Stage 4 Courmayeur to Refugio Bonatti

It rained very hard during the night and the wind was howling so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, it was clear when we woke and although it was windy we were sheltered in the town and then in the forest. We climbed 2300 ft up to Refugio Bertone. There we tried to fill our water bottle but were told that due to the drought we would need to buy water. We assessed our situation and determined that we could probably make it and if there was any concern we could get water from one of two streams that we would pass. They also asked hikers not to use their toilet facilities but Leah snuck in. 

From there we climbed to the crest of the Mont de la Sax. It was one of the steepest climbs that I have done. My gluts felt it. Also I would not have liked to go down that trail. 

The crest was very nice. We had views of the south wall of the Mont Blanc range. We walked below colossal peaks covered in glaciers.  One of the first that we saw was the one that Skyway (that we rode yesterday) ascends. It was neat to get that perspective of yesterday's adventure. 

As we climbed on more mountains and glaciers became visible. Some were reflected in the small tarns we walked by. 

We climbed up to Col Sapin and then descended into a valley and climbed back up to Pas Deux-Sauts. Then we descended again through pasture crossing fences to keep the cattle secure. It was unclear whether the openings in the fence were electric. They were not. Guess who opened the fence?

We passed several old buildings and then came to the beautiful Refuge Bonatti.  The mileage for today was just over 10 miles. However the elevation gain was almost 5200ft. 

We were able to score a small room instead of a dorm so that was great. 

We had a lunch of polenta with cheese and a blueberry tart. We had to try polenta as it is a specialty of the area and tomorrow we leave Italy and walk into Switzerland. 

After lunch we hung out looking at the glaciers directly across from the refuge. 

We were afraid of what we might find in the bathroom after using the public one (a hole in the floor). However the one in our wing is normal. The showered are operated on a token system. You get a token when you check in. This provides a 16 liter shower. Leah braved this first and not so well. It cut out before she finished rinsing. I did a little better. 

Day 4 Courmayeur

YOur hotel. 

After much discussion Leah and I decided to spend the day in Courmayeur. We wanted to ride the sky way up into the mountains. Our plans were almost unhinged when we didn't ask how to get there. Upon realizing that it would be a five mile highway walk, Leah decided to spring for a taxi. It was 20 Euro for a five minute drive. Once there I made sure to determine how to get a taxi home. 

We knew that the Sky Way was a recommended activity but neither of us were prepared for how phenomenal it really was. 

We took the skyway to Pavillion du Mint Frety and got one the next section to Punta Hellabronner at 11371ft. As the car ascended the car rotated to give us 360 degree views. We were both a bit out of breath climbing the stairs there to get to the  view area due to the thin air. 

If you look closely you can see people walking on the glacier in the track. When we came down we saw tents set up in this area. I am sure it was some type of mountaineering training camp. 

We then crossed into France and bought tickets for our next segment. Yes the first part was Italian and the second French. In fact you can take it up and over to Chamonix. We boarded a smaller four person cable car for the remainder of the journey. 

This was truly spectacular. The cable car was suspended above the glaciers. It rose over and dropped down large rock monoliths above the glaciers. It would also hang suspended as passengers loaded and unloaded. The trip up to Aguille du Midi took about 30 minutes. During this time I took so many photos. 

Above is only one of the amazing  sights that we saw. Below are cable cars coming down  past us. 

As we approached the top we could see two camps of small tents and small groups of mountaineers ascending towards the summit.   See if you can find one of these small camps in the next photo. There were about five tents but it looks like a speck. 

The top was even more exciting with people climbing the towering rocks that surround the cable car station and mountaineers leaving out a tunnel in their full gear and spectacular views of various summits, including Mont Blanc, glaciers and views of Chamonix. 

Above is a successful climber who later climbed up a ladder to one of the observation stations after he finishes his climb. 

Above are views of mountaineers exiting the cable car station on their way to tackle the mountain- snow ice and crevasses. 

Above is MONT BLANC. We saw tiny little ant like humans moving slowly towards the summit. 

Now what kind of day would it be without a few oddities.  First the restroom - it was one big room for both males and females      with a divider in between.  Second I yelled at a young child who probably didn't even understand English. He was breaking up ice and kicking it. Not so much of a problem except it was landing on people coming up the stairs. Third, we didn't eat much today and tried to grab an early dinner only to be thwarted by the fact that most restaurants don't open until 6:30 or 7. Found a pizza place that serves pizza which was delicious.  

