Penultimate day of TMB:
I Get out of bed at 6 am to pack everything in the dark. We didn't manage to secure a private room in this hotel, and we were sharing the dorms with 7 other people. Not really an issue during the night, since I brought very good earplugs, but in the morning, it's a whole different story. You can't really switch on the lights since not everyone has an early departure, so you are forced to pack in the dark with the help on headlamps only, trying to sort out your stuff from others', all that making the least noise possible, to avoid waking up your fellow trekkers.
Once packing done, we move to the hotel dining room for breakfast, and Jeff checks his ankle. It has ballooned up even more since yesterday, and there is no chance he is hiking the whole way today. Actually, we had agreed on the eve that I would hike this leg on my own, and his ankle permitting. He would catch a bus to the nearest town close to the refuge, take the cable car/telesiege up the mountain and try to 'mini hike' it down to the refuge.
I still thought that was crazy, since despite his big guns supporting his weight through the trekking poles, he did lose balance and fell to the ground a couple of times during our descent (following injury) yesterday, luckily without consequence.
Tried to persuade him otherwise, but he was adamant that he we going to at least join me at the refuge.
My turn to prep my knee. The tight bandage strapping combined with the knee tube support was very effective at protecting my now fragile knees. However, the downside that was that it created lots of points of friction at the back of my knees, which in turn created lots of blisters their own. I protected those that were isolated with some plasters, but nothing could be done for the rest which were all lined along the crease line at the back of the knee. I would have to endure the slight burning sensation of the exposed blisters during the day. Bandaged the whole thing, slipped in the tube knee support, and I was good to go.
I gather the information Jeff needs for bus schedules, and then proceed with my leg of the hike. Until now, I had been led to believe that the toughest was behind us. That was before studied the route overnight, since I would be hiking alone. Today is actually one of these special combination days where we take 2 recommended legs, and squash them together!!!!
People who know me well know that my sense of orientation is virtually...virtual... … …, and this would be my first time self-guiding. I was understandably a little apprehensive.
I would also have to make sure I didn't fall too much behind schedule, as Jeff is usually the pace setter. I tend to stop for far too long to take pictures, and sweating to catch up to Jeff is usually gentle reminder enough to tame the picture taking.
Once packing done, we move to the hotel dining room for breakfast, and Jeff checks his ankle. It has ballooned up even more since yesterday, and there is no chance he is hiking the whole way today. Actually, we had agreed on the eve that I would hike this leg on my own, and his ankle permitting. He would catch a bus to the nearest town close to the refuge, take the cable car/telesiege up the mountain and try to 'mini hike' it down to the refuge.
I still thought that was crazy, since despite his big guns supporting his weight through the trekking poles, he did lose balance and fell to the ground a couple of times during our descent (following injury) yesterday, luckily without consequence.
Tried to persuade him otherwise, but he was adamant that he we going to at least join me at the refuge.
My turn to prep my knee. The tight bandage strapping combined with the knee tube support was very effective at protecting my now fragile knees. However, the downside that was that it created lots of points of friction at the back of my knees, which in turn created lots of blisters their own. I protected those that were isolated with some plasters, but nothing could be done for the rest which were all lined along the crease line at the back of the knee. I would have to endure the slight burning sensation of the exposed blisters during the day. Bandaged the whole thing, slipped in the tube knee support, and I was good to go.
I gather the information Jeff needs for bus schedules, and then proceed with my leg of the hike. Until now, I had been led to believe that the toughest was behind us. That was before studied the route overnight, since I would be hiking alone. Today is actually one of these special combination days where we take 2 recommended legs, and squash them together!!!!
People who know me well know that my sense of orientation is virtually...virtual... … …, and this would be my first time self-guiding. I was understandably a little apprehensive.
I would also have to make sure I didn't fall too much behind schedule, as Jeff is usually the pace setter. I tend to stop for far too long to take pictures, and sweating to catch up to Jeff is usually gentle reminder enough to tame the picture taking.
