It rained all night and right up till 6:30am, then the clouds broke and bits of blue sky were appearing as I went down to catch the 7:30a shuttle bus to la Ville des Glaciers which is where the TMB finally gets off the road and starts on trail. New snow on the mountains! It … Continue reading TMB Day 7: Les Chapieux > Combal

It was such a relief to see blue skies in the morning as I was serenaded to sleep by intermittent thunderstorms.  After a good continental breakfast at my hotel, many of us guests took the little shuttle bus to Notre Dame de la Gorge to start our hike.   Immediately it was right into the … Continue reading TMB Day 6: Les Contamines > Les Chapieux

It was a good call to hike yesterday as it rained through the night and intermittently today.  As it was a rest day I made a leisurely departure from my hotel and caught the bus back to Chamonix.  I window-shopped a bit then visited the Crystal Museum which was fascinating (thanks for the rec Misty!). … Continue reading TMB Day 5: Chamonix/Les Contamines 

Technically today was to be another day off to explore Chamonix and its surrounds but there’s foul weather coming thanks to x-Hurricane Erin so I decided to get up early and attempt tomorrow’s hike today.  Matters were complicated a bit by the fact I was changing hotels so I took the first bus of the … Continue reading TMB Day 4: Les Houches > Les Contamines

The extra mileage I did yesterday meant today became a day off.  I was a little creaky first thing getting up this morning so I enjoyed a lazy start of coffee in bed and catching up on the news. By 9:30am I was off to my morning’s appointment….. Parasailing! It was a perfect morning for … Continue reading TMB Day 3: Chamonix

What a day! Stairs. Steps, Ladders. Boulders, Rocks. Roots. Climbing. Complaining. Oops, did I type that out loud? My legs held up well for the first couple of hours of climbing, or should I say stair-stepping?, as right from the start it was nonstop going up rocky steps on the way to the infamous ladders … Continue reading TMB Day 2: Montroc > Chamonix

Well, we had some eager beavers set their alarm for 5:30a this morning. Although I had a private room the sound of alarms going off and people opening/closing bedroom doors all night to use the toilet permeated the thin walls easily. Luckily everyone went to bed right after dinner so plenty of sleep was to … Continue reading TMB Day 1: Trient > Montroc

My next adventure starts tomorrow! I’m hiking the Tour de Mont Blanc (the red loop above). Most people start the TMB in Chamonix or Les Houches but my original plan was to walk thru Switzerland on a Camino (the other red line) and hop on the TMB in Trient as it was the closest access … Continue reading TMB Day 0: Trient