Monday, July 18, 2022
Tour du Mont Blanc – Day 8
Hotel Mont Lac to Refuge le Peuty
Starting elevation: 1,466 m
Ending elevation: 1,279 m
Elevation gain: 795 m
Elevation loss: 982 m
Distance: 9.9 miles
Alp Bovine: 1,974 m
Col de la Forclaz: 1,526 m
Today was the ultimate shit show. Sorry, moms and dads, today’s blog is not for kids.
We woke up to the news that somehow our four-night reservation in Chamonix had been canceled. I tried calling and emailing the hotel, but English over the phone with a French person left a lot to be desired. I made no headway.
So at breakfast, I explained to Pat and Andrew our hiccup. Pat and Andrew are booked at the same hotel as us, and our luggage transfer will be bringing our bags there after the trek, but it’s all contingent on the group leader’s name. That would be me. There must be a reservation in my name at all places that our bags go, otherwise, the bags could be rejected. Deep breath.
So Pat offered to call and speak to the hotel in French, and after breakfast, we got it all sorted out. But the whole conundrum made for a later than usual start.
Add to that, today might be our last day with Wi-Fi, and while in Chamonix, we all want to see the Aguille du Midi, which requires a reservation. So we huddled on the patio of our hotel, buying tickets and making reservations.
When we were finally done sorting out the hotel and the other tourist website reservation hassles, we set off down the road to find the bakery, so we could buy stuff for a sack lunch. When we finally got on the road it was nearly 10.
Today was supposed to be nearly 1,000 meters up and 1,000 meters down, and I think we were all surprised by how hard it was, though I’m not sure why. The first bit was rather easy, gentle ups and downs, but before too long we were sluggishly slogging uphill. It was hot, humid beyond our limits, with no breeze, and we were in the sun. And it wasn’t even noon. We continued uphill, baking in the sun, for an interminable amount of time. Pat and Andrew took a brief break in the shade, but Nathan and I kept going. Up, up, up in the baking sun. Past blueberries in the sun, a stream, up, up, up. Nathan and I had a snack and kept going, for what seemed like ages. Just about the top, I was done with being in the sun, and I changed from my t-shirt to my long sleeve sun shirt. I started eating my bakery-prepared sandwich and hiking up to the restaurant at Alp Bovine.
But first, we needed to battle through a herd of cattle. Were they friendly? Not sure, but they were nearly blocking the path with horns pointed in our direction. I just trudged on through, with hiking poles if I should need them as a defensive weapon, while Nathan was more timid.
We made it to the restaurant, and it was ridiculously busy. Like easily 4x the number of people there than at any of our other stops. I was super annoyed. So Nathan and I kept going.
We were on the downhill now, and surely trees and shade were in front of us. A little ways down, Nathan suggested we eat our hard-boiled eggs.
Down, down, down some more, and we reached Col de la Forclaz. The gift shop sold ice cream bars, so we each got one, and a few stickers and set off to the refuge.
Initially, I was a bit disappointed and put off by the refuge and our yurt. I think it was just the contrast between the luxury of Hotel Mont Lac and our cozy, rustic yurt. The staff was exceptionally friendly, and the food was a gourmet 5-course meal. The bathrooms were clean and we were quite happy.
