From our itinerary:
Over Col de Tricot to the Chamonix Valley; overnight at Les Houches.
Today is a challenging day with plenty of ups and downs. From St Gervais we have a 10 min transfer to re-join our route before ascending to the Chalets de Miage (1560m – 5120ft). From here we take a trail that climbs steeply to the Col de Tricot (2119m – 6950ft) before descending very close to the snout of the Glacier de Bionnassay. Good views of the north side of the Mont Blanc Massif. Eventually we make another ascent to reach the Col de Voza (1652m – 5418ft) where we re-enter the Chamonix Valley and make our final descent to the village of Les Houches (993m - 3225ft). 8.5 hours walking time including breaks and lunch etc. 1200m – 3980ft up, 1370m – 4500ft down, but my watch said 4511 feet in elevation gain.
The weather held after some pretty bad thunderstorms during the night. This is good, because it was truly the hardest day of the trip.
We had a wonderful berry tart when we stopped for our snack.They had a great sign - no Wifi, put your phone away and talk with each other.
As we were leaving the place we stopped for a snack I saw a man with a 65 pound pack with a cat on the top. I really enjoyed seeing this!
Then the fun really started. As I looked up the Col du Tricot I couldn't see any people, much less a trail.
It was getting hot and I finally realized we were walking a switchback trail with no shade. It seemed like the uphill would never end. The sign said it would take 2 hours - it seemed like 3, but took me an hour and a half. Nothing to see, just a drudge and had to keep walking - shuffling ahead. Sue was following me at one point and I just decided it was time for a rest and I flopped over. Scared her half to death. To make matters more interesting, during the last quarter the bicycles started to come down.
The views were fabulous at the top!
Coming down after lunch I was ahead of the pack and I heard a thunderous rumble and crack coming from the glacier, but I couldn't see anything. You could see the poor slobs coming up the other side.
We could see the cog railroad taken by some in the group the day before.
There was also a swing bridge which was lots of fun and reminded me of EBC.
We took the cable car down from the Mont Blanc Stop, and, upon exiting we saw a herd of horses being driven along the road.
Les Houches appears to be the actual start (or end) of the TMB and we had pictures taken at the "official arch".
We had a huge room in the hotel with a wrap around balcony, 2 single beds and a set of bunk beds. The bathroom was new and looked very nice, although the shower got everything wet.
I had a lemoncello mixed with prosecco for an aparatif. Dinner was a Salad, chicken with
bacon and cheesy cream sauce with french fries and meringue glace.
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