Mt Blanc

Friday 01 July,

So much ground covered since I last emailed from Courmayer.  Yesterday was a massive day which started with a lovely climb from the valley floor.  The track was beautiful - soft under foot, spongy, a true forest floor.  No gravel, and only an occasional bit of rock to clamber up.  Because it was forest, we had shade, but the sun was out up above.  The views down to valley as we climbed were wonderful, and got better and better.  That was the good bit - the other side of the coin (and there always is one on this trip), was that it was horrendously steep.  Very arduous.  After a 600 metre climb we had smoko at a refugio before heading off on a long "traverse" around the side of a mountain range.  The flowers were so beautiful, Mt Blanc was right beside us, the sun was out, but it wasn't 30+ degrees.  I felt like Heidi.  Helicopters everywhere delivering supplies to the refugios high on Mt Blanc, and possibly (but hopefully not) taking out injured hikers.

We ate lunch lying in the flowers in a meadow outside a disused dairy.  We had to descend a long way to the valley floor, and then steeply up again to our Refugio - always UP and always DOWN! Eventually, 20 kms, and 11 hours walking later (the last 3 or so were excruciating), we reached our home for the night Refugio Elena, our second in Italy.  The less said about it the better.  Promised much (because it is new) and delivered little.  Dormitories were OK - 30 or 40 all in together - totally used to that now, but the bathrooms were terrible.  Dinner was OK - I would have eaten anything.  Birthday cakes for our three birthday people.

Up early this morning for an "easy:" 600 metre ascent to the Swiss frontier on top of the Col.  I have learned that when the guides say "easy" they mean something very different! When they say "undulating" that means lots of up and down, and when they say "traversing" we relax a little because it usually means a windy, but flat track.  The weather is gruesome.  I have on two pairs of pants, two tops a fleece and a pashmina.  Outside there are two pack mules being loaded with the gear of a group of Americans - we carry our own.  I feel like a pack mule with all these extra clothes on.  The "easy" ascent was very, very, steep and arduous. 

I am at the back of the pack with Dave our host, and Stew the cameraman from the UK.  I love hearing his war stories, and boy does he have some.  I asked him if he covered the Royal Wedding.  "No", he said, I had to be in Libya face to face with Col.  Gaddafi's forces!! Thank goodness my feet were OK after yesterday but my calves were killing me.  Weather was closing in - an amazing sight to watch the clouds roll in when you are up among them.  We eventually reach the summit - 2537 metres.  The weather was so bad we had only a few seconds for photos before heading down on the Swiss side.  A very different terrain - nicely undulating, and not unpleasant at all - just long!! We descended 500 metres to a refuge for a break, (it has toilets with seats, paper, doors which work, and they are clean!), and then down down down another 300 metres to the valley floor, and then we walked 6 kms to La Fouly where we are tonight - basically Verbier, a popular Swiss ski resort.  We are in an Auberge tonight - still three to a room, and no bathrooms etc etc., but it seems positively 5 star after last night.

So, today seemed a doddle after yesterday - only 5.5 hours and about 12 kms!

We are now past the half way mark - about 100 kms down, and only 5 days to go.  I have no idea whether the coming days will be harder or easier.  They are all hard.  Climbing down is every bit as hard as climbing up, but different muscles.  The refugios are very,very basic.  Shower, clothes, privacy, power, hot water, and great food are all things we learn to live without.  The most precious commodity anywhere is phone reception but we are largely without it.  Wi-fi is the ultimate, so we can email, and the sole power socket in the Refugio is eagerly sought out the minute we arrive.  Boris has a 4-socket power board with him - it sometimes blows a circuit, but mostly we are able to all charge our stuff.

The book I bought to read is unopened - no light at night!!

I am taking so many photos - how can I not when I am surrounded by such beauty.  The funny thing is that I take pictures from the valleys looking up to the mountains, and going "wow", then the next day I find myself climbing the mountain in the photo, and taking pics looking back down!!

No idea what tomorrow brings - we are told it is an easy walk along the valley floor, but have learned to take that with a grain of salt and wait and see.  There will definitely be some "up and down" along the way I am sure.

Footnote: I am eventually sending this from Champex where we have good wi-fi access.  Today is done.  Just as I thought, the "Easy 4 hour walk along the valley floor with a small ascent at the end" was everything but.  We were on a goat track around a mountain a couple of hundred metres up, and it was very steep in parts.  Today the St Bernard/Verbier run was on, and we were sharing a narrow goat track with the runners who, by the time they reached us had been running since 5.00 this morning - up and down two mountains and about to go up another.  They typically walk up, and run down.  These guys are all hard core runners.  Each had his name on a little flap on his waist band, so as each approached (approx 100 of the 300 in the race passed us by) we loudly called his name and cheered - there were lots of Jean-Claudes, Pierres, Thierrys etc.  A smattering of Svens, Paolos, Massimos as well.

But, the most popular names were Stephan, Laurent and Jerome - and believe it or not Lionel !! We then walked into two gorgeous little historic villages one called Praz de Fort, and another Les Arlaches.  Two interesting things - not a soul to be seen in either, and they each have many buildings which are hundreds of years old.  These places could easily be in Japan and reminded me so much of the little old wooden villages there.  Lunch was in a paddock, and eventually we reach our home for the evening Champex - a lakeside town high above the valley.

More soon.  click here for photographs