September 3

September 3:  Chamonix - Chamonix (Planpraz to Les Houches)

Tighten your bootlaces one final time for the TMB finale!  There's a climb to Le Brevent which, at 2525m, offers a dramatic 360-degree panorama, before a long leg-busting descent into Les Houches.... back where it all began!

Congratulations - today's the day you complete your full circular loop of the Mont Blanc massif.  You've seen this mountain range from every point of the compass and the very act of walking has allowed the mountains to reveal their secrets; glaciers, peaks, rivers, alpine meadows - you've seen it all!  You've met locals from three unique countries who live in the shadows of this mountain and you've encountered others who, like you, have made a pilgrimage here to witness some of Europe's finest nature.  Your opponent - the mountains - aren't diminished by your victory but have instead demonstrated their majesty, and hopefully instilled in you a new appreciation of their splendor.  

The final day of walking reaches a high point, from both an elevation and an experiential perspective, at Le Brevent.  For years this has been recognized as one of the best vantage points to gaze across the Chamonix Valley to the icy dome of Mont Blanc, and it seems a fitting conclusion to the trip, and one that's sure to leave an imprint in your memory.  

On the long descent from Le Brevent you might begin to recognize features you saw roughly 170 km ago, like Bellevue Gondola, the Col de Voza or Les Houches itself, that provide a fitting sense of completion.  

12.5 km.  764m up.  1781m down.

Okey dokey then; last day today.  At this point in any trip, part of me wants to just keep on going and part of me is happy that it's over.  On this trip it has become very obvious that I've really slowed down and I can't tell you how patient the rest of the group has been in waiting for me to slog my way up hills and negotiate a bad knee and dysfunctional hammie coming down.  Many thanks to all of them.

First up today - a gondola ride back up to where we finished hiking yesterday (Planpraz).  It's no wonder we see so many paragliders over Chamonix.  They're able to take the gondola right to the top and then fly off.  Lots of climbers heading up here as well.

It was still a bit of a grey day by the time we were ready to hike (about 9am).  Pretty good views, though.

Our first objective was to hike up to the Le Brevent gondola terminal - about 600m.  There was a gondola available from where we got off, but we were good to hike it.  Our friends, Diane and Nigel - who hadn't been feeling well these last few days - took the gondola to the top and met us there.

The cloud cover was high enough that we had pretty good views all the way up.  And - the terrain was interesting and, in places, challenging.  As we neared the top we got some views over into the next valley.

By the time we reached the top (about 2 hours), the clouds had pretty much cleared and we had a great view over to Mont Blanc and surrounding peaks.  Just a bit of a cloud cap directly over the Mont Blanc summit for a while.  Many, many pictures were taken..........

About 1500m directly down into Chamonix.

As we sat up top for a while enjoying a beverage, the clouds cleared and we had ourselves a bluebird day.

Let the descent commence.  Yikes - almost 1800m.  Ouch......  The first part was pretty gradual, but parts were steep and it was pretty rocky in places.  It made very slow-going for me; I'll blame it on on-going knee and hammie issues but part of it is certainly old age.  Oh well - still out there doing it.  And - of course - I had to stop frequently to take yet another picture of Mont Blanc and our route down.

I thought this was a pretty little tarn.

So, so many paragliders out today.

A brief stop for beverages part way down.

Great views over to the Aiguille de Midi as well.

Views down towards Les Houches, and before long we came to the Christ-Roi statue that we visited before the hike even started.  Much better views today, though.

And finally - the loop is closed!

A bus ride back to Chamonix, post-hike drinks, and then I met Linda & Nick (from the Chicago & the UK), who had been to Canada to hike & visit me in July, for dinner.  They start their TMB tomorrow.

It was a great trip.  Harder on the body than I remember these trips being, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.  Glad we went for the luggage transfer, though.  The weather could have been a bit better.  More wrap-up thoughts later....................