Training Log Archive: FunderstorminIn the 7 days ending Jul 15, 2023:
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Saturday Jul 15, 2023 #
Note
Post TMB Day 2 :-(
Kristen and I had a very long travel day home, finding out in the morning when we woke up that our first flight was delayed, making us miss our connection in Montreal where we would now have a 6 hour layover. We did our best to grin and bear it all, but it ended up being about 24 hours of travel to get home. I was very happy to sink into my own bed just after 1am!
This was such a great trip and one that is going to be hard to beat. I love Europe in general, but this was my first trip to France, Switzerland, and mainland Italy. Switzerland didn't make as much of an impression on me as the other two countries did, and I'm sure I'll find myself back in both Chamonix and Courmayeur again. I would love to take other friends on a "best of the TMB" route sometime, focusing on my favourite sections of the trail (likely from Les Contamines to La Fouly).
I also loved my first longer hiking vacation. We were really happy with the accommodations booked for us by this company, and the distances each day were perfect for allowing us still to have some time in town each evening to explore and socialize. There were lots of people doing the route in the same time frame as us, and we only met a few that were doing in it less. We were also super happy that we'd paid to have baggage transfer, as our light packs made the days much more enjoyable!
If I were to go back, I'd want to try at least one night in a mountain refuge (we chose all the upgrades suggested by the company to avoid this), and would certainly spend more time going up long, long climbs. Many of our climbs lasted 2-4 hours, and I was not mentally prepared for that, although the difference in my heart rate on the climbs from the beginning to the end of the hike was significant as I figured out my perfect pace. That said, all of our bodies held up really well, especially compared to some of the videos we watched where people's knees were so destroyed that they were walking backwards down the hills! I came home with a couple of blisters and some awkward tan lines, but that's about it! My achilles were both really sore by the end of each day (and often at the start), but it never felt like they were going to be an issue. I took two pairs of shoes with me, but wore the same pair (Salomon Sense Ride) every day. The only other things I'd do differently is spend a bit more time in Champex Lac, compare our routes to the traditional TMB (ours deviated from it a few times), and perhaps not drink white wine right before bed so many evenings, as it often affected my sleep!
I am tremendously grateful for having had this experience with such a wonderful group of friends!
Kristen and I had a very long travel day home, finding out in the morning when we woke up that our first flight was delayed, making us miss our connection in Montreal where we would now have a 6 hour layover. We did our best to grin and bear it all, but it ended up being about 24 hours of travel to get home. I was very happy to sink into my own bed just after 1am!
This was such a great trip and one that is going to be hard to beat. I love Europe in general, but this was my first trip to France, Switzerland, and mainland Italy. Switzerland didn't make as much of an impression on me as the other two countries did, and I'm sure I'll find myself back in both Chamonix and Courmayeur again. I would love to take other friends on a "best of the TMB" route sometime, focusing on my favourite sections of the trail (likely from Les Contamines to La Fouly).
I also loved my first longer hiking vacation. We were really happy with the accommodations booked for us by this company, and the distances each day were perfect for allowing us still to have some time in town each evening to explore and socialize. There were lots of people doing the route in the same time frame as us, and we only met a few that were doing in it less. We were also super happy that we'd paid to have baggage transfer, as our light packs made the days much more enjoyable!
If I were to go back, I'd want to try at least one night in a mountain refuge (we chose all the upgrades suggested by the company to avoid this), and would certainly spend more time going up long, long climbs. Many of our climbs lasted 2-4 hours, and I was not mentally prepared for that, although the difference in my heart rate on the climbs from the beginning to the end of the hike was significant as I figured out my perfect pace. That said, all of our bodies held up really well, especially compared to some of the videos we watched where people's knees were so destroyed that they were walking backwards down the hills! I came home with a couple of blisters and some awkward tan lines, but that's about it! My achilles were both really sore by the end of each day (and often at the start), but it never felt like they were going to be an issue. I took two pairs of shoes with me, but wore the same pair (Salomon Sense Ride) every day. The only other things I'd do differently is spend a bit more time in Champex Lac, compare our routes to the traditional TMB (ours deviated from it a few times), and perhaps not drink white wine right before bed so many evenings, as it often affected my sleep!
I am tremendously grateful for having had this experience with such a wonderful group of friends!
Friday Jul 14, 2023 #
Note
Post TMB Day 1 :-(
It was a sad morning as we had to leave Chamonix fairly early for a shuttle to Geneva. We had breakfast with one of our fellow hiking groups and then made our way to Geneva. From there, Kristen and I spent the day in Geneva while Meredythe and Alisha took a train to Paris.
Kristen and I enjoyed our day in Geneva, but both agreed that we wouldn't feel the need to go back. We walked around old town Geneva, and then did a lake tour with wine tasting in the afternoon. We'd take a line up of hikers on an ascent over the busy traffic of the city any day!
It was a sad morning as we had to leave Chamonix fairly early for a shuttle to Geneva. We had breakfast with one of our fellow hiking groups and then made our way to Geneva. From there, Kristen and I spent the day in Geneva while Meredythe and Alisha took a train to Paris.
