TMB Day 5

La Peule was enjoyable, maybe too much so as I found myself lingering to a late start.  Today's hike began with a variant, as recommended by my trusty guide book and a cow farmer with aggressive hand gestures.  The trail followed the valley, ending at La Fouly, with out event.  Fortunate for me, the bus leaving La Fouly arrived fifteen minutes later taking me to Champex

Taking the bus at this point has been my plan all along, allowing me to bypass the next nine miles of wooded trail, with no mountains or glaciers and described by my guide book as the easiest section.  The time I save here will be spent hiking alpine miles during the next couple legs.

Waiting at the bus stop, being a smelling foreigner.

I arrived at my intended Shelter, Arpette about a forty minute walk passed Champex along the variant trail.  When I walked in the place was full of older couples having driven up for lunch.  The weather was amazing and wanting to protect the badass image I'd been cultivating the last few days, I decided to keep walking.

The keep walking part involved an ascent of Fenetre d' Arpette, the highest point on the TMB.  One of my more careless moments as the ascent and descent were snow and ice covered and I had no practical plan B or informed any hikers that we're familiar to me.  The trail brought me extremely close to the glacier du Trient, allowing me to hear the croaks and groans.  Besides several moments that made me glad I was alone, the hike ended on a mental low note.  The pain from my ankle took me out of the TMB spirit, but I still managed my version of a friendly smile and a hearty bonjour!

Tonight the dormitory is ten or so to a room with shared showers.  As I was sitting outside the sound of cow bells from a nearby flock of beeves was echoing off the valley walls.  I'm hoping that my roommates tonight don't snore and my ankle Wolverine heals itself.

Dinner tonight was good; first cream of vegetable soup, small bit of chicken with assorted veggies and French fries and finally really good Italian icecream and coffee.  Tomorrow, I'll be hiking too Tre Le Champ.  Two more nights.

Hotel Tre Le Champ

Side story; I've been known to accept foody gifts from nature along the trail, in varying conditions.  On this day I found a bite size morsel of trail food left about by another hiker.  Before rash judgments are thrown around,  the dirt is was laying on was clean and I’d been without lunch and was due a snack break.

Trail Magic

Link to TMB Day 5 photos, via Picasa.

TMB Day 4

Breakfast was almost as nice as the weather.  Meet with Luca and Ivo after breakfast before parting ways.  Their company was enjoyable and before setting off again we exchanged emails.  Along the trail I ran into Jean Luc, a French hiker who I shared a dinner table with at Refuge Mottets the day before last.  His English is about as good as my French, leaving most our conversations with broken Spanish and hand signals.  Oddly, Jean Luc didn't get my first Star Trek reference any more than the twentieth; we have all day, I'm sure he'll come around.

Jean Luc

All along the trail to the next shelter ultra marathon racers were heading the opposite direction to the finish line at Courymayer, where I had left that morning.  I can't be certain of the race position, but at one point a female racer tough as nails passed me and was someplace in the top ten.

Made good time to Rifuge Bonatti where I had lunch and an extremely thick chocolate liquid called coco.  I witnessed a fly land inside my partially empty cup to never emerge again.  As far as shelters go, this was the most beautiful and I partially regretted not staying the night.  There were too many hours of sun light left and the concern of losing good views due to bad weather was a possibility.  My body was aching and looking forward to getting off my feet at the next Rifuge Elena (Italy), when low and behold the shelter closed for the season literally as I walked in the door.  If I hadn't been drunk from mountain gazing shit would have hit the fan.  Apparently Italy only has 26 days in their September.  Nine hard hours and 15 miles hiked, my alternatives at this point in the day were to either hike back two hours to Bonatti or go forward into Switzerland up and over Grand Col Ferret.  Hellooo Switzerland!

