TMB Day 2: Planpraz to Trient - June 2023
This day symbolized the start of our continuous 6 day hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc. We awoke in our hotel rooms at RockyPop Chamonix excited to embark on an adventure of unknowns and great challenge. Like the previous day, our hiking would require navigating our way to Planpraz, but first we left our luggage with the hotel, which would ultimately be picked up by Altitude Mont Blanc (our service for the week), and enjoyed one last breakfast before taking off.
Most of the details of getting to the starting point of Planpraz were addressed in the previous, Day 1 post, so I won’t go into details about how we got to the starting point here. This time, we started hiking clockwise, which is absolutely the minority decision. We quickly realized we would be crossing paths with other hikers all week and would not be contending with hikers catching us or us catching up to them. Regardless, we were on trail and this time, we would be continuously hiking along the trail for the next 6 days!
Logistics
We hiked following the AllTrails TMB Loop (with a minor detour) from mile marker 91.7 to mile marker 78.4 on this day. What should have been about 14 miles ended up being 18 miles and 4,500 feet of vertical gain for us. Our moving time for this day was 7.5 hours.
Hiking
The start of the hiking brought snow and vast views of the Massif. We saw much of the same that we had experienced the day prior while at elevation, but with such expansive views, no one was complaining. We took our time hiking in the beginning, knowing it would be a long day ahead. Our first stop for the day came at Les deux aigles where we enjoyed our first refuge stop. I ordered vanilla ice cream given the sunny and warm morning, and we took in the views while being entertained by the local dog grabbing snacks from inattentive hiker’s packs.
Les Deux Aigles. Our first of many refuge stops along the TMB
From here, we continued hiking for a few miles before reaching our first landmark, the Reserve Naturelle Aiguielles Rouges. Here the views really opened up and we started to see wildlife again as well! We saw a pair of Ibex right off of the trail, which resulted in possibly my best wildlife photo to date!
One of my favorite moments on trail. Nothing beats capturing wildlife in the mountains!
Continuing on, we started descending back into the valley. This descent occurred as the day started heating up and the trail got more technical. We also got lost for a period of time, before regaining our location and backtracking close to a half mile. At this point, group morale was low. It was hot, we had under prepared food, and we were not quite to the halfway point for our mileage for the day. To add to the situation, we would need to climb again in the heat, causing challenges with hydration, nutrition, and energy. Thankfully we no longer ran into logistic issues throughout the day, but there was a 2 hour stretch during this section where we all focused on the task at hand: forward progress.
We ultimately cleared out of the forest in the valley and back into the prairies as we reached altitude. Our target was the Col de Balme which separates France and Switzerland. With about 3 miles to go to the Col, the weather turned from hot and sunny to overcast and windy. We had little remaining water and food and felt as if the day would not end. We searched for water in an abandoned refuge to no avail. Finally, we needed to make a decision to break off the trail to an open Refuge and add a half mile to our mileage or press forward and hole the Col de Balme Refuge would be open. After discussing the tradeoffs with the group, we decided to press on, however shortly thereafter it started to rain on us as well. Needless to say, this was probably the most challenging moment of the 7 day trip and it occurred part way into Day 2!
Just before the rain came at our group’s breaking point.
Once it began to rain, we put our heads down with the goal of descending Col de Balme as soon as possible to avoid potential thunderstorms. Group morale was low, but we were fortunate to have found a reliable water source to at least refill our water for the immediate future. Thankfully, the Refuge was open as this really changed the overall sentiment within the group. We were able to grab some much needed nutrition, beverages, and a reprieve from the rain. In these moments it was interesting to notice just how important the little things can become on long days out hiking. Our group experienced a 180 degree swing, even if just for a few hours, by having full stomachs, warmth, and some optimism for the remainder of the hike.
The turning point for one of the more challenging days of the trip. This refuge provided what we needed most!
Finally, we made the long, arduous descent from Col de Balme into Trient. This started mirroring the previous ascent having first snow covered prairies, but ultimately requiring plenty of downhill in the forest below. We ended the day’s hike with about a mile of road walking into Trient and ultimately our final destination, the Auberge du Mont Blanc. To say we were beat is an under statement. We were very happy to arrive and rest our legs after quite the challenging day!
Accommodations
The Auberge du Mont Blanc provided WiFi, community dinner of fondue, and dorm-style lodging. We didn’t have a lot of time to shower up and prepare before dinner, as we ended up hiking from 9AM to 6PM. The community dinner and dorm-style sleeping arrangements were new to each of us in the group as well. We enjoyed spending time with the other hikers around the dinner table and learned a bit about the dorm experience. Fortunately, it would be one of two nights throughout the week where we needed to share accommodations with strangers, but we knew this would be part of the experience of the TMB, given the culture associated with refuge-to-refuge hiking.
Photos
All photos were taken with my phone at the time, which was the iPhone 12 Pro.