Kristen and I enjoyed our day in Geneva, but both agreed that we wouldn't feel the need to go back. We walked around old town Geneva, and then did a lake tour with wine tasting in the afternoon. We'd take a line up of hikers on an ascent over the busy traffic of the city any day!
Thursday Jul 13, 2023 #
Trekking/Hiking 5:48:00 [3]
TMB Day 10 - Argentiere to Chamonix
So hard to believe it was our last day! We really enjoyed the breakfast at the fancy hotel and at this point, we had lots of people to chat with every morning. We headed out of Argentiere with a big climb up to Chalet des Cheseyrs. From there, we were supposed to go to Lac Blanc on a variant, but we it had been cloudy and rainy all morning and we knew that there would not be any of the spectacular views that the notes promised. With an important paragliding appointment to make (for everyone but me!) at the end of the day, we chose to head straight to Flegere instead. We had a lunch break at Flegere and then headed along another balcony route (unfortunately with limited views this time) towards Plan Praz, where we had started 10 days ago!
Kristen had presented the idea of finishing the hike by paragliding down to Chamonix, and everyone was keen to do this except for me! We all got a bit emotional as we saw Plan Praz come into view, and there were some tears and hugs before we had a celebratory beer before the paragliding pilots showed up. I took photos and videos of the girls taking off then took the cable car back down to meet them.
This day passed all too quickly, but we found the time for a celebratory bottle of prosecco on our balcony overlooking Chamonix, a delicious dinner in town, and then another celebration with our Australian friends to round out the night.
Stats for the day were about 14km, with 1380m of ascent and 633m of descent.
So hard to believe it was our last day! We really enjoyed the breakfast at the fancy hotel and at this point, we had lots of people to chat with every morning. We headed out of Argentiere with a big climb up to Chalet des Cheseyrs. From there, we were supposed to go to Lac Blanc on a variant, but we it had been cloudy and rainy all morning and we knew that there would not be any of the spectacular views that the notes promised. With an important paragliding appointment to make (for everyone but me!) at the end of the day, we chose to head straight to Flegere instead. We had a lunch break at Flegere and then headed along another balcony route (unfortunately with limited views this time) towards Plan Praz, where we had started 10 days ago!
Kristen had presented the idea of finishing the hike by paragliding down to Chamonix, and everyone was keen to do this except for me! We all got a bit emotional as we saw Plan Praz come into view, and there were some tears and hugs before we had a celebratory beer before the paragliding pilots showed up. I took photos and videos of the girls taking off then took the cable car back down to meet them.
This day passed all too quickly, but we found the time for a celebratory bottle of prosecco on our balcony overlooking Chamonix, a delicious dinner in town, and then another celebration with our Australian friends to round out the night.
Stats for the day were about 14km, with 1380m of ascent and 633m of descent.
Wednesday Jul 12, 2023 #
Trekking/Hiking 7:00:00 [3]
TMB Day 9 - Trient to Argentiere
It was so hard to believe that this was going to be our second to last day of hiking! There were some big thunderstorms in the evening and an initially yucky forecast for the day which sparked lots of conversations at the hotel about what to do. Some groups were skipping the day entirely, while others were waiting until later in the morning to head out. We left during an optimistic looking weather window and the weather was no issue during the day. In fact, after many days of hot sun, the clouds were quite welcome!
The day started with a long ascent out of town up to Col du Balme, where we would cross back into France. There was a cute refugio at the top where we all enjoyed some snacks! We then descended towards Argentiere where our notes had us do another ascent up and over Aiguillette des Posettes, which had lovely views, but since it wasn't on the TMB, felt a bit unnecessary by the end of the day! We then had a very big descent down into Argentiere, where we stopped for ice cream before heading to our hotel.
Because one of the standard hotels that the company uses was being renovated, we got upgraded to the four star Les Grand Montets, which was a welcome change from the previous night's hotel in Trient! It was beautiful and I wish we'd had more time to spend there, but we did find time to visit the hot tub and steam room before passing many hours at the bar for drinks and dinner. As we were heading up to our rooms at the end of the night, we got convinced to head back to the bar with a group of Australians we'd really enjoyed chatting with, so the night ended up being a bit on the later side!
I accidentally reset my watch partway through the day but we had about 20km on our watches by the end of the day, and our notes suggest about 1125m of ascent and 1140m of descent.
It was so hard to believe that this was going to be our second to last day of hiking! There were some big thunderstorms in the evening and an initially yucky forecast for the day which sparked lots of conversations at the hotel about what to do. Some groups were skipping the day entirely, while others were waiting until later in the morning to head out. We left during an optimistic looking weather window and the weather was no issue during the day. In fact, after many days of hot sun, the clouds were quite welcome!
The day started with a long ascent out of town up to Col du Balme, where we would cross back into France. There was a cute refugio at the top where we all enjoyed some snacks! We then descended towards Argentiere where our notes had us do another ascent up and over Aiguillette des Posettes, which had lovely views, but since it wasn't on the TMB, felt a bit unnecessary by the end of the day! We then had a very big descent down into Argentiere, where we stopped for ice cream before heading to our hotel.
