Advertisement
Published: September 10th 2015
Lately, I've have writers block; I realize it is an odd thing to say when you are blogging about adventure and travel and funky things you see; but I can’t seem to put it on paper lately and have been struggling, while relaxing in Nice.
I have a feeling it has more to do with Mount Blanc than anything. After Nepal I learned that you leave a piece of your soul on a trek (or at least I do) and often it's hard to express the moments and events that took place to get you from A to B. Do you talk about one foot in front of the other over and over? Questioning every single thing you put in your backpack that now is part of you and making each step heavier. How do you talk about the growing pain in your ‘good knee’ or the pinky toe that has become a living entity of a blister all on it’s own, without sounding like whining? Even trying to explain the difference between ‘flat-up’; ‘up-up’ and ‘just fucking-up' and ‘down’, ‘flat-down’ and ‘down-down’ sounds odd if you were not there with me.
But all of that can
be a part of any trek, and while you hope and pray you don’t have ‘health’ challenges, you pack (moleskin, Band-Aids, polysporin, bum stoppers and bum goers!) for the worst and hope for the best. I’ve eaten all my ibuprofen and most of Michele’s as well now, finished off all my Band-Aids and bought more, and I still have some swelling in my knees that is causing me grief. Now that my blisters are healing the fresh baby skin on my toes is super sensitive to walking; so I’m once again covering them in Band-Aid’s and walking with a slight limp by the end of a long day.
But oddly enough: I would do it again. I had an option to skip the ‘down’ portion of the last day (700 M) and take a cable car and a bus; but I didn’t. I literally limped with pain down for the last 2 hours, stunned by the beauty of the view (often missed due to clouds) whining in my head, but knowing I couldn’t let the mountain ‘beat me’. I had come this far, and even Michele said; You’ve already done 7 days of trekking, is 2 hours
going to put you over the edge or will you pissed because you didn’t complete the last 2 hours? I walked. In pain, and stubbornness, because, well that’s what you do. YOU beat the mountain.
I don’t mean to make it sound painful and unpleasant; there is so much beauty, mystery and pleasure in doing these treks; it’s hard to express in words if you have not done one yourself. The feeling of not knowing what is going to be around the corner on a switchback, or the awe on your face when you do turn that corner and have a spectacular view of a glacier, or a mountain peak, or a beautiful waterfall. Or turning around and seeing just how far you have come up in the last 3 hours, and bursting with pride thinking “I so got this!”
Soaking your overheated feet in a glacier stream, wiggling your toes with happiness and a goofy grin on your face. Enjoying a fresh lunch afterwards in green grass with the waterfall trickling nearby with no other humans around. Seeing this spectacular tiny mountain hut on top of a mini-summit that you know will be
home for the evening. Those are the moments I relish; I love and I struggle through the bad times to experience the good; and truth be told; the good far out weight the bad.
Ask me again in a month about this and I will babble endlessly about how AWESOME it was, and how it was the BEST TRIP EVER, and how the views were SENSATIONAL and I’m so thankful I did it. We tackled over 140 km (distances vary by route and GPS) in 7 days with approximately 6000 metres of elevation gain AND loss in total, with one day off. Up a valley, down a valley, sleep, repeat. Our highest point was only 8,500 feet but at times the elevation (and view) literally took our breath away. Blisters? What blisters :-)
More to come (perhaps) when the time is right; but for now, these 700 words will have to do, and hopefully the 20 odd photos below will do some of the trek justice. I hope you enjoy a few of the (yet to be edited) photos below.....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.389s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 8; qc: 58; dbt: 0.0971s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Cathy McMurrich
non-member comment
Glad to hear it was such a good trip - despite the blisters! And no lost clothing? Looking forward to further details.