August 23
August 23: Les Houches to Les Contamines
Your epic Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) adventure is finally underway! This is the high route option which goes to Les Contamines via Chalets de Miage, rewarding the adventurous hiker with dramatic views and a splendid introduction to Mont Blanc.
The alpine village of Les Houches is cradled in a valley at the foot of what appears to be an endless and impenetrable wall of rock and ice. This is the mighty Mont Blanc massif with some 400 peaks, 40 glaciers and some of Europe's most dramatic mountain scenery - and you're about to walk a lap of it all, returning to Les Houches!
Kickstart your adventure from Les Houches with the aptly-named Bellevue (beautiful view) gondola ride into the mountains. Only the purist of hikers will opt to climb this comparatively dull section on gravel roads through woodland, which would transform the first day into a grueling 18km stretch with nearly 1500m of climbing and descent.
From the top of the gondola, the path plunges into valleys and climbs up to various cols (a low-point between two mountains), which provide unique and spectacular views. A particularly exhilarating experience is crossing the rushing glacial meltwater of the Torrent de Bionnassay on a narrow suspension bridge.
11.3 km, 680m up, 1315m down.
First day! And the weather hopefully will cooperate. The clouds and mist are hanging low on the mountains to begin the day.
First step - the official departure arch in Les Houches. Gary joined us for the photo but is still hurting so took the train and bus to meet us in Les Contamines.
We took Mac's advice and skipped the first climb of 800m up to Bellevue. Still pretty misty but we could see down to the valley floor.
After crossing a tramway the trail was a bit up and down for a while. Pretty rocky and the unexpected bonus of chains a few times.
Finally started getting some views down into a valley and then the mountain started to reveal itself.
A few km in we had the excitement of a suspension bridge. It created a bit of a bottleneck, so no time to stop on the bridge and take pics. There goes Pat......
We had a steady climb after that, but also had some decent views.
Our destination was Col de Tricot. Nice views from there.
There was a lot of helicopter activity in the area this morning. When we reached the col and saw this I wondered if some of that activity was associated with setting up aid stations along the UTMB route.
We had a pretty steep descent from there - to Refuge de Miage. For a while this morning we were hung up in a G Adventures group - large group moving a bit slower than us. It makes me happy to have our own little group of 3 or 4.
Miage was quite a thriving little place. We chose to bypass the commercial establishment and just eat our picnic lunch on the grass. We're in no rush today.
Time to pack our bags and head uphill again. Steep, but not too long.
Every once in a while we found "old lady" benches and took full advantage.
After Auberge le Truc it was pretty much all downhill on a wide path/road (mostly). Of course my one knee doesn't much like going downhill but it's a necessary price to pay.
Finally - the village of Les Contamines comes into sight. Cute little village in a lovely setting. I did notice that the pharmacy on the main street had a prominent display of knee braces in the window. I wonder if sales are brisk......
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