Mont Blanc

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Day 6 - July 19, 2015 - Courmayeur, Italy to Refuge Bonatti, Italy



They are calling for rain today so hopefully we will be able to make it to Refuge Bonatti before the rain starts. We started the day by making our way from our hotel to the elevated square in front of the church and then proceeded to walk up a narrow street which becomes the Strada del Villair. As we walked on the street it eventually took us out of Courmayeur going past some homes with very nice gardens. We then proceed walking up a gentle slope between some more homes to reach the upper part of Villair where the metalled street becomes unsurfaced. Continuing on the unmade road we reached a footpath that took us through a forest which soon brought us back onto the road. It's not long before we reach the MBT trail where we climb through the forest on some very steep zigzags to reach the Rifugio Giorgio Bertone where we stopped to have a cup of coffee. On the trail to Rifugio Giorgio Bertone we went by a gentlemen sitting on the side of the trail who did not appear to be doing very good. As we were leaving Rifugio Giorgio Bertone we saw the rescue helicopter approach the side of the mountain we had just climbed up and later learned the gentlemen we saw on the path unfortunately had a heart attack and did not survive. Leaving Rifugio Giorgio Bertone the MBT trail took us on a nice hike around the side of the mountain before we had a short steep climb to our night's accommodations at Refuge Bonatti. My bed for the night was in the big dormitory room that consisted of 7 beds on one side and another 7 beds on the other side. All the beds were taken except the one right next to me which I was so thankful for. Really got lucky as there were at least 8 men in the dormitory as it is unisex and only one of them snored which wasn't too bad. It definitely was an experience staying in the dormitory at the refuge and not something I want to do again very soon. As the old saying goes - not my cup of tea! FYI - we did make it to the Refuge Bonatti before it did rain.

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Comments

[Bob Ferguson]

Blog
Whew!! We had a night like that at an elephant camp in Thailand once. It is indeed something you only want to do once.

[Harlan]

Metalled roads, Sick hiker and Dormitory Sleeping
Jo, Ask Lauren, Pat, Norma, and Patty Ko about dormitory sleeping on the Milford Track! Lauren was forces to spend on night in the same dorm as the three women. Metalled roads was the term we first heard in England on the Coast 2 Coast. Sad about the hiker; was he conscious when you passed him? How did your guide react to this situation? Enjoying following your hike. We are now in the under 30 days count down.

[Luv2Walk]

Mont Blanc
Harlan -- My guide did nothing as we really didn't realize he was in that bad of shape. We both just thought we was struggling but was going to be fine once he got his breath, etc back. Really sad. The thing I didn't understand was he was with a group that had a guide and his guide nor anyone else was with him. According to Joy she stated when the helicopter is sent out to rescue someone on the mountain there is an investigation as to what happened which can include asking the other people in the group and the guide. The guide is responsible for the people in his group and Joy said when you are in Italy and there is a fatality they treat it like it was murder until the investigation is completed.