Tomorrow we head off on another challenging day with 5000 ft elevation gain.  We will be staying at Refugio Bonatti.  I am not sure about Internet there but we should have Internet the next day. 

Stage 3 Refuge Des Mottets to Courmayeur

We woke to a refuge shrouded in clouds. As we left the clouds started to dissipate. We climbed 2000 ft to the Col de a Seigne. As we went up in elevation the clouds came and went giving up close views of the mountain and glacier that had towered over the refuge last night. 

From there we dropped down past an old customs house turned museum. We checked out the displays outside and woke the caretaker (I think). The museum wasn't open yet so we counties down to Rufugio Elizabetta. This refuge is based at the bottoms of two magnificent glaciers. We hung out for an our or so drinking soda, viewing the glaciers and using the free wifi.  The refuge can be seen dwarfed by the glaciers in the following photo. 

We traveled down the valley past a lake and began climbing again. As we rose the views became ever better. 

We saw mountain after mountain with glaciers covering the mountainside. It was truly an incredible experience.   Above is a panoramic image taken at this time. 

From there we headed downward past a couple of refuges. We decided not to stay at them. However it was a long descent into Courmayeur. It was late and we couldn't find accommodation in the old part of town called Doloume. Finally one hotel called another and they told us they had a room. We made our way to the hotel. It was located in the middle of a bridge and had no obvious entrance. Eventually we found that we had to go back and down to enter the hotel. We got inside and the nice receptionist told us that no room was available after all. This was not welcome news but she was so sweet. She found us a better and cheaper room and gave use directions to the next hotel. We found our way and a room. 

We went out for pizza as we are in Italy. We ordered one pizza to share.  They were the size of a large US pizza. Our waiter was not happy apparently it is normal for each person to get a pizza that size. It was enough for us and we ordered dessert so we figured we weren't being cheap. 

Then we got the bill. I was charged 2.50 for regular water. We were each charged 1.50 for coperto. Apparently coperto is a charge for placemats and bread given to all customers even if you don't receive bread. We were also charged a supplemental variance. We are unsure of the purpose of this charge but we think it was a tourist charge. Then when we went to pay the guy asked us to give him a dollar to make it easier for him to make change. Then rolled his eyes when we asked for two fives instead of a ten. I guess they don't like Americans. I will post a copy of the bill below. We had one pizza, two desserts and a sparkling water   

That ends our day which was 19 miles of hiking including 4000ft of ascent and 6100 ft of descent. 

Stage 2 - Les Contamines to Refuge Mottets

IWe began the day with a pretty level walk to a church named (Notre -Dame de la Gorge). It was a pretty church and as we left there we walked up an old Roman Road and let me tell you the Romans built some steep roads  there was a gorge not far up the road.  

We climbed 1500ft to Refuge La Balme were we had a break before beginning the real climb to Col de Bonhomme. After our break we climbed steeply to the Col. I am not sure what Col means exactly but it seems to be like what we would refer to as a pass. The Col was magnificent. In one direction we had views of Lac Jovet (lake) and Mont Triondo.  On the other side there were green valleys and towering mountains. 

Our climbing was not done we had two more passes to cross. It was a long day but well with it with phenomenal views. 

The next pass that we crossed was Col de las Croix and then Col des Fiours.  The climbing was not quite as steep along the way. In fact we saw our first mountain bikers  

After the Col des Four it was a long down hill. However, there fantastic views of enormous glaciers.  I did the most amazing acrobatic maneuver. I slipped, spun and landed but down in a hole. I wasn't hurt but it was quite awkward getting out of the hole wearing a backpack 

At the bottom of the hill was the ruins of an old town Ville de Glaciers which seems to have a Beaufort cheese making  establishment.   There was also an old church there 

We did the final uphill hike to our hut. We arrived just ahead of the rain.   This is the Refuge. There are a couple of things that I need to mention about the refuge. First the toilets don't have toilet seats which makes doing your business a little strange. Second. after a non- vegetarian dinner, a girl played a windup instrument similar to a player piano and people sang along in French. It was rather amusing. 

