Tour du Mont Blanc: Days 7 & 8

Day 7 (3 Aug): La Fouly to Champex (9 miles, 1,500 feet ascent, 2,000 feet descent)

We have the breakfast times wrong, arriving at the communal table for 7:30, with Hayley and Rhys still snoozing in their room. At 7:50, the no-nonsense proprietress gestures to the two empty seats and asks if les enfants are skipping breakfast, which finishes in 10 minutes, prompting an urgent message on the family WhatsApp channel. They appear in a flash. Needless to say, we outstay our welcome.

The quiet morning trail winds along the left bank of La Dranse de Ferret, tumbling down the valley.

France and Italy both provide portaloos along the trail, but only the efficient Swiss include the distance to the next one.

Jude is uncomfortable with heights and steep slopes, reluctant to pose on a narrow chain-linked section.

This is strange: a raised earthen path, the forest falling away steeply on both sides. Is it man-made?

A rustle in the trees — freeze. After some time, a red squirrel appears and, for a brief moment, stops scampering round the trunk and branches.

The TMB has frequent freshwater supplies. Hayley takes the opportunity to cool down.

We explore narrow lanes through pretty hamlets, many homes displaying collected stones and wood, some more scary than others.

There’s a tough climb at the end of the day. It’s hard to believe a lake is hidden 4,800 feet up in the trees, but sure enough, a beautiful alpine lake appears: Lac de Champex. Our apartment in the Hotel Mont has a beautiful view from the balcony.

After the important task of stocking up the fridge with cold beers, we head out to sit by the lake, cooling our feet in the water, before retiring as a thunderstorm sweeps in, painting over the blues with grey and black. Someone bravely swims the entire length of the lake in the rain.

Time for cards, Rhys teaching us how to play cambio. It’s a lot of fun, but my memory is bad enough without beer to befuddle me.

Day 8 (4 Aug) – Champex to Le Peuty (11 miles, 2,600 feet ascent, 3,000 feet descent)

With Jude’s aversion to exposed heights and Hayley still feeling less than 100%, we skip the Fenêtre d’Arpette scrambling variant and enjoy the scenery.

There’s still plenty of gruelling climbing in the heat.

A slight haze in the valleys reminds me of the wildfire smoke in the Canadian Rockies.

A suspended walkway is not everyone’s favourite moment.

Refuge de la Peuty has a large campsite filled with a sea of tents. We are in a dome yurt, the closest Jude will come to camping. The campers use portacabin showers and form a very long orderly queue, sitting on wooden logs. The wait must be over an hour. In their place, I’d rather hike down the river for ten minutes and bathe in the icy water.

Strong winds, rain, and lightning are forecast tonight, and a heavy tarpaulin must be hauled across the roof skylight and secured by ropes. Returning from the showers, Rhys has covered the skylight, but as the wind gusts, the tarpaulin begins to lift at one edge. This does not bode well. I take the plunge and head outside into the rain to try and pull the ropes tighter. I did practice various camping knots a couple of years ago, but I’ve forgotten them, so a rather Heath Robinson series of knots will have to suffice. Fingers crossed.