Tour du Mont Blanc Day 8: Guts, Rain, and a Grueling Climb

/ Villages et Station Arcs/

Tour du Mont Blanc Day 8: Guts, Rain, and a Grueling Climb

Saturday, July 19th, was, without a doubt, the hardest day of the entire trek. It was a day of pure grit, pushing through physical misery against a backdrop of dramatic, moody landscapes.

A Very Rough Start

The day began horribly. I woke up at 2 a.m. with what was likely a nasty case of food poisoning. By sunrise, my body had forcefully evicted everything I'd eaten the day before. On most TMB stages, a short bus or taxi ride could get you to the next town if you were in trouble. Unfortunately, Les Chapieux is incredibly remote. The only way out was a three-hour Uber ride or a 12-mile hike over a mountain pass. With no other good choice, we packed our bags and set off.

The Relentless Climb

We started somewhere wayyyyyy down there

The morning's task was to gain over 3,000 feet of elevation. I started at a crawl, feeling completely drained of energy. The only good news was that the weather, gray, cloudy, and cool, kept me from overheating. I don't remember much of the climb other than wanting to lie down and one stinky pen of sheep. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other. The views were still fantastic, so good that as we approached the Refuge I pulled out my real camera.

Reaching the Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme was a huge milestone. It meant the majority of the climbing was over. I even managed to approximate a smile for a photo. As we traversed from the refuge, a light rain began to fall, just enough to make us pause and put on our raincoats.

A Gut Punch and a Soaking Descent

3hrs and 50 minutes to go…

At the top of the pass, the trail sign delivered a bit of a gut punch. Our destination, Les Contamines, was still 3 hours and 50 minutes away. My only consolation was that it was all downhill from there. But the trail had one more challenge for us. The light rain turned into a steady downpour, the kind that soaks through all your gear in minutes.

Luckily, we were near another refuge where we could shelter under an awning and wait out the worst of the storm. After a short break and a small amount of lunch that I managed to keep down, the rain let up, and we set off to cover the final miles. Those last miles did not fly by. My body was ready to be done, and our packs felt twice as heavy from the soaking rain. Nina was super helpful and even carried my pack for a portion of the descent.

Finally, we made it. We arrived at our hotel in Les Contamines, and I have never been so happy to see a bed. I climbed in and immediately went to sleep.

Day 8 by the Numbers

A day that tested every bit of our physical and mental endurance.