Tour Du Mont Blanc Day 2 August 19, 2024 In an attempt to get some miles in before the heat of the day kicked in, we woke early on the second morning of our trip. We packed away tents damp with condensation in silence to avoid disturbing other walkers still deep in sleep. We had packed away, filled water bottles and powered through the first achy steps of the day by 5:30am. Still dark, we headed out of Les Chapieux as we saw the first signs of sunrise on the snowy peaks of the Mont Blanc massif ahead of us. We gradually ascended the valley, towards the Col Du Seigne, passing groups packing away that had decided to push on past the free campsite the night before. The paths climbed slowly, a welcome warm up after yesterday’s effort, but this didn’t last long. We turned perpendicular to the contour lines of the sleepy valley and zig-zagged towards the col. One of the benefits of setting of so early is that you can justify a break for proper coffee a couple of hours into the day. We cracked out the lightweight pour over coffee set up and set about heating up some water from the stream we’d settled next to. Spurred on by the hit of caffeine we made light work of the rest of the climb. At the summit we took some time to refuel and dry our damp tents in the morning sun. The Col Du Seigne marks the first international border on our route. Making sure to switch our Bonjours to Buongiornos, we headed into Italy. The second hill of the day was much less intimidating than the long ascent out of Les Chapieux, only requiring us to climb around 500m. We each settled into our own pace on the climb, slowly speading out. I found Ben plonked at the top, sheltering under his homemade sunshield, fashioned from two walking poles and his Hafren jacket. The descent into Courmayeur came in two parts. The first half, a lovely undulating walk along the top of the ridge, tracking along side the valley, slowly losing altitude. The second half arrived when we reached the ski area, a mixture of ski pistes and impossibly steep and dusty paths that snaked down into the town. After around 1,200m of descending, our knees were relieved to reach to flat ground of Courmayeur. After stocking up on food for the night and devouring a box off ice creams between us we were ready to set up camp for the night. With no camping options around the town, we made a short journey by bus to the closest campsite. We’d then get on the same bus to rejoin the trail the next morning. Hot showers on the campsite were a welcome surprise. We stripped off battered blisters plasters, rinsed dust covered legs and washed the clothes we’d been in for two days. Stats for the day: Distance: 33.54 km Elevation: 1,828 m Steps: 53,397 Elapsed time: 12:12:37 Cumulative stats: Distance: 71.84 km Elevation: 4,193 m Steps: 113,916 Elapsed time: 24:34:04
Tour Du Mont Blanc Day 2 August 19, 2024 In an attempt to get some miles in before the heat of the day kicked in, we woke early on the second morning of our trip. We packed away tents damp with condensation in silence to avoid disturbing other walkers still deep in sleep. We had packed away, filled water bottles and powered through the first achy steps of the day by 5:30am. Still dark, we headed out of Les Chapieux as we saw the first signs of sunrise on the snowy peaks of the Mont Blanc massif ahead of us. We gradually ascended the valley, towards the Col Du Seigne, passing groups packing away that had decided to push on past the free campsite the night before. The paths climbed slowly, a welcome warm up after yesterday’s effort, but this didn’t last long. We turned perpendicular to the contour lines of the sleepy valley and zig-zagged towards the col. One of the benefits of setting of so early is that you can justify a break for proper coffee a couple of hours into the day. We cracked out the lightweight pour over coffee set up and set about heating up some water from the stream we’d settled next to. Spurred on by the hit of caffeine we made light work of the rest of the climb. At the summit we took some time to refuel and dry our damp tents in the morning sun. The Col Du Seigne marks the first international border on our route. Making sure to switch our Bonjours to Buongiornos, we headed into Italy. The second hill of the day was much less intimidating than the long ascent out of Les Chapieux, only requiring us to climb around 500m. We each settled into our own pace on the climb, slowly speading out. I found Ben plonked at the top, sheltering under his homemade sunshield, fashioned from two walking poles and his Hafren jacket. The descent into Courmayeur came in two parts. The first half, a lovely undulating walk along the top of the ridge, tracking along side the valley, slowly losing altitude. The second half arrived when we reached the ski area, a mixture of ski pistes and impossibly steep and dusty paths that snaked down into the town. After around 1,200m of descending, our knees were relieved to reach to flat ground of Courmayeur. After stocking up on food for the night and devouring a box off ice creams between us we were ready to set up camp for the night. With no camping options around the town, we made a short journey by bus to the closest campsite. We’d then get on the same bus to rejoin the trail the next morning. Hot showers on the campsite were a welcome surprise. We stripped off battered blisters plasters, rinsed dust covered legs and washed the clothes we’d been in for two days. Stats for the day: Distance: 33.54 km Elevation: 1,828 m Steps: 53,397 Elapsed time: 12:12:37 Cumulative stats: Distance: 71.84 km Elevation: 4,193 m Steps: 113,916 Elapsed time: 24:34:04