It was an additional two hours to the shelter in Switzerland named La Peule.  Of the one hundred and twenty minutes it took me to get to the shelter, about one hundred of them were full of aingst and melodramatics.  I managed to remain calm, but the reality of my situation was I was limping, under dressed with shorts, walking through 3" snow drifts and on an exposed saddle in less than favorable weather conditions.  Once there, I immediately appreciated the circumstance that lead me to this place, where I would have other wise hiked passed.  Hands down the best food and drinks on the hike to date.  Dinner was some sort of baked twice bread with cheese, ham, sunny side up egg, and pickled stuff.  To warm up I asked for hot wine, something Luca introduced me to at Refuge Elisabetta and received a piping hot mug filled with chunks of fruit and a bitter sweet fluid.  As this shelter is a working dairy farm in the summer, they also offer straw tent camping.  My adventure tank happened to be tapped out, also I'm allergic to straw or I would like to have enjoyed trying a night in a straw house.

Turns out the timing of this trip will either be genius or tragically epic.  Most shelters on the trail where I planned to sleep and eat meals close mid September.  Having been turned away from a shelter that should have been opened makes me slightly concerned about the remainder of the hike.  Not that I'll loose sleep over it tonight, I'm sure it'll work out for the better.  Tonights shelter is almost empty, I was the first to arrive followed by three others including Captain Pichard.  I'm going to try and get a picture of him doing the Vulcon farewell hand sign.

One of my ankles isn't at 100%, I'm hoping the easier day of hiking I have planned for tomorrow will help out with my physical ailments.  I revised the rest of my hiking schedule today, was a bit sad having reached the half way mark but have read I still have the best ahead.

Link to TMB Day 4 pics, via Picasa.

TMB Day 3

I'm writing this from a hotel bed in Courmayer, having eaten an entire large Italian pizza with Luca and Ivo for dinner.  My intent was to stay in mountain shelters all along the way, but today was a worthy exception.  I set out from Refuge Mottets to Courmayer, putting me a day a head of schedule in the rain and cold.  Once over Col de la Seigne, the cold freezing rain turned to snow.  I had made the decision to hike in shorts and sticking with the plan found myself appreciating my hairy legs and in a mad dash to the next shelter Rifuge Elisabetta.

Rifuge Elisabetta.

Once there, I joined the international masses converging on this one dry spot by stripping down and ordering copious amounts of food and hot beverages.  I quickly remembered that this leg was my transition into Italy where the little bit of French I'd learned wasn't helpful.  With broken spanish and hand gestures we came to an agreement that what I wanted was to pay for two cups of coffee while only receiving one, along with a sam'ich and chocolate.  Spent an hour warming up and meeting up with the Iranian gentlmen from Refuge Mottets along with Luca and Ivo.  I got back on the trail with the same poor conditions.  Seems counter tuitive, but once it started snowing the weather warmed up and became an enjoyable hike...excluding the downhill section right outside Courmayer.  I must have walked underneath three separate chairlifts, none of which were working.  The thought of McGyvering my way down a chairlift cable to avoid taking another downhill step crossed my mind once or twice.

Courmayer

I found out today that there's an ultramarthon race of sorts in the mountains around Courmayer, where the race leaders so happened to be finishing as I was entering town.  Coincidently, that's exactly how I imagined my arrival into this small mountain town should be...a celebration.  It's for the better that hardly anyone understands English on this side of the Alps or my demands to be carried around by Ewolks while a feast was being prepared could have been misconstrued.

Interestingly, there're two toilets in this hotel as if one pot wouldn't be enough to contain anyone's business.  Either that or someone was extremely thoughtful of hikers and put a water bottle filler lower to the ground for ease of filling bottles.  That's why I filled my camelback first, then accepted the two toilet challenge.  Amanda would've been proud of me.

Tomorrows hike will be to Rifugio Bonatti with several variants depending on the weather.

Link to TMB Day 3 pics, via Picasa.

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.

TMB Day 1

Woke up this morning to a granola, berry and juice breakfast, very enjoyable.  In an attemp to allow for longer variants further down the trail, I decided to take the cable car to Bellevue saving myself a couple miles of ascent hiking in the trees.  Once on the trail I was happy to see that it was well marked.  The only challenging moments during this section of the hike to Col de Tricot was navigating the ant line of senior citizens.