Stage 1 Les Houches to Les Contamines

I

We got an early start -6:30ish- to try to beat the thunderstorms. Yesterday it poured. The hike started with a step ascent. We had stellar views of the valley and looming glaciers. There were also cute horses, sheep, goats, and cows with huge Bella to help us keep our minds off the unrelenting ascent. 

We decided to take the "high route" increasing our ascent tremendously. However, the payoff was tremendous. As we climbed past the Bonaissey glacier and walked over a very fun swinging bridge. We climbed further and dropped down to Refuge Miage. 

Refuge Miage has places to sleep but also serves lunch. We had some amazing omelettes under towering mountains draped in stunning glaciers. It was almost surreal. Then came our last climb of the day.

We walked past Chalet Truc which also serves food and had places to stay.  There were cows everywhere. Perhaps they make cheese there as well. We walked for another hour or so to our final destination of Les Contramines. Along the way we meet a nice guy who showed us wild berries. 

He was actually my savior because I had left my poles behind and I didn't know where. I was going to leave them when he comes skipping down the road with them. I was so happy that I hugged him. 

12.5 miles and 4600 feet after we started we finished stage 1 - tired and happy.  See the map here - http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Hyef36dl0oq3lZZpQ44jzXeKWtLH6TzK 

Les Houches

The shuttle to Les Houches went off without a snag despite us arriving one day later than our reservation. However when we got to our hotel (shown above) nobody was home. This led to Leah trying to call the owner and I tried to get help from the neighbor. After the owner was located we got inside and much to our surprise and happiness our room was ready early. We went in and took showers. Now a word on the shower. It had two handles. I figured hot and cold but I figured wrong.  Turns out one handle toggles between shower and bath. The other handle adjusts the temperature.  

Feeling much better we set off to explore the town. We found the information bureau, the grocery, many sports stores, etc. I got some money from the ATM so I was glad I had the CS card. The bank in town didn't even exchange currency. 

Interestingly many shops close from 12-2 here. Of course, that is when we got our act together and hit the road. 

The town has pretty buildings and it surrounded by towering,jagged mountains covered by glaciers. 

While walking around town it poured cats and dogs. I am hoping that most of the precipitation falls today and tonight leaving tomorrow dry for our first day on the trail.  We hope to do the high variant if we can get ahead of the afternoon showers. 

Leah had buckwheat crepes for dinner and I had a spinach omelette. Tonight we are replacing our packs AGAIN and hitting the sack early. There is much discussion about what is really necessary and what items are luxuries. We will see how it all works out. 

Washington DC

Day 1 of the adventure could have gone more smoothly. It began as the clerk at my hotel seemed to not understand why I wanted to leave certain valuables in the office versus my car. I had asked the evening clerk about this and he seemed to think it was a great idea. Well as soon as that got settled I wanted to board the shuttle and go to the airport. I was informed that the driver was sleeping and that there normally wasn't a 6am shuttle. I nicely explained that the evening clerk told me to take the 6am shuttle. That didn't go over well. Eventually the sleeping driver showed up and we got the show on the road. Initially I felt that the late start would have no effect. However after entering the terminal and checking my bags I overheard that security was very slow. In fact I was initially unable to find the end of the line as it continues down the terminal as it transitioned from A to B. Eventually I found the end only to be told to

Move down to the next security line. I experienced the same problem there as it snaked first in one direction and then another. I found the end and moved slowly through the line past the sniffer dogs. They seemed to eliminate the need to take off shoes which speeded up the line somewhat. I made it to the gate with time to spare. 

The flight to DC was crowded but uneventful. There I met up with Leah and we waited for the next flight to Geneva. We boarded the plane and about 40 min later were told there was a mechanical problem and the flight would be delayed   Eventually we were off loaded from the plane. What followed was a series of false promises about when the flight would depart. At one point we considered taking another flight but we're worried about the loss of luggage which would be dire as it held all of our hiking gear. We asked for as received travel vouchers and had some yummy vegetarian pizzas. At this point I found out that Leah is as picky an eater as I am. That was super funny. Eventually the flight was cancelled and we were given vouchers for a hotel. All in all we both kept pretty good attitudes and are ready to start the adventure when we can. Since some people really lost the plot we did okay and the hotel even gave us a toothbrush and toothpaste. Goodnight and hopefully there will be a more exciting installment next time