First part of the trek is the ascent of Col de la Balme, which takes me up sharp zig zags in the woods. Emerging out of the tree line I follow a narrow path on the side of the mountain, before coming up to a junction with a sign post. 2 arrows, both indicating Col de la Balme!!!wtf???
Lucky for me, there was a small group of 5 French trekkers that I had overtaken, just behind me, and they point me to the correct route. Both paths actually take you to Col de la Balme, but 1 of them goes through another col before doing so, and actually takes you almost a whole day just to complete!!!! Reach refuge du Col de la Balme, which lies just at the French-Swiss border about 20 minutes later. Check the time, and I'm more than half an hour ahead of schedule, so figured that I could take a break for a sandwich and a sprite.
Lucky for me, there was a small group of 5 French trekkers that I had overtaken, just behind me, and they point me to the correct route. Both paths actually take you to Col de la Balme, but 1 of them goes through another col before doing so, and actually takes you almost a whole day just to complete!!!! Reach refuge du Col de la Balme, which lies just at the French-Swiss border about 20 minutes later. Check the time, and I'm more than half an hour ahead of schedule, so figured that I could take a break for a sandwich and a sprite.
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| Hazy Morning... |
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| Refuge Du Col De la Balme Below... |
The lady in charge of the refuge is quite something. I would say that she's well into her 70s and that, to say it politely, she's got a huge personality!!! She would moan at clients' requests and be mean to them in general. Trekkers come in and out at different times, and order their drinks/snacks at different times. At some point, she had enough of it, and started having a go at one of the clients (none of them present at the time (except for me) could understand French). 'Vous auriez pu passer vos commandes ensemble non, au lieu de me faire faire des allers-retours incessants?' (You should have ordered your drinks together, instead of making me go back and forth endlessly), she angrily lashed out at at one of the clients. I had already been warned by Jeff about the lady, and was looking forward to witness her myself, and I wasn't disappointed. Such a blast!!!
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| Don't Piss her off...She'll Bite your head off...!!!! :P |
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| As Mean as she looks...:P |
To be fair, the old woman was fine with me, and she did seem mildly warmer to French speaking people. Ordered a Ham sandwich, sprite and a hot glass of water (for the coward man :P). Ham was really good, but the bread was so stale I nearly didn't eat the whole thing (LUCKY I DID...More below...). The only way to eat it was to have a sip of sprite with every bite!!!
Checked the time again, and I had already lost my buffer time, so move on. Follow the signs pointing to Col des Posettes, and again, the path seems to lead nowhere. I must have spent a good 45 minutes circling around to figure out the correct path, returning to the last seen sign, and trying to follow slight alternative routes, but none of them lead to conclusive paths!!! Other hikers join me, just as clueless... We even bumped into a group led by this french super speed medium mountain 'guide', who talked a WHOLE lot, only to point us to the wrong direction...!!! I would be worried if I was trekking with her...!!!!
Luck on our side, a hiker in the know showed us the correct route. The sign was pointing in the wrong direction again!!! And this time, I checked, it was not loose or anything. Now running late, I rush down to the Col des Posettes, followed by the ascent up Aiguilles des Posettes. Unfortunately, can't make up much ground since traffic had caught up, and the path was too narrow to overtake effectively.
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| Tre Les Champs Down there... |
The descent down Col des Posettes to Tre les Champs is just brutal!!! And I get overtaken by a group of 8 trekkers. Painfully force myself to stick to the end of the group till the bottom, at which point the group branches off to get some food and water. I carry on solo, since I still had plenty of water and cereal bars left (or so I thought!!!), and was already an hour behind schedule, and start the ascent of the 'Tete des vents'. After going up a good 30 minutes, no marking nor sign in sight, and I start questioning myself again. Slow down, take the guide book again and start analysing every direction and indication within, but I don't seem to have gone wrong anywhere. Soon after, I come across huge vertical rock walls (used by climbing schools) that were indicated in the book, so I march on.