Shortly before Col de Tricot, looking up at Glacier de Bionnasaay and a helping of aiguilles.

 The descent to Refuge Miage was brutal and is where I stopped for a four dollar bottle of Nestea, the boiled egg I saved from breakfast and some left over chocolate from my layover at JFK.

My view during lunch.  Never mind cutting off the mountain top to include my boiled egg in the pic...real pro.

Allow me to break the suspense, yes I did get lost and a cop whome I can only hope accidentally missed shaving the hair immediately around his lips had to point me in the right direction.  I imagine I'll get lost again, I've accepted this as a reality of life long ago.

La Frasse, outside Contamines.  Thought Amanda would like these.

Cool church Contamines.

Notre Dame de la Gorge

Couple residents outside Notre Dame. 

Meet an English speaking father and son hiking while at this nights shelter, Refuge Nant Borrant.   It's been nice having others around I could easily communicate with.  I believe they're both heading to the same shelter that I am tomorrow, but are getting off the trail for a shorter hike the following day.

No matter how lost I was, todays weather was perfect allowing me to hike further than planned, ending with a hot shower and a couple cold beers.

The weather forecast is looking like rain for the next couple days starting around midday tomorrow.  Weather permitting I'll be sumitting one of two highest points on the trail, gaining over 8500 feet, hiking about 14 miles and getting ahead on my itinerary by a day.  I'm shooting for Rifugio Elisabetta, but have a plan B if I'm feeling particularly lazy.  As I'm writing this on my bed in the refuge, the only two other guys sleeping in the room are both snoring.  Luckily I have a set of SSR issued ear plugs.

Link to TMB Day 1 pics, via Picasa.

Wheels Down and Gear Check

I'm pecking away on an iPad, but will attempt to convey the last twenty four hours and I know exactly where to begin; at the very first step towards this trip.  I briefly outlined today in my mind and it's embarrassingly apparent that the list of things I neglected outweighs any other list.  For your amusement, here're the heavy hitters where all I could do was laugh and watch as things unfolded;

First, keeping in mind I'm a professional traveler, I missed my flight from Nashville because I didn't check revised flight times before I left.  In a nut shell, leaving on the next flight out to lagwardia I caught a cab to JFK just in time to get back on track.  There was other typical late flights and missed connections on my way to Geneva but nothing I feel shamed about.

Second, the variatable cornucopia of items left or forgotten has been staggering so far.  For instance, not sure why I thought the best place to pick up a trail map was at the trail head, but as of now every shop is sold out of trail maps.  It's just hiking in a loop, how hard could it be? An outlet adapter.  I can close my eyes and picture Dennis handing me the adapter and my next thought was, "best put it in this drawer for safe keeping." I suppose it's safe.  Copy of my trail itinerary I've spent the last four months piecing together? Naw, should have all that memorized.

Third, although I'm not convinced I could help this situation, is my inability to get a borrowed cell working and rentable cell phones being sold out the few places I looked.

As a side note, while standing in London Q's it seems that either I'm doing something wrong or that people in the country have become desensitized to the lack of personal space.  I can't stand still without having some guy so close to me that he could rest his chin on my shoulder.

On the bright side, I'm sitting in a valley on a porch of a restaurant drinking un cafe with creme having just watched the sun set fifty yards from the trail head.  I'll see about loading some pictures...and right on que that clap of thunder is my sign to try and get some rest.

PS, not so good with font.

Here're those pics.

Amanda's house.

  

View from my hotel.

Swiss Alps with interesting church.

Pizzeria near my hotel.  Tried to order sweet tea, ended up drinking hot water with dinner.

Sheffer.

Link to TMB Day 0 pics, via Picasa.

And away we go...

I'll be leaving shortly and as I'm waiting for Amanda to take me to the airport my mind continues to race, searching for any last minute forgettable's.  That scene with the Joker where he delivers the line, "And away we go" seems to continue to resurface.

Looking forward to sharing new stories.  Amanda's here, time to fly.