Mont Blanc Final Day Chamonix to Geneva 0 Miles It’s another tear-inducing morning as we say goodbye once more to fellow trekkers after morning breakfast. Ian and Carolyn are already off hiking another Chamonix peak and Tour Leader Jen is probably busy trying to get some actual rest now that she is no longer constantly …
Day 10 Off Day Chamonix 0 Miles, Aiguille du Midi Cable Car I’ve traded in my pair of sweaty shins for a pair of sweaty palms. I’m pretty sure my fellow trekking buddy Steve has too, sharing my extreme dislike of these ridiculous cable cars that ascend to places not meant for human exploration. We …
Day 9 Trekking Argentiere to Chamonix 6 Miles, 2300 ft Ascending, 850 ft Descending We are cracking ourselves up as we make the final climb on this final trekking day. And by final climb I mean final – we can see the cable car that will whisk us back down to Chamonix from the top …
Day 8 Trekking Trient to Argentiere 10 Miles, 2000 ft Ascending, 1000 ft Descending “There will be a lovely quiche, a nice patio, and views.” These are the words Tour Leader Jen has just spoken and we are all ears. I’m not sure one needs anything more motivating than that short phrase to bear another …
Day 7 Trekking Champex-Lac to Trient 10 Miles, 2300 ft Ascending, 2500 ft Descending I’ve deduced on this trekking trip around Mont Blanc that “steep” has multiple definitions, most of which are completely disagreeable to the human body. There’s regular steep, which means I will huff and puff and perhaps mutter a bit under my …
Day 6 Trekking Arp Nouvea to Champex-Lac 9 Miles, 2500 ft Ascending, 3300 ft Descending If I had a Powerade and a Magnum bar right now, I could rule the world. Much to my dismay, only one is available and probably not the one that’s best for me in my current state of heat exhaustion …
Day 5 Trekking Courmayeur to Arp Nouvea 11 Miles, 3000 ft Ascending, 2500 ft Descending I’m pretty sure I’m hallucinating, as I lay here in the grass in front of our evening accommodation, staring at the blue sky and granite peaks overhead, unable to move after being laid to waste over the past hour of …
Day 4 Rest Day Courmayeur I’ve skinned my elbows. Not from tripping and falling down on the trail, which might be predicted and/or expected, but instead from erasing 46 years off my age and choosing to go down the children’s slide. Some may think that’s an odd choice for my age, but how often does …
Day 3 Trekking Le Ville de Glaciers to Courmayeur 10 Miles, 2400 ft Ascending, 2700 ft Descending I’m pretty sure that heaven and earth meet here, in La Ville des Glaciers, in perfect harmony. How can I be sure? Because here I stand, in a beyond breathtaking valley, surrounded not just by mountains and all …
Day 2 Hiking Contamines-Montjoie to Les Chapieux 11 Miles, 4300 ft Ascending, 3000 ft Descending “This is the best tasting gum I’ve ever tasted” said Carolyn of Canada. These are the small delights one enjoys after having hiked for 8 hours, about 5 of which were up up up and the other 3 down down …