
Chamois (species of goat-antelope native to Western Europe)
Evening glow before the descent tomorrow
First great view of Mont Blanc!
Descending to the ruins at Les Tufs
Ville des Glaciers (1789m)
Reservoir near Little Saint Bernard
Always an uneasy feeling when walking through herds of cattle. Fortunately these cows seemed familiarly unimpressed with the summertime hiker crowd.
Canada versus England at ping pong (Canada won)
An old barn converted to overnight accommodation
Jon (from the UK) and I met at the Refuge des Mottets and continued hiking together onwards
Bikepackers descending the rugged trail
Camping would be a viable option if you don't mind packing the extra kilos. One could still purchase evening meals at the overnight shelters and use their facilities. Camping would provide a sense of flexibility, but may limit the social aspect of traveling. Financially it would be similar as many of the shared accommodations were rather inexpensive. I'll leave the decision to you.
Alpine marmot at the Col de la Seigne (2516m)
This beacon marks the France / Italy border
Rifugio Elisabetta (2195m)
Following the Val Veni's south flank towards Courmayeur
More cattle at the high point on a spur of Mont Favre
Storm inbound near Mont Chetif. I was close to my accommodation for the night at the privately owned Maison Vielle and sat down for dinner as the eye of the storm rained down. Evenings like this I was very glad to under a hard roof.
Refugio Maison Vielle (the morning after the storm)
Descending into Courmeyer (1226m)
"All the great climbers of the Alps have been to Courmeyer... and probably none has learned to climb there, except the many guides it has produced. It is a haven whence men set out for great adventures and return from them... The turning of the corner out of the deep trough below the great mountain wall, from whichever end of it you come [the Vals Veni or the Ferret], brings you into a different world"
-- RLG Irving
Jon and I took a rest day in Courmeyer. Most people ride the Funivie Monte Bianco cablecar to Point Helbronner at 3462m elevation, but the webcams showed white out conditions, so I rented an electric mountain bike instead to cruise around the city.
Meeting an ultra runner from Geneva Switzerland who was training for the UTMB (Ultra trail de Mont Blanc) which is a 24 hour race around a similar variation of the TMB! His trip plan included 3 days with overnight hotels in Courmeyer and Champex. Look at the difference in those packs! Somewhere in these forests above the town of Villair, he pulls out trekking poles from his running vest and leaves us along on the dust with long strides.
Great trip so far! Currently about halfway at kilometre 100
Mont de la Saxe ridge route
This bowl would be prime skiing terrain in Spring. I'm sure many good turns were earned here... The Rifugio Bonatti is nearby and includes 85 dortoir places
Evening glow on the Dome de Rochefort (4015m) and the Glacier de Planpincieux
Rifugio Bonatti (2025m)
For tour groups who don't want to carry their packs
Incredible views of Aiguille de Triolet and the Glacier de Pre de Bar
Grand col Ferret (2537m)
AKA the border between Italy and Switzerland. A rather unprepossessing by contrast with the backwards view. Make sure you switch currencies from the Euro to the Swiss Franc!
The Swiss town of Ferret (1705m)
Maintaining a lower elevation through the valley
A cool family of hikers from Israel whom I ended up eating dinner with
My path also crossed with a familiar face from the first day leaving the Chamonix Valley
The forest was adopted as the Sentier des Champigons and decorated with several carvings
Local rock climbing crag outside Champex
Champex (1466m)
Long break swimming in the Lac de Champex and enjoying afternoon patio beers
I got turned around quite late in the evening after leaving Champex towards my overnight accommodation at the Relias d'Arpette. I spent a few hours backtracing my steps trying to figure out the route where to turn throughout the several trail and road networks. I was navigating with maps and guides from Kev Reynolds book; a GPS with offline maps would have been handy. I must have still been in good spirits as evident from still take pictures of these water irrigation channels, but I definitely remember showing up at the hostel quite late in the evenings and stashing my headlamp in the jacket pocket just in case.
Ascending the boulders of the Arpette Valley
Fenetre d'Arpette (2665m)
Glacier du Trient
Emile Javelle describes the Trient Plateau (the terrain above the glaciers) as 'a sweeping snow lake' and as the trail descends the western side of the saddle funnelling you into the valley below, you get a sense of how quickly the glaciers are receding. The magnitude of the glacier and power from the water runoff at Arpette was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
Col de la Forclaz (1526m)
My memory here at the northern extent of the TMB is fuzzy. Clear views of Mont Blanc have returned which means we are approaching the final mountain barrier before returning to the Arve Valley and therefore Chamonix. The last couple days on trail include various networks connecting roads, towns, and trails to ski resorts and other complex terrain. Next time I would like to spend more time base camped nearby and explore the access to small towns like Argentiere, Lac Blanc, Les Praz, and Montroc.
Col de Balme (2191m)
Tre le Champ (1417m)
Local climbers on the Aiguillette d'Argentiere rocks
'Free Solo'
Ropes and ladders to gain a panorama of the Mont Blanc range
Refuge La Relgere (1875m)
Sharing the dortoir space and witnessing a group of Euro seniors partying the night before was a memorable way to conclude my last night on trail.
Another storm passing over Le Brevent (2526m)
The eye of the storm brought whiteout conditions as I started my descent back into the Arve Valley. My hike was all downhill from here back to the resort area of Chamonix. I forked up the 10 Euros and downloaded from Plan Praz to conclude the expedition.
10 days and 200 kilometres later... Wahoo - great trip!