The Tour du Mont Blanc between Courmayeur, Italy and the Refuge Des Mottets, in France.

Waking up early in Courmayeur, we opted to skip breakfast again given it opened at 8AM and we had a big climb ahead of us. We knew we would have one last challenging day for the week and wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to navigate the day. Thankfully, the 6,000+ feet of vertical gain was broken up into two sections, and the early start made for quite possibly the best day on the TMB of the entire trip!

Logistics

We hiked following the AllTrails TMB Loop from mile marker 40.3 to mile marker 26.1 on this day. We accumulated over 6,000 feet of vertical gain over roughly 16 miles. Our moving time was just about 6.5 hours. This represented our first shorter day in a while, but we paid for it in reaching our single day record in vertical gain!

Hiking

The most challenging part of our day would prove to be the first 3 miles. We needed to ascend quickly out of Courmayeur and back up into the prairies adjacent to the Massif. This was probably the most challenging 3 mile stretch for me of the entire loop as it was very steep and my legs were heavy. Thankfully, we took this section slow and stopped at Gite Le Randonneur du Mont Blanc and Rifugio Maison Vielle for morning coffee and extended breaks. We knew we would be leaving Italy and really wanted to capitalize on the last cappuccinos for the trip!

A very welcomed break after finishing the hardest stretch of the entire TMB.

After finishing up our second break, we quickly ascended into alpine territory with immaculate views of the Massif. Unlike the day prior, these views were unobstructed and offered the greatest perspective to the magnitude of the range. Not only that, but the Italian side brought us so much closer than the French side. We really felt like we were next to the mountains and for us, it was the highlight of our hike!

After spending some time taking in the breathtaking views, we started our descent back into the valley. Today would require two major ascents of around 3,000 feet and we had accomplished the first. Upon reaching the valley floor, we were astonished by the open landscape and took some time to reflect on the history of this region. In ancient roman times, the path we would be walking was used as a means for transportation between Italy and France either for war or transporting goods. This added perspective really set in as we made a gradual ascent towards Rifugio Elizabetta, our chosen lunch stop for the day. The clouds created a picturesque atmosphere and a distant waterfall really lifted the overall experience of this section of the day’s hike. Before we knew it, we had arrived at the Rifugio, where we enjoyed paninis and an Italian dessert, before deciding it was time to take on our Col for the day, the Col de la Seigne, separating Italy and France.

Our view as we “did as the romans had done” and marched on towards the Col de la Seigne

Fortunately, this ascent was less steep than the initial ascent of the day, and the lunch stop helped to break up the elevating gain into manageable chunks. It didn’t take us long to arrive at the border between Italy and France, however it did signify a personal milestone for each of us, as our watches proved we had ascended over 6,000 feet by this point. Our legs knew it, but our minds were consumed by the panoramic views of the mountains and the prairies below. Additionally, we were overjoyed to see the upcoming descent was not steep or technical like the day prior!

We had been making great time throughout the day and knew we would arrive at our final destination the Refuge Des Mottets with plenty of time to spare. At this point, our mood was very positive and the pressure of the week had really lifted knowing the remainder of today and the final two days would be manageable. It was at this point that I started to believe I would finish the trail and the hardest part was behind us.

We had one final obstacle to contend with, before we could put our feet up for the day. A river crossing required some planning as the flow was strong and there was no bridge at our disposal. After taking some time to think through the safest and best option, we decided we would be getting our feet wet in lieu of trying to connect a rock path or make a “leap of faith”. After passing through, the remainder of the hiking was smooth, and because we were descending in a prairie landscape, we were able to spot our final destination, which only motivated us more to conclude the day’s hiking!

Accommodations
Refuge Des Mottets is a very rustic refuge at the start of the valley after Col de la Seigne (when hiking clockwise). With plenty of time today, we enjoyed early showers, a second lunch, and some relaxing time in the sun before community dinner to follow. At dinner time, we shared our table with a group from Texas that was traveling together. A few mothers in the group sat next to us and made sure we had enough food as the table shared the night’s cuisine of salad, soup, and beef roast. To top things off, we finished the meal with creme brûlée and one of the refuge workers played a traditional alpine instrument for us, which had the entire room elated to hear local music and experience a cultural phenomenon together. Upon finishing our meal, we made our way to our “dorm” for the night which appeared to be an old barn, but fortunately for us, having arrived early, we were able to negotiate our own partition of the barn to minimize disruptions throughout the night. It was honestly an experience I will never forget, and warrants its own set of photos to really reflect on!