TMB Day 2

Set out this morning after breakfast with good weather, slightly ahead of the others from my refuge heading in the same direction.  The first third of the hike was up hill through a grassy valley ringed by large mountain peaks on either side.  A moment ago I mentioned hiking up hill and I'm concerned you read this as a leisurely jaunt at a slight incline for a couple miles, when in fact it was not.  Imagine a latter to the moon made of glass shards and chupacabras pestering you along the climb, I'd rather vacation on that latter than ascend that col again any time soon.  Col's are essentially what we would refer to as saddles in the states, a land mass joining two higher peaks forming a bridge or impass of sorts.  Tete's seem to be peaks, which I find myself going out of the way for to insure I don't miss anything.

Here, I took the variant of the hike to include a summit of Tete De Fours, ya I enjoyed saying that too.  Reading through the notes I've kept along the hike the only reference I have to this summit reads, "Good weather, cold as hell," which sums it up.  I meet Luca and his father Ivo on the summit, where we agreed to meet at Refuge Mottets.

From here on I would like to refer to this section of the hike as The Rabbit Hole.  Not only was the route porely marked allowing me the opportunity to venture off trail finding a mountain pond, but it was miles upon miles of down hill.  At one point I found myself ducking under cow fences and dodging beeves with horns.  Due to my unfamiliarity with the cow kind, I assumed those with horns meant business, while all others were walking milk cartoons.  I had stumbled upon a field of business cows that seemed to sense that I didn't belong.  Despite the aggressive mooing and intentfull stares I made my way around said cows to Refuge Mottets, a shelter short of my intended destination from the previous day.  Here're some pics in no particular order from the days hike;

Lost Lac

Field of business cows

As I'm writing this portion of the journal I've managed a luke warm shower and as a testiment to science am working my way through a cold beer in the middle of the Alps.  All would be serene except for the flatulent donkey fenced in some 20 meters from my table.  There are also sections of the TMB that are mountain biker friendly and here near this shelter is the first time I've seem anyone riding the trail. I would have killed for a skateboard at several moments along today's hike.

This night I'm sharing a four person room with a couple from Ireland.  No matter how badass I felt after having accomplished today's hike I can still recall looking across the valley and watching "VP", one of my roomates having returned from a similar hike then deciding she had excess energy and going for a run.  The beer I was drinking lost some of its flavor at that point, but I was able to reframe from shame as she and her husband were both obviously certified in the art of bad assery.

Taken from inside the refuges general assembly area.  Never knew there was such a thing as bread hangers before.

At this same shelter  I meet another couple from North Carolina, who were a pleasure to speak with.  For me, it was a home sick moment having some one that could have hiked similar trails and shared stories from the states.

Here's a pic of my shelter for the night, Refuge Mottets.

Link to TMB Day 2 pics, via Picasa.