Because one of the standard hotels that the company uses was being renovated, we got upgraded to the four star Les Grand Montets, which was a welcome change from the previous night's hotel in Trient! It was beautiful and I wish we'd had more time to spend there, but we did find time to visit the hot tub and steam room before passing many hours at the bar for drinks and dinner. As we were heading up to our rooms at the end of the night, we got convinced to head back to the bar with a group of Australians we'd really enjoyed chatting with, so the night ended up being a bit on the later side!
I accidentally reset my watch partway through the day but we had about 20km on our watches by the end of the day, and our notes suggest about 1125m of ascent and 1140m of descent.
Tuesday Jul 11, 2023 #
Trekking/Hiking 5:23:00 [3]
TMB Day 8 - Champex-Lac to Trient
The group split up today with Kristen and Meredythe opting for the more challenging Fenetre D'Arpete variant and Alisha and I being content to do the regular "Bovine" route!
Our day started with a nice descent that we shared with an American group that were with the same company and on the same itinerary with us. We then started a long, but mostly shaded climb up to Alpage Bovine, where we met the very friendly Herens cows that were promised in our notes Today was the day where I finally felt I was able to find my climbing legs and rhythm where I could climb steadily without getting my heart rate too high.
After we left the Alpage, we had a bit more climbing before a long descent to Col de la Forclaz, and then down into Trient.
We all agreed that Trient was our least favourite town, and that we'd been spoiled by some of the others! Trient was small, and the hotel was more like a hostel. We did have some great conversations with the other hikers, mostly about the weather for the following day, as it was looking pretty grim!
Stats for the day were about 16.5km, with 970m of ascent and 1164m of descent.
The group split up today with Kristen and Meredythe opting for the more challenging Fenetre D'Arpete variant and Alisha and I being content to do the regular "Bovine" route!
Our day started with a nice descent that we shared with an American group that were with the same company and on the same itinerary with us. We then started a long, but mostly shaded climb up to Alpage Bovine, where we met the very friendly Herens cows that were promised in our notes Today was the day where I finally felt I was able to find my climbing legs and rhythm where I could climb steadily without getting my heart rate too high.
After we left the Alpage, we had a bit more climbing before a long descent to Col de la Forclaz, and then down into Trient.
We all agreed that Trient was our least favourite town, and that we'd been spoiled by some of the others! Trient was small, and the hotel was more like a hostel. We did have some great conversations with the other hikers, mostly about the weather for the following day, as it was looking pretty grim!
Stats for the day were about 16.5km, with 970m of ascent and 1164m of descent.
Monday Jul 10, 2023 #
Trekking/Hiking 4:06:28 [3]
TMB Day 7 - La Fouly to Champex Lac
Our notes for the day described this as 'almost a rest day,' but none of us really found it to be that way! Unlike most of the previous days, today did start with a lovely, long forested descent which eventually came out to a very cute pop-up stand where we had ice cream and drinks. We then went through a couple of idyllic Swiss villages before starting the ascent up to Champex-Lac.
We did arrive early enough in Champex-Lac to enjoy a couple of hours swimming and drinking beers by the lake, which many of our fellow hikers were also doing. This was a super cute town that we all agreed we'd like to spend more time in.
Stats for the day were about 14.5km, 667m of ascent, and 796m of descent.
Our notes for the day described this as 'almost a rest day,' but none of us really found it to be that way! Unlike most of the previous days, today did start with a lovely, long forested descent which eventually came out to a very cute pop-up stand where we had ice cream and drinks. We then went through a couple of idyllic Swiss villages before starting the ascent up to Champex-Lac.
We did arrive early enough in Champex-Lac to enjoy a couple of hours swimming and drinking beers by the lake, which many of our fellow hikers were also doing. This was a super cute town that we all agreed we'd like to spend more time in.
Stats for the day were about 14.5km, 667m of ascent, and 796m of descent.
Sunday Jul 9, 2023 #
Trekking/Hiking 5:05:51 [3]
TMB Day 6 - Chalet Val Ferret to La Fouly
Like many days, this one started with a lot of climbing, up first to the Refugio Elena, where we stopped for coffee, then up a long climb to Grand Col Ferret, which marked the Italian / Swiss border. It was a hot day and we had a long descent to La Peule, where we made another stop, and then onto La Fouly, which was a cute little town to spend a night.
By now, we were getting to know our fellow trekkers who were on the same itinerary was us, and it was fun to swap stories about the day each evening.
Stats for the day were 843m of ascent and 1013m of descent.
Like many days, this one started with a lot of climbing, up first to the Refugio Elena, where we stopped for coffee, then up a long climb to Grand Col Ferret, which marked the Italian / Swiss border. It was a hot day and we had a long descent to La Peule, where we made another stop, and then onto La Fouly, which was a cute little town to spend a night.
By now, we were getting to know our fellow trekkers who were on the same itinerary was us, and it was fun to swap stories about the day each evening.
Stats for the day were 843m of ascent and 1013m of descent.