Advertisement
Published: July 18th 2015
Edit Blog Post
Day 3 - OMG - What a very strenuous and tiring day! Our day started with us leaving Les Contamines by way of a car ride from the hotel owner to the beginning of the MBT trailhead at Notre-Dame de la Gorge. Of course what do I see ahead of us - nothing other than a very steep incline which I soon learned is the first of three we will have for the day (how lucky can I be - ha?) The steep path leads us through a wooded ravine on a Roman-laid slabs with a stream running along side. After reaching the stop of the steep incline the path eases for a while before we come to another incline (but not as steep) that brings us to an attractive chalet-style building where we fill up our water bottles with some of the sweetest tasting water I have ever had. Continuing on we have another climb and arrive at a nice area where we take a short break. After our break we are back on the what they call a "jeep track" that loops up the hillside before coming to a footpath that ascends steeply over rough ground with stony zigzags
until we reach a bluff with an electricity pylon. After leaving the pylon the trail has us crossing a couple of streams where the hillside is adorned with beautiful wildflowers. It is not long before we reach the 2nd steep incline that takes us to the passes of Col du Bonhomme and Col de la Coix du Bonhomme. The path has now become very stony with regions of scree along with streams draining across the path. After going through the pass at Col de la Coix du Bonhomme we come to the Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme where we stop for coffee and a tart to get us energized for the final steep incline that will takes us to the highest point on the Mont Blanc Trail. Once energized we begin the final steep incline for the day to Col des Fours which is the highest point on the trail at 2665 meters (8743 feet). After enjoying the views of Mont Blanc covered with snow and ice we begin the steep descent on a path of rocks and shale headed towards the basin of Plan des Fours. After descending for approximately 250 meters (820 feet), we cross a stream
and drop down into a gully. We continue our steep downward path that has us once again crossing a stream and then going through pastures with dairy cows and of course a rather large bull. We finally leave the pastures and are back on a road that takes us past the farm buildings where cheese is made. From this point it is only about another 30 minutes to Refuge Mottets where we will spend the night. I was never so glad when we finally reached the refuge as it had been a very long day - almost 9 hours of hiking and my feet were telling me it's time to get these boots off!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.038s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 22; dbt: 0.0178s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb