The Tour du Mont Blanc is an absolute ball-tearer of a hike, but thoroughly rewarding every day.
At around 170km long and involving about 10,000m of both ascent and descent, walking through France, Italy and Switzerland, including rugged cols up to 2800m, and over 10 days of hiking, it is quite an experience.
A couple of the locals appear in the pics if you look closely - a marmot and an ibex sitting on their rocks and surveying their territory.
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This is a hike you need to be well prepared for. I had spent a month exercising at altitude in Colorado and had run the Boston marathon (albeit at a very slow pace) in the months prior, but a bout of bronchitis unraveled all that. It took until day 5 to get right. And by day 10 I was fitter than I’ve been in a while.
While the mountain scenery is breathtaking, the green valleys and woods are also incredibly beautiful. Beaufort cheese can be bought direct from the farmer.
Beyond the landscapes, one of the beauties of the Tour du Mont Blanc is that with 10 days of hard slog together, sharing a few beers at the end of the day, it brings people close. I was lucky enough to have an incredibly diverse, interesting and welcoming group to hike with and we became good friends.
This was one of those awe inspiring trips that will take a while to digest.
Where I slept: Hotel Heliopic: A great place to start and finish in Chamonix.
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