Tour Du Mt. Blanc – Les Houches to Courmayeur

This is part one of a two part series on the Tour du Mt. Blanc, a trek around the Alps highest mountain. Please use the term “Mt. Blanc” in the search function to see the other part of this series.

The bus arrived at the Chamonix stop at 8:00 a.m., right as scheduled.  We almost missed it since breakfast was at 7:30 a.m. and I had to open my big mouth to ask about the weather.  The desk clerk was talkative, so I had to politely cut him off as we ran out the door. We made it to the bus stop with only a few minutes to spare. 

The bus ride took longer than we thought as it made its way to Les Houches.  The line at the cable car there was 10 – 15 people long due to only one cable car being operational. Lightening recently struck one of the two cars, so the trip up to Bellevue took one hour or so.  After we exited, we were shrouded in fog.  We couldn’t see a thing.  Our hair was full of dew, just like the grass in our lawn after a cool night.


Our hike up to Col de Tricot was a grunt.  At the top, a dead sheep was lying on the side of the trail.  It scared the bejeezus out of Mary Kay.  The long downhill took us to Refuge de Miage.  The low clouds broke somewhat to open up the views.  We ate a quick snack and then off again as we were to make time up another steep series of switchbacks to the Col de Truc and the du Truc Refuge. 




After a quick lunch, we were off down a long downhill, taxing the thighs.  Mary Kay’s knee was causing her a lot of pain.  This portion of the hike took us into Les Contamines.  The trail passed right by people’s houses, driveways, and open windows (never would you see this in the United States) and into a courtyard of a café/bar where we stopped briefly for a quick beer (this is my kind of hiking!).

A level path took us away from town, past a 15th century church (Notre Dame de la Gorge) where soon a steep uphill path began again.  This is where we started really hurting. We were totally exhausted, spent, and out of gas!  Other “hikers” seemed no worse for the wear; some were actually running the trail! 


Finally when we had no more to give, the uphill trail rounded a corner and led us to Refuge La Balme, our stay for the night.  A cute guy (according to Mary Kay, not me) checked us in at 6:30 p.m., nine hours since we started back at the top of the cable car at Bellevue, the most either of us had ever hiked in one day (as well as the most elevation gain and loss in one day).

We took a quick, but soothing hot shower before we sat down to dinner with 13 or so other hikers.  As an American, we found the meal portions to be very small and tonight's were no exception.  With the large portions we are used to eating, it is no wonder our country has an obesity problem.

While dressing the following morning, Mary Kay came to the quick realization that she had left some of her hiking clothes in the shower house, which the owners of the refuge by rule locked up after 7:00 p.m. the prior evening.  I went to the kitchen to find someone to open the shower house for us.  The language barrier made it difficult to convey to them that we just wanted Mary Kay’s clothes and not a shower again. After my contorted hand and arm gestures, they finally understood me and opened the shower house so Mary Kay could retrieve her clothes.

We busted our humps again today.  It was a long climb out of La Balme to the Col du Bonhomme, then to the Col de la Croix Bonhomme.  If that wasn’t enough, we continued upward to the Col des Fours.  The clouds lifted for a beautiful day, gorgeous views, and spectacular scenery.  It was stunning!  We caught up to other hikers and were soon keeping pace with our German, Washington State and Vermont friends who we first met at last night’s refuge.

Often, the path took us through herds of sheep (or is that flocks of sheep?) and herds of cows.  They would look at us as if hikers are a common sight, which in this area, I have no doubt. We headed down from the pass, a long way down into the valley, taxing the thighs and quads, just like yesterday.  We missed a turn off of the main trail, and hiked down a wrong path for 200 – 300 meters.  It doesn’t sound like much, but when hiking for 7 – 9 hours, any little extra is to be avoided. 

We headed down to Ville des Glaciers, where at a small farm compound, we discovered they make delicious cheese. Our broken French allowed us to communicate enough with the lady there for her to understand that we wanted to buy from her some of their cheese.  Unbelievably delicious! 

One last climb up a jeep road for 30 minutes and we arrived at the Des Mottets Refuge.  It was very rustic, with livestock all around, a bunk room with one large hall in which everyone slept, and very primitive showers and toilets (the squatting kind).

The next morning, I awoke groggily, not having slept well at all. I think my lack of restful slumber was more because of the lingering jet lag, and not so much because of all of the strange noises in the bunk room.  There were probably 30 – 40 other hikers in the room whispering in many different languages, yawning, snoring, belching, and yes, a fart or two.  My ear plugs helped drown out some of the noise, but I simply couldn’t fall asleep for any extended period.

Our morning’s long climb was accompanied by blue cloudless skies.  It was absolutely gorgeous!  The peaks, glaciers, and Mount Blanc clearly dominated our views on the way up.  At the top of the pass, at the Col de la Siegne, we left France and entered Italy by way of a wrong turn.





It was embarrassing to be sure due mainly to a simple oversight: I failed to look at our map. Because of this lapse, I wasn’t being watchful of turns and trail junctions and, as a result, followed a trail that grew more and more faint high up on the mountainside instead of low in the valley where we were supposed to be. In the distance we saw a trail switchback down into the valley, but it took some doing to get to it.  Finally after some treacherous mountainside hiking and dead reckoning over a grassy hillock, we found the switchbacks and made downward progress toward the valley.



Having lost time, we skipped our planned lunch stop at Refuge Elisabetta. We instead continued our trek, walking past some farm buildings and through dozens of cows (and what they leave behind), then down again into the flats and on a jeep road that led us to LaVasaille, where our pre-arranged car hire was to pick us up for the ride into Courmayeur.

The van arrived right on time and took us 25 minutes into town.  It was a silent trip since the driver didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Italian.  Hotel Bertrod was to be our stay for the next two nights.  It was very quaint and charming, located right in the heart of the downtown.  We walked around a bit, had some beer and pizza, and then turned in early for some much needed sleep and rest.

Our layover day the following day was very relaxing and very much needed.  Our sore muscles rejoiced at not having to overwork once again after three hard days of hiking 9 – 10 miles each day.  After a hearty breakfast, much heartier than what we have had over the past couple of days (eggs, yogurt, granola, bread, ham, salami, coffee, fruit, cookies, etc., instead of just bread and jam), we walked over to Dolonne, a neighborhood south of Courmayeur.  It had very narrow cobblestone streets and alley-like lanes that served as the main thoroughfares. The mix of homes, shops, and churches were all set up in a mish-mash, very medieval-like layout. 


Dinner was with a two fellow hikers, a couple from Washington State, who were staying in the same hotel. They do what we want to do when we retire: travel.  For five months out of the year, they are on the road.  They have been everywhere in the world; Nepal, India, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Thailand, Cambodia, Europe, and on and on.  We continue to dream this dream.

The conversation shifted. They asked how I was able to manage a suitable shower since the stall was very tiny and, as they said, “you’re a big guy.” MK glanced over and gave me a sympathetic smile. 

I returned her gaze with an “Ok, so I need to lose some weight” look in my eyes. 



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