Agile Trekker: Tour du Mont Blanc Day 3 - Contamines to Refuge Mottets

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
8/23/2019	11.7 miles	9 hours 24 minutes	4,341' ascent, 3,041' descent	1.2 mph	339.8

Today was a day I was concerned about before the trip. We made it! And got there before dinner.

We woke up very early and left our hotel at 6:40 am, which was sunrise. We at breakfast in our room since it was too early for the hotel breakfast. The first part of the day was very easy hiking next to a river. I was under caffeinated though, so hiking in a daze with Glen way ahead of me. Once we started heading uphill, I woke up. Today's hike was phenomenal. It was one of the hardest hikes I've done, but the views were spectacular. The mountains weren't even snowcapped mountains, but I loved this hike! We had a wide path to La Balme. There was a public restaurant just below it. Then more climbing to Col du Bonhomme. We climbed to somewhat high elevation, for someone who lives at sea level. We've certainly hiked at higher altitudes than this, but I have to believe the altitude might have impacted how hard it felt. I had to stop and rest and eat an energy bar. I'd hike for 50 steps, and rest, Hike 50 more steps and rest. Another man was on the same pattern as me, so I leapfrogged with him a lot. I was out of breath. Everyone was pretty quiet on the hike up, since it was steep. Most people were breathing hard. I felt like I couldn't take it anymore, but somehow made it to the col and sat down. I didn't even bother looking for a spot with the best view. I just needed to sit. The view was still splendid. I tried to eat a cold soak meal, but food was not doing well in my stomach. I felt like vomiting actually. I rested and continued to Refuge Bonhomme. We still were hiking uphill, but less steeply. We had views around every corner as we hiked. Some people finished their day at Refuge Bonhomme....I wished that was the end of my day! We got water at the outdoor fountain & still filtered it (we were the only ones who did). From there, we hiked downhill to Villes des Glaciers. Once we got there, we could do a road walk to our Refuge or take a bus. We opted for the bus. We got to Mottets around 4:30pm, way before 7pm dinner. I was so relieved, because I knew this would be our hardest day.

We had 2 route options. We opted for the one with a little less elevation gain, but more miles. It was still a huge amount of elevation gain. We did end up cutting out 4.5k of road walking by taking a bus at the end.