August 25

August 25:  Refuge des Mottets to La Visaille

Today offers an easier trek, beginning with a short climb to the Col de la Seigne, where you can enjoy breathtaking views as you straddle the border between France and Italy.  After a spectacular descent alongside an icy stream, you'll reach La Visaille, where a bus will take you to Courmayeur for overnight accommodation.

As you ascend a series of switchbacks from Refuge des Mottets, the verdant, pastoral slopes of the Vallee des Glacieres, which echo to the sound of cowbells and the shrill whistles of marmots, demand your attention with every twist and turn of the trail revealing something new.  On almost any other day, this climb would be the highlight of the walk, but today that prize goes to the Col de la Seigne.  

The Col de la Seigne forms the Alpine frontier between France and Italy.  As you straddle this border with a foot in each country, the panorama of mountains that greets you will leave an unfading image in your memory of the TMB.  You are on the southern fringes of the Mont Blanc massif, so looking north reveals a jagged assortment of peaks, glaciers that cling to the steep, rocky slopes, and waterfalls that plunge into the valley.  From this dramatic viewpoint you must tear yourself away to descend into Italy.  

........but don't fret, the descent remains spectacular.  Those craggy peaks you looked at from afar will soon loom directly over you as you wander beside an icy stream that threads through the valley in fractured channels and collects in still pools and lakes to provide a crystal reflection of the surrounding mountains.

14.2 km.  646m up.  850m down.

And today we're off to Italy.  As stated in the Macs app, it is an easier day but the "short climb" referred to in the notes is still about 600m.  A reasonable grade, though.  And - first thing in the morning so it was still cool.  We had a beautiful day - mostly blue skies with just some wispy clouds to look pretty in the photos.  

Gary is still not with us.  He will meet us in Courmayeur tonight.  Pat stayed at a different place last night and caught a taxi and a bus to get to our place at 8:29 this morning.  If he wasn't there by 8:30 we would leave without him and know that he would catch up.  We had a lovely stay at the converted dairy farm now known as Refuge des Mottets.  Our only "hardship" was that our shower was a bit of a dribble.  Oh well - we had a private room and didn't have to tough it out in one of the dormitories.

As we climbed the hill we got some great aerial views of the Refuge.  Also came across this interesting monument.

I believe this glacier is the Aiguilles des Glacieres that we started seeing on the hike down yesterday.  Great view almost all the way up on our climb this morning.  And some great views down into our valley.

This shot is over towards the Col des Fours and the route (in the distance) we came down yesterday.

We got through just before the sheep claimed the path.

We're approaching the col at this point, and the notes say that the glacier coming into view on the right is the Mont Blanc summit.  

It was pretty windy at the col.  First time I've had a jacket on, I think.  Lise was giving me a helping hand to keep my hat on...............

And off we go into Italy............

The views really were stunning all day.  Good thing it was a short day; I stopped for a lot of photos.  Sadly, La Casermetta was closed for renovations this summer.  It apparently houses a scale model of the Mont Blanc massif and information on the environmental, historical, and cultural significance of the Mont Blanc region.

Lots of bikers on the route today.  I hadn't noticed, but Pat commented that most of them have been e-bikes.  No surprise there.  

We were at Refugio Elisabetta by about 11:30 so we went in for coffee and lunch.  They didn't start serving lunch until noon so we had a good long break on the patio.  What a setting!

The great views continued for a while, but we ended the day with a few km of road walking (which we will have to reverse tomorrow morning). 

I suspect this will be a UTMB aid station in a few days.  

And I'm thinking our route tomorrow may take us by this lofty refugio; guess we'll be climbing!

We caught a (free) bus into Courmayeur at the end of today's walk.  This will be our hotel for the next three nights.  

It will be nice to do some laundry and unpack.  We'll be hiking tomorrow, though.  Take a bus back to where we finished today, reverse some of the road walk, and start climbing...........

Dinner out, a trip to the grocery store, and time for bed.

We've had two nights with no internet (I'll do those blog entries later), and now the internet is very slow in posting pictures so those will have to come later.  Trust me, though, it was a very scenic day!  Weather should still be good tomorrow and then we might have a bit of moisture headed our way again; rats!