Mont Blanc Circuit: survived

The Mont Blanc Circuit proved to be a great route, but hard work – harder than the trekking I’ve done in Nepal and Patagonia – mainly due to the daily up and the daily down. “Really, in the Alps Mary?” I hear you say…. We walked c166 km accumulating a total elevation gain of c9500m, which comes with a brutal balancing descent.

The highlights: the stunning wild flowers and, of course, the mountains. Just beautiful both. I took tons of photos* – no surprises there.

Tour du Mont Blanc - En route to Rifugio Elisabetta, Val Veny
Tour du Mont Blanc – En route to Rifugio Elisabetta, Val Veny
Tour du Mont Blanc - Meadow Flowers at Rifugio Elisabetta
Tour du Mont Blanc – Meadow Flowers at Rifugio Elisabetta

After a damp and cloudy first day the weather was hot and sunny right through until our departure day – which was much, much better than I’d expected. In fact, I could have done with more T shirts (or washing powder and a camping clothes line). The campsites were great – far better than expected. The ‘wilderness’ ones were, in fact, basic public campsites, while the ‘normal’ ones came complete with hot showers!

With a final rest day in Les Bossons / Chamonix on Friday and and easy journey home today (LHR passport control was a breeze – we spent longer waiting for our bags to arrive), my legs have just about recovered…. and it’s fantastic to have returned to find London en fête and in love with the Olympics.

A little bit sad that my new job means that’s my big travels done for this year.

* 1,701 in fact…

Mont Blanc Circuit: the final countdown

Well, the weather forecast isn’t looking too bad given the jet stream summer we’re having in the UK at present. Accuweather’s 25 day forecast for the fortnight we’re in the Chamonix-Mont Blanc area shows lots of sunny days (and throws in some realism in the shape of “a couple of showers”):

Accuweather's July 2012 forecast for Chamonix Mont Blanc
Accuweather’s July 2012 forecast for Chamonix Mont Blanc

I really like the Chamonix Weather, the Chamonix Mont Blanc tourist office’s weather page, too – particularly the graphical representation of the variation across altitude for today/tomorrow – but it only shows a 5 day forecast and I need a tad more crystal ball gazing to help fine tune my packing.

Talking of packing, I’ve treated myself to a new daypack: it’s a Lowe Alpine AirZone ND 32, women’s specific fit:

I bought a new daypack....

Mont Blanc Circuit: booked

This is a route that’s been in the back of my mind for a while, and the Exodus Leap Year offer tempted us (me and Hazel) into booking their Mont Blanc Circuit – http://www.exodus.co.uk/holidays/twb/overview – in July, which will see us hike and camp our way around the Tour du Mont Blanc, passing through France, Italy and Switzerland en route. The last time I was in this area was on a school trip in my third year, and I remember thinking how beautiful it was way back then.

It will be – I know – our first true trek in mainland Europe; we don’t always have to clock up massive amounts of airmiles to get to majestic mountains. I was really impressed to see that Exodus offer a ‘take the train’ alternative to flying to/from the trek’s start and end point in Chamonix – but the Eurostar leg is always a killer in the costings, so we’re flying.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Fly to Geneva; transfer to campsite at Les Bossons, near Chamonix.
Day 2: From Chamonix the route heads past Lac Blanc to Les Frasserands.
Day 3: Cross over Col de Balme to Switzerland and camp at Trient.
Day 4: Cross Col de Forclaz to Champex.
Day 5: Head up Val Ferret to La Fouly.
Day 6: Climb to Grand Col Ferret, the highest pass of the trek. Descend to Planpincieux.
Day 7: Rest day.
Day 8: Ascend to Monte de la Saxe, then steep descent to Courmayeur and on to Val Veny.
Day 9: Re-enter France across Col de la Seigne and through La Ville des Glaciers to Les Chapieux.
Day 10: Climb to Col de la Croix du Bonhomme and contour around to Col du Bonhomme.
Day 11: Rest day.
Day 12: Cross Col de Tricot and Col de Voza to re-enter Chamonix Valley and descend to village of Les Houches.
Day 13: Probably best views of Mont Blanc today as we make a long ascent to Brévent and then descend to Les Bossons.
Day 14: Free day at Les Bossons.
Day 15: Transfer to Geneva; fly to London.

(I’ve just been scrolling through the photos on http://www.exodus.co.uk/holidays/twb/images … get me to the mountains, now!)

Here’s hoping it’s as good at the Croatia: Islands & Mountains walking holiday we did through Exodus last summer.