June 6 – 10, 2023
The ride there
Day 1
Day 2
Day 2.5
Day 3
The ride home
Today’s hike would be a demanding one. I, for one, am not the most fit person out there and if you’ve read any of my hiking stories, you’ll know how much I hate elevation gains.
Today would be all about elevation gains.
I seriously considered not joining, especially when the planned cable car start turned out to be closed. We’d hike up to the lunch spot instead! Yay. But I also knew that for as much as I complained (internally or otherwise), I’d regret not going. So I manned up, put on my hiking boots and sauntered out the door with my friends.
Going up already!
Today’s hike was on the same side of the valley as Mont Blanc, and the trailhead actually started right behind the gondola base station we had taken yesterday morning. It is a pretty small valley, when you get right down to it.
At least it was green and shaded
I’m coming! (slowly but surely)
Going up, up up
Our first waterfall
Little metal “step” inserted in the stone
More waterfalls
The hiking hadn’t been that bad. I was at the back of the pack, but I used the camera as a valid excuse to stop and breath (take photos). The forest that we were traveling through was pleasant and quiet, and we didn’t see many other hikers this early in the day. Not that it was that early: we were stopping for a light lunch at a mountain hut called “La Cascade du Dard”. It was a charming little place and the food was a welcome addition to our break.
Last steps to lunch
Lunch with a view
Mmmm – omelet!
My first ever composting toilet experience!
With lunch complete and an appreciation of our view, it was time to head down. It is a strange thing not to be the one planning the events, but it was relaxing. I just followed along and let someone else do the thinking. We took a different route back to the valley which is always nice.
Fuzzy rock!
“Fuzz” up close
Paralleling the motor entrance to the Mont Blanc tunnel
The last bit of the trail wasn’t that interesting and ended up dumping us off alongside a pretty major roadway. We split up at this point, each of us off to “do our own thing” until we’d meet again for dinner. It was a casual group and it felt good to be free to come and go as we liked.
Dan and I did some shopping and then I decided to explore a little bit of the neighborhood streets around us. There is some really beautiful architecture in the town and I wanted to see more of it.
Modern school
That night we had a big dinner at Annapurna 2 Grill N’ Curry. I’m not a fan of Indian food, but everyone else seemed pleased with their meal. After dinner we went back to the apartment to pack up and say our good-byes. Tomorrow we’d be heading home, and our friends would be continuing with the last couple days of their holiday before flying home.