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

Tour du Mont Blanc

Leah and I are flying out tomorrow for an adventure of a lifetime.  We will be hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc.  The map above shows a map of the trip.  It may seem to be easy as we are not climbing the famous mountain but it is very demanding.  It is 110 miles in distance and 33000  feet of ascent and descent as we travel.  We will be hiking through three countires - France, Italy and Switzerland .  We will stay in mountain huts and hotels.  Don't let the name mountain hut fool you.  These huts have electricity, showers and feed you delicious meals.  We only need to carry clothing, emergency food supplies, first aid, guidebook and water.  We will be hiking hard but far from roughing it like our friends on the John Muir Trail.  We will have wifi intermittantly along the way and I hope to send blog updates from my phone when we do.  I am taking my SPOT device which should be tracking continuously.  (It also has emergency capability).  Here is a link to the SPOT map for the trip.  Unfortunately there is nothing on it yet.  I may go out and try to send a signal from the car just to get something on the map.

Mt Rainier

A couple of days ago I left Glacier National Park and drove to Washington via the REI in Missoula.  I bring this up because I bought some socks there that are guaranteed for life.  This I can't believe.  These may be the last hiking socks I ever buy.

I am staying with friends who live near Mt Rainier for a couple of days.  Yesterday I went up to Paradise and hiked the high skyline trail.  On the way up I found a boot.  Several climbers were lost earlier this year in a storm and they are looking for their gear as they haven't yet been found.  I was pretty sure that it wasn't their boot because it was in pretty good shape.   However, someone lost their boot and I hoped to find them before they hiked all the way back.  I never found them so I ended  up dropping it off a the visitor at the end of my hike.

I had great views of Mt Rainier all along the hike yesterday.  I also saw a doe and two spotted fawns, numerous marmots, and  a bear.

Today I headed up to the Sunrise area.  I hiked the Burroughs Loop.  It was cloudy and wet at the start of the hike.   It was the first day that I was unable to hike in shorts.  I  consider it a warm up for the TMB that starts in less than a week.  I was in long pants, tshirt, long sleeve shirt, wool zip jacket, hat and gloves and my Marmot jacket.  I  climbed the first two mountains with no view except for the clouds.  As I started climbing the third mountain it began to clear and I had spectacular views of  the mountains and glaciers.  I was just across from them on the Third Burroughs mountain.  From there I hiked down to the glacier camp trail.  There I realized I was in  for a bit more than I thought.  The ranger gave me the impression that the hike was about 6 miles 1500 elevation.  In actuality it was more like 13 miles and over 4000 ft elevation gain - 2200 ft of that elevation gain was in the last three miles of the hike.  Although it was a bit of a surprise, I was able to do it without much  thought which is a good omen for the TMB hike next week.

Piegan Pass and Syeh Pass

Today was my last day in Montana.  It has been a great trip.  I love it here.  I am thankful that I have friends who live here and like to have me visit and hike with them.  The hike I did today was up two passes.  The first was very mellow but had beautiful views.  First there were flowers galore, then fantastic views of glacier covered moutain and finally brillant blue lakes emerging from snowfields.

Afterwards I went on to Syeh Pass with awesome views of glaciers and many wildflowers. It was truly a great day.  I had a few great wildlife sightings including a pika, marmots, deer eating flowers, etc.  Tomorrow I head to Washington and then up to Mt Rainier for a couple of days.