Another great walking day! Billed as the easiest of the entire tour, which I think is probably accurate, though nothing is truly easy about this hike. Before describing today, a quick look back at dinner last night. We sat with a couple from Northumberland, one a retired teacher and the other a local council member….
View More
I was somewhat dreading today, because it promised to be long and hard (12+ miles and 1600m ascent). But it actually was right up there with yesterday for being my favorite day. What an amazing place to wake up, 2025m (6643ft) up, at a mountain hut reachable only on foot, facing the beauty and bulk…
View More
My favorite day so far! Not too many miles (8) and the hard climb was at the start of the day when it was still mostly cool, with a fairly level contour path from then on. One final fabulous breakfast at Bouton D’Or–a hotel I highly recommend. It’s a little retro, but everything is clean…
View More
The original plan was to spend the first day in Courmayeur backtracking to La Visaille and walking back to Courmayeur, then actually resting on the second day. In reality, we both rested on the first day, and only Dave went back to do the missed section on the second day. We decided to head to…
View More
Another belated blog post! I think I might have just caught up by the time we leave Courmayeur, but then will immediately get behind again because I assume Refugio Bonatti won’t have internet of any kind. Day 3 was a day of compromises. Because of our unwillingness to sleep on platforms with scores of other…
View More
Another blog post that I’m writing days later. I think I need to get in the habit of writing the text offline so I don’t forget details while waiting for decent wifi. Woke up in Hotel La Chemenaz to a lovely view and a breakfast that had me somewhat forgiving the dinner! We dropped our…
View More
Internet has been so slow and/or non-existent that until today (Wed Aug 1st) I hadn’t even managed to upload all my photos from my phone to Google Photos, let alone then edit them, download them, and upload again to WordPress for including in blog posts. Even today, in the relatively large town of Courmayeur, the…
View More
After a nice week of rest and fun with the whole family, we set out from our rented cottage at 4:30 or so. Unpleasant transit through Norwich Airport, two short flights via Amsterdam and Geneva, hour long minibus ride, and we arrived at Hotel du Bois in Les Houches. Rainy and not hot (though also…
View More
The plan Last day! And a long one…15 miles\804m ascent\8% average grade\4:40 hours of moderate walking ending at Sea Breezes Guest House for all of us. The reality We all agreed 15 miles was too long. So we caught a taxi to Rame Head and walked the remaining 8.55 miles into Plymouth. Good choice! The…
View More
The plan 8.6 miles\592m ascent\8% average grade\3:09 hours of strenuous-then-moderate walking to The Bungalow (Cs) and Finnygook Inn (Ls). Second last day! Reality Nice stay at Driftwood House, though nothing particularly memorable about the house or the room, and it was oddly far from Looe itself. I think I’d choose somewhere in East Looe, closer…
View More