Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) Day 1

The day had finally arrived as we started on the CliffsNotes version of the TMB. We had eschewed hiking the entire 106 miles circuit that typically takes 8-11 days to complete. Instead we opted on a guided six-day hike that highlighted the “best” of the trail and left the more “mundane” sections out in left field. The TMB trail started for practical and economic reasons to move herds of sheep between the valleys and to facilitate fur trade among the scattered groups of people living in the valleys. Now it serves to move hikers between the valleys.

We stored our unneeded items in the hotel’s storage, packed our pasta in the provided tins, shared some of the lunch load and ate our standard breakfast fare.

Is that where we are going today? General direction?

Sylvia paying our bus fare as we took the short ride to the next town.

Didn’t we pass Les Houches, the official gate and start/finish of the TMB trail? I guess this will have to do for now.

Waiting in line to take the cable car ride to the top.

Group photo at the top with the panoramic mountain view.

I guess this is the start of the Tour du Mont Blanc trail for our group.

Mari crossing the cog railway line. You mean we can take the train?

The girls making their way down the rooted part of the path.

Heading out to the picturesque mountains. Not a bad way to start the morning.

“Chains? We don’t need no stinking chains!” Paraphrasing the famous misquote from the 1948 film The Treasure of Sierra Madre.

Sylvia and Ferlino passing through one of two cattle gates on the path.

Is that Mont Blanc in the background?

Descending down a set of switchbacks which bottled the hikers on the trail.

Crossing the Glacier de Bionnassay footbridge that passes over the river fed by the glacier melt.

Passing through an alpine forest as we pushed our way up, somebody had magic hiking sticks on the trail.

Robin at a nice scenic spot with the Alps in the background.

Back to the grind.

We had our lunch below the windswept pass with tins of pasta salad and of course; bread, cheese and meat.

Our first mountain pass in the Alps at an altitude of 6,955′ with Mont Vorassay in the background.

What goes up, must come back down.

Making our way down the steep switchbacks.

Descending towards the valley pasture.

You take the easy way, I’ll take the hard way down.

Headed towards our first shelter on the trail.

We stopped at the mountain hut in the center of Miage Valley to have carbonated drinks and ice cream.

Refreshed and recharged, we crossed a small stream and refilled our water bottles before resuming our hike.

Back on the trail to climb a smaller pass.

Chico taking advantage of the creative use of a tree stump.

Nice to have a bench at the top of the pass to rest our derrieres. Trying to speak the local lingo.

Looking back at our steep descent from the earlier pass where we lost over 1,800′ of elevation.

Robin trying to orient herself to the direction of the trail.

Brief stop at the mountain hut located on the plateau du Truc with sweeping mountain views of Domes de Miage to the Aravis mountains. We would have to miss the evening milking of the cows.

Passing through the 14,000 acre forest reserve created in 1979 that encompasses pastures, rivers, forests and glaciers.

Mari crossing over an electric wire meant to keep the cows in their place. I don’t think anybody actually checked if the switch was “on.”

The group waiting their turn to cross over another slippery cow barrier. It must be working, we didn’t see any cows.

Leaving the tree line for signs of civilization.

Looking both ways before we cross the road. Safety first. We walked on the roads, passed through clusters of places for rent, crossed over multiple bridges, followed the stream and passed a horse pasture among other things.

Are we there yet?

We are almost there. That was a long 15 minutes. I think it must have been measured in metrics.

Checking in, party of nine. We were assigned to our dormitory style rooms with bunk bed accommodations and bed bug powder at the foot of the bunks. There was some confusion as to whether we could bring our packs to our rooms or not. Some heeded and some did not.

Some of us took hot showers in the common areas and then we all met up to have our family style dinner. BYOC (Bring Your Own Coke).

Our first day on the storied Tour du Mont Blanc trail covered 8.74 miles through the wilderness of the Alps. Somebody inquired as to taking a zero day on the second day. Cost was 270 euros for the taxi. That was roughly $315 dollars. Hard pass. The secret to motivating hikers? Hit ‘em in the wallet.

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.

Tagged as: alps, aravis mountains, chamonix, col de tricot, domes de miage, glacier de bionassay, la chalette, le pontet, Les Contamines-Montjoie, les houches, miage valley, tmb, tour du mont blanc