Come across some climbers tackling what I think is L'Aiguille d'Argentiere, so I stop down to take pictures and chat with some of the climbers who have had a go at the peak already. Couple of mountain goats also show up. More pictures…
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| Leap of Faith...!!! Humongous Cohones...!!! |
From this point onwards, the mountain goes up steeply, and ladders, metal steps and other wooden footsteps have been installed, not to aid the ascent, but the climb!!!.
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Infamous Ladder section... |
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| View from up there must be out of this world... |
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| Mountain Goat typical of the alps... |
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| Don't look down...!!!:P |
Deliberately slowing down to conserve what little energy I have left, I manage to make it up La Tete aux Vents'. No view, since the clouds had moved in on us again…
From this point, the normal route goes down to La Flegere, a small mountain hut lower down through a gradual descent. But normal route? For us? You must be joking right? We had our refuge booked at le Lac Blanc (our highest refuge on our TMB standing at 2352m altitude), a variant of the TMB, which is more than 200m higher, on very rocky and treacherous terrain. From la Tete aux Vents, the only way to access is it via more ladders and wooden steps on the rock face. I think to myself 'there's no way Jeff can make it out here, guess I'll see him at Les Houches' (our final stop (and starting point) on the TMB).
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| Surprised to see a caterpillar on the summit of La tete des Vents...No butterflies or moths around though... |
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| Yeap, all the way up there is the refure...!!! |
When I questioned him on how he got there, he explained that there was another route from the telepherique higher up that bypassed all the steps and ladders sections, and that it took him almost 2 hours to get to the refuge. The lady in charge there, surprised by such an early arrival, told him off when she saw the ankle...!!!! Concerned, she however gave him gel painkillers and some ice to control the swelling, and had been very caring all day.
First things first, food and liquid!!!!! Problem is that they had already turned off all the stoves, and the cook was taking a break before prepping dinner. The initial response was initially, 'I'm really sorry, but the kitchen is closed, and all you can have now is some salad'... But then, realising what I had gone through and the condition I was in, she talked to the chef, a guy from Nepal, and 3 sunny side ups came my way soon thereafter, accompanied by slices of bread... best eggs ever...!!! Although the yolks were slightly overcooked... :P :P :P
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| Lifesaver Eggs |
Take my things for shower, and guess what again, forgot my brand new super duper micro fiber towel in the previous lodge!!!! Trying to be as discrete as possible, I had forgotten that I had hung the towel to dry on one if the wall hooks at the previous refuge. What is it with me and towels huh??? Had to use one if my clean t-shirts as towel...
Another interesting fact about this refuge is that there is no mains electricity, since it's too high and far from the main power distribution network. Everything is powered by solar during the day, and a small generator boosts up the power from 5 to 9.30 pm, after which, complete blackout.
Supplies are also heliported every 10 days and water is obtained by pumping it from the Lac Blanc (the lake is not white btw).
The refuge is meant to face the Mont Blanc as well, but we can't see that...!!!! Stupid clouds!!!
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| What used to be the bed a glacier...Blame Global Warming...!!!!! |
Dinner tonight:
Cheese with soup
Pork cheek slow cooked in wine (first time eating PiGgY cheeks, and they were delicious!!!!)
Poached Pear with melted chocolate and sliced almonds
Dinner over, some of the clouds covering the Mont Blanc had cleared, so I snap a couple photos before retreating to the dorms. I will be back early morning tomorrow...
Stats of the day:
21 kms
9 hours 45 mins hike time
6155 kcal burnt.
2630 metres ascent, 1503 m descent...!!!
https://www.
Trient 1279m
Col de la Balme 2191m
Col des Posettes 1997m
Aiguille des Posettes 2201m
Tre les Champ 1417m
Tete aux Vents 2132m
Refuge Lac Blanc 2352m
Melvyn Koa Wing meanie looking woman !
ReplyDelete3 September at 23:24 · Like
Kervyn Robert Koa Wing meanie woman...!!!
3 September at 23:25 via mobile · Like