Tour de Mont Blanc avec PG

Good friend Pete (aka PG, Pablo, Petey, Pedreetz... and I guess Peter too) arrived at the train station in Lausanne on a Thursday evening. Jenny and I took the next day off and we dragged our new companion, complete with jet lag, to France to sleep on the side of a mountain less than 24 hours later! After doing the math for 3 train tickets to and back from Chamonix, FR, where we planned to start and finish a hiking tour of the Mont Blanc massif, we had determined that car renting was almost cheaper, but definitely worth the extra flexibility.

Leaving from the parking lot in Les Houches, France!

We were happy to find that free parking was common along the TMB (Tour de Mont Blanc) route, the ~170 km route we planned on hiking. We decided to set off from the most common starting spot near Les Houches. We had only gone about 100 metres when Jenny announced that she had forgotten something in the car... so Pete and I exercised remarkable patience and waited for her as she rummaged through the car to find what she needed, and then spent about 15 minutes trying to find the car key she had lost while trying to find whatever she had forgotten. Patience is important when hiking -- you can't let cranky spirits prevail, because then you start to examine your situation for what it really is (wait a minute... I'm voluntarily walking up very steep inclines in potentially inclement weather and forgoing showers, wifi, and sitting down for really no reason at all?!) and things get sucky.

But then there is the bright side of hiking: views like this!:

Our first morning on the trail, looking down at the Chamonix valley.

Our first full day on the trail featured one small climb of about 400 m, followed by a long stretch of nice valley walking, which led into a monster climb of 1,500 m to the pass "Col des Fours" at 2,665 ft, ending with a descent long descent to Ref. des Mottets. This day was tough for us all, but Jenny was in typical form powering ahead of the group and taking it as a personal challenge to pass, and not be passed by, anyone who looked like a peer of hers (basically any female around her age range who wasn't decked out in ultramarathon running gear). Meanwhile, Peter was quoted at one time saying "I feel like someone is punishing me". I'm still pretty sure he meant that as a hint to us (why are you making me do this?! I'm on vacation!!). Here is the view coming up to a pass (Col means pass in French, btw):

Petey coming up on our first big pass.

Some kinda mountain goatie creature at roughly our highest point on the trek.

Along the way we had some incredible food at Ref. Nant Borrant, and some food that I probably would have thought was average normally, but tasted amazing given the circumstances, at our final resting spot for the night (Ref. des Mottets). We opted to save some coin and use the gear we own to wild camp during the hike.

 

Amazing meals at this joint... if you find yourself there, do go!

Our tent setup for night #2.

Our second full day was more of the same. In that I mean excellent views, and taking a lot of steps again. It is worth noting that Pete hit his stride on day 2 and was suffering much less than the first day. Some of this probably had to do with the fact that his expectations were clearer now, as to what the TMB would require. Here is a cool pic of the man himself:

Pete.

Also a pano of some of the views we were having:

We were having some great weather, but the forecast was looking more and more ominous. Rain was scheduled for Monday, and even more rain for Tuesday. We hatched a plan after ascending back up to the trail from the city of Courmayeur (basically the Italian version of Chamonix). The plan was to hike through the night and make it over a pass that could be tricky if we were to wait until next morning if it was raining. It took about 2 hrs to decide on the plan... and all that was undone in about 30 seconds when we got tired and just decided to sleep!

Looking down on the Italian city of Courmayeur.

The next day the rain held off long enough for us to make it back into Switzerland, and eat an incredible meal near La Fouly. It was at this point that the impending rain necessitated a change of plan. We had hiked about 100 km in 2.5 days on the trail, but the full loop wasn't meant to be for us! We took some transportation back to the start, recovered our precious belongings from our car, and put up in a hotel (Rocky Pop hotel - Jenny picked a winner!). The warm showers were just what the doctor ordered!

On Tuesday it rained constantly, confirming our decision to stop hiking, especially when we saw other waterlogged hikers mosey into town in a defeated manor. However, Wednesday was bright and clear, so we did a hike up for views of Mont Blanc, the tallest peak in Europe:

Mont Blanc itself.

Pete n Me chillin hard.

That was it for the TMB! It was too bad not to go all the way around, but bailing out due to rain allowed us to go home by way of Zermatt (not on the way at all!). After this adventure, we returned to Lausanne and had some good hangouts with Pete, including watching a 3x3 tournament featuring team Lausanne! Overall, it was a blast to hang with PG for a couple weeks. Thanks for coming buddy!

3x3 Basketball. Pretty neat!

Thanks for coming, Pal!