Tour Du Mont Blanc - Day 2

Friday, 5 July 2019

Day 2 started pretty smoothly with a 25minute bus ride from town up to where we were planning to end yesterday's walk from. Actually we gave ourselves a kilometre's bonus head start as we figured we deserved it after the suffering from the previous day.

The walking on day 2 was all on dirt roads then small trails so it was much more like we were originally expecting. We really spent the first part of the day walking up a long long valley. Firstly along a river with trees and deep gorges:

Then the trees gave way to some open meadows and farms:

It was hot once we were out in the sun but there was still the occasional water fountain to keep us cool.

Then we just kept going up and up and up towards the Col du Bonhomme:

Eventually we were walking through soft snow patches. It was hard going.

We got to the top after about 4 hours of uphill hiking. It was seriously hard work but we weren't suffering nearly as much as many of the other chumps out there. And certainly not as much as the  ill-advised mountain bikers who were carrying their bikes up the hill. 

We had lunch at the first Col then continued on upwards for another 50 minutes to get to Col du Croix Du Bonhomme.

Then finally it was time to descend down down down to Les Chapeiux, our destination for the day (assuming I hadn't booked something 20ks away - I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous I had stuffed up again!) .

Zali rolled her ankle on the way down the hill, so once we'd checked in we dragged her back to the nearby stream and forced her to dip her ankle into the freezing water:

Our accommodation for the night was at the Refuge Nova- we had a basic room to ourselves with a shower (so not the snorey dormitories thankfully!), and we were served a set dinner and breakfast as part of the 'demi-pension'. The town was so small there were no other options so I was a bit worried about how this would go but it was really great - a four course dinner (with cheese as one of the courses) and a vegetarian option for me.  Everyone liked what they got and went to bed satisfied.  Aside from Zali's ankle, the day was absolutely fantastically amazing. The views were incredible all the way - more than I had imagined they could possibly be. The walking was tough - about 7 hours worth, 4 hours slogging uphill but of course it was more than worth it.In the night there was another raging thunderstorm which sent the window shutters banging.

I'm sure I heard a late hiker banging on the door trying to get inside in the middle of the night. Probably they ended up in the stables.