We woke up to our last day in the country famous for its chocolate and cheese, as we prepared for day five on the TMB.

Maya Joie L’uberge

Consumed our standard European breakfast including boiling your own eggs, packed our lunch tins and checked out of our BnB (Bed and Bug). First world problems.

Champex-Lac

The shuttle took us from the village of La Fouly to Champex-Lac to start on the Bovine Trail. Thanks Deborah for blocking the B, at least have a name that can start the trail.

TMB Trail

We passed a colorful bee hive on the way, some “experts” believe that Switzerland has the highest density of domestic bees in Europe.

TMB Trail

The group was here (ici), but where was Honolulu?

TMB Trail

Passing through the alpine pastures dotted with Swiss homes.

TMB Trail

Sylvia pointed out the Swiss fighting cows grazing in the nearby pasture. These stocky chocolate colored Heren breed of cows are naturally combative that participate in televised fights where the female cows lock horns until one backs down. Cowfight not catfight.

Alpage de Plan de l’Au

Ferlino drinking straight from the pipe or the trough?

TMB Trail

Hiking our way up the uneven trail littered with rocks of assorted sizes.

TMB Trail

One of multiple glacier fed stream crossings.

TMB Trail

Name that peak for 85,753 euros.

TMB Trail

The group descending to cross a trickling stream.

TMB Trail

One stick in front of the other. It helps to have magic sticks as well.

TMB Trail

Bodies in motion and rest on the incline trail.

TMB Trail

The path soon plateaued to a reasonable horizontal level where it seemed to gather people to collect themselves.

TMB Trail

Back to the grind.

TMB Trail

Looking for the payoff after the somewhat strenuous climb up the trail.

TMB Trail

Climbing a tree stump painted with the Swiss colors to get better views of Rhone Valley and points beyond.

TMB Trail

Mari with the prominent peak of Grand Combin behind her, which is one of the highest mountains in the Alps.

Alpage de Bovine

We decided to join the crowds and have our lunch at the closed mountain hut known for its delicious cakes and desserts. We had our chocolate pudding that was provided instead.

Alpage de Bovine

Thou shalt not covet thy other group’s lunch of fresh vegetables and fruits.

TMB Trail

We left the hut to climb roughly 50 meters more to the highest point on the trail.

Alp Bovine

Aida at the 6,692′ summit marked with a nearby wooden cross with the inscription “When the evening dew falls and the stars shine we think of the sweet hours of the past, when you were among us. And you, will you come near us. If you are given to find those you loved on Earth, when are you happy in Heaven?” Well, that’s what Google Translate said.

TMB Trail

“Deb, tell me again why this is fun?”

TMB Trail

Chico at rest.

TMB Trail

The group traversing through the alpine pastures surrounded by the forest.

TMB Trail

Descending down to the mountain pass. Nice change of pace.

Col de la Forclaz

We arrived at the pass that was primarily used by smugglers until the 19th century when tourism became the main economic drivers. The group wandered around looking for souvenirs, solid and liquid refreshments. We had actually arrived two hours early, Sylvia was able to get one of the shuttles to come early, that still left one person out in the cold. Janken Po it is. Sorry Chico.

Le Chatelard

Flashing our passports as we crossed the border back into France.

Argentiere

The shuttle dropped us off at our three star hotel, La Couronne, that was originally built in 1865 and is the oldest hotel complex in the Valley of Chamonix.

Argentiere

Wandered around the quaint town, did our laundry and some folks got their TMB shirt prematurely.

Argentiere

Seated at the hotel restaurant to see if their food matched their infrastructure. It did.

Argentiere

Alpine food served from the regions of Italy, France and Switzerland, the same countries that we had hiked through the past five days.

Argentiere

Most of us turned in for the night, but Aida stayed up and caught the last lunar eclipse of the year. Goodnight from the picturesque alpine village.

GPS Tracks

Our fifth day on the TMB covered 8.3 miles through alpine meadows and steady climbing through the mountains and leaving Switzerland to enter back into France.

Photos taken by Aida Gordon, Chico Cantu, Deborah Tom, Ferlino Carinio, Mari Saito, Patrick Tom, Robin Farr, Roger Schiffman, and yours truly. Not necessarily in order.

Note: I have been made aware that some hikers have been using my blog as a hiking guide and getting lost on the trails. Please note that this blog was made to document the hike for the crew(s) that did it. That is why some of my comments will seem to have no relevance or meaning to anybody outside of the crew(s) that hiked that trail. My blog was never meant as a hiking guide, so please do not treat it as such. If you find inspiration and entertainment from these hikes, that is more than enough. If you plan on replicating these hikes, do so in the knowledge that you should do your own research accordingly as trail conditions, access, legalities and so forth are constantly in flux. What was current today is most likely yesterdays news. Please be prepared to accept any risks and responsibilities on your own as you should know your own limitations, experience and abilities before you even set foot on a trail, as even the “simplest” or “easiest” of trails can present potential pitfalls for even the most “experienced” hikers. One should also always let somebody know of your hiking plans in case something doesn’t go as planned, better safe than sorry.