We had our longest day of hiking yesterday lasting just over 10.5 hours. When we finally reached camp, set up our tents and ate from our meager food bags, as it was after 8:00 pm. When I pulled out my phone I only had 21% of my battery left and my reserve battery was dead. So, between exhaustion and minimal battery levels on my phone I opted not to attempt to send out my blog last night but to combine yesterday and today in this blog. 

Friday evening at the hostel we stayed at was another fun experience on this adventure. As we arrived mid-afternoon, just as the rain set in, the eating area in the hostel gradually filled up with guests for the evening. As Daniel and I were chatting, our friend from Norway, Svien, whom we first met on Thursday evening while camping, came in. As it was a few hours before dinner was served, we really got to know Svien better. Such a nice guy, and one of the few hikers near my age on the TMB (a pic of the three of us is below). 

We were served a hearty dinner at 7:00 pm consisting of a French baguette, cheese, fresh salad, rice with a vegetarian chili and a simple piece of cake at the end. Very tasty and just the right amount. 

Around 9:00 pm everyone began to turn in to their bunks. As would be expected with 8 people sleeping in one room there was one loud snorer who made sure the rest of us got little sleep. But as I said…to be expected in a hostel. 

The next morning most everyone was awake by 6:45 am. We had a quick breakfast of baguettes, jelly, fruit and coffee and set out to begin a long day. And, we were pleased that Svien would be joining us for the first half of the day. 

Friday’s hike was always the most in question in terms of the route we would take and where we would end the day. In the end, this made for an especially challenging day. The weather was nice and the day was sunny as we started out. 

This section of the TMB is famous for the steep wall climbs which require the use of handrails, metal stepping plates and eventually metal rungs, going mostly straight up the face of the mountain, concluding near Tete aux Vents at near 7,000 feet elevation. 

As we approached this section we all took off our backpacks, stowed our hiking poles, put back on our backpacks and got in queue to make the climb. It was maybe 15 minutes before our turn to start the climb and, I am glad to say, we all made it with no problems. 

It was at this point that we said goodbye to our new friend, Svien, and Daniel and I began making our way toward a chair lift in the distance that would take us to a high point in the mountains where we would then hike to a lake area and camp for the night. However, the chair lift we were counting on was closed which left us with few good options. 

Around 4:00 pm, we realized our best option was to hike on three more hours, with another 3,000 feet in elevation gain to get to  a campsite on a small lake near Col du Brevent. As we had already hiked for 7.5 hours, and covered in excess of 3,000 feet in elevation, I was pretty exhausted and a bit uncertain if I could push on for another 3 hours. But as I said, we had no other viable options. 

As we neared the top of Col du Brevent the mountain took on an other worldly look, totally different from anything we had seen to date with mountains and valleys made up of nothing but rocks – big ones, little ones and everything in between. It was here that we finally saw our first wildlife. There were many alpine chamois all around us and they seemed indifferent to our passing through. The young chamois were standing on impossibly steep rock walls on crevices only a few inches wide. They were quite beautiful animals and a bit of an emotional lift to us at that point in our journey. 

As we neared the final climb of the Col du Brevent we were both surprised to see two more sets of metal rungs going up a very steep section of the mountain. We were so tired there was no discussion between Daniel and me. It was just another challenge in a challenging day and we just started climbing trying to reach the end of our day. 

As we came over the Col we could see the small lake far below, and it took us another 1.5 hours to make our way down to where we would pitch our tents, with the sun rapidly setting behind the mountains. We quickly consumed the little food and water that we had with us and climbed into our tents around 8:30 pm. 

The camp site was in a stunningly beautiful area, but I was so exhausted it was difficult to fully appreciate. After bedding down in my tent I could feel how quickly the temperature was dropping and before the night was over I had put on socks, long johns, my fleece pullover and finally my puffy coat. In the middle of the night I awoke to my tent looking as though someone was shining a bright light in it. I unzipped the rain cover of my tent to look out and saw an almost full moon brilliantly shining down on the mountains and lake below. What a memory. 

This morning Daniel and I awoke around 6:45 am and began the usual packing process. Daniel had filtered some water from the lake and made us both a hot cup of coffee before we departed. 

The VERY GOOD NEWS for today was that we covered so much distance and elevation yesterday that we had only a four hour hike, mostly all down hill, for today. Our spirits were as bright and sunny as the sky above us, which was filled with paragliders jumping off a nearby peak. 

At 12:28 pm we crossed over the same spot where we began our journey twelve days ago. For me it was an experience I had waited a long time for. Over the last ten years I have tried several extreme adventures, all of which exceeded my ability to complete them. So, today, finally, I could enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that comes with so much work and effort. 

Soon after finishing our TMB journey we walked to a local grocery store and bought a few items for a picnic lunch which we enjoyed eating on a picnic table on the grounds of an old, small chapel in the center of Les Houches. From there we walked another mile to our hotel, where we are staying in the same room we departed from twelve days ago. In the hours that have now passed we have showered, done our laundry and are relaxing as we wait for our dinner reservation at 6:45 pm. 

Just as our photos have not done justice to the sites and magnificent surroundings we have seen on this journey, I know that my written descriptions in this blog have also fallen short. In summary, it was a fantastic journey, but it came with significant physical pain and discomfort. Every mountain top photo was only possible because of hours of hiking up steep mountains, every step burning in our legs, our lungs working hard to pull in the air we needed to carry on. But reaching the top, and seeing so much beauty….well, the heavy cost to get there seemed like a fair price to pay. 

As I close out this blog, I want to thank my wonderful wife and daughters for their support and daily messages of encouragement. Also, for those of you who sent a brief note of encouragement to me, it was so much appreciated. Thank you. To Daniel’s Mother, Elke, I really appreciated the kind words you passed along to me through Daniel. (He thinks the world of you!) And finally, to Daniel, I owe a great debt of gratitude for putting up with me for the past two weeks, having never met before this trip, yet somehow seeming as though we have always known each other. His countless hours of planning our hiking route, and the hundreds of small details were central to our successful journey.

In a few minutes Daniel and I will enjoy a nice, but final dinner together. Tomorrow I take a bus to Geneva, and then on Tuesday a train to Thun, Switzerland where my family will join me for our first true family vacation in many years. Daniel plans to stick around Les Houches/Chamonix until he departs for his home town in Germany on Wednesday. 

Thanks for tagging along on this adventure! I now happily sign off from a successful Tour du Mont Blanc journey!