Our Itinerary

28 – Jul                        Hotel Le Chamonix

Arriving late. 

29 – Jul                        Hotel Le Chamonix

                                     Time zone acclimation and store our extra bags

30 – Jul                         Day 1 Hike from Les Houches to Les Contamines            18km

                                    Chalet Chovettaz

31 – Jul                        Day 2 Hike from Les Contamines to Le Chapieux             18km

                                    Auberge de la Nova

  1 – Aug                        Day 3 Hike from Le Chapieux to Refugio Elisabetta       15km

                                    Refugio Les Mottets

  2 – Aug                        Day 4 Hike from Refugio Elisabetta to Courmayeur        20km

                                    Gran Baita

  3 – Aug                        Day of rest in Cormayeur

                                    Gran Baita

  4 – Aug                        Day 5 Hike from Cormayeur to Refugio Bonatti             16km

                                    Refugio Bonatti

  5 – Aug                        Day 6 Hike from Refugio Bonatti to La Fouly                20km

                                    Hotel Edelweiss

  6 – Aug                        Day 7 Hike from La Fouly to Champex                          15km

                                    Belvedere

  7 – Aug                        Day 8 Hike from Champex to Col de la Forclaz             16km

                                    Col de la Forclaz

 8 – Aug                        Day 9 Hike from Col de la Forclaz to Tre le Champ       18km

                                    La Boerne

 9 – Aug                        Day 10 Hike from Tre le Champ to Refuge La Flegere    9km

                                    Extra trip to Lac Blanc

                                    Refugio la Flegere

10 – Aug                        Day 11 Hike from La Flegere to Les Houches                17km

                                    Hotel Le Chamonix

How this adventure begins

Jeff was watching a documentary on hiking the TMB one lazy afternoon.  After doing some additional research online, he tells me (Deb) that this is now on his bucket list!  This is something we should do before we get too old. 

So, I begin my research as well.  I am the family travel agent.  I research the best and least expensive ways for us to travel (free is best).  Just so happens that we have enough miles to travel to Geneva and back for free!!!  Love that word.  So we decide that the TMB bucket list item is going to happen in August of 2013! 

Before anything else is done, I book two round trip tickets to Geneva.  Now the fun begins.  Most of the blogs and documentaries that we researched were groups that were guided hikes through the TMB.  As we did more research, we found that yes, this could be done on our own, with the proper preparation and organization.  Anyone who knows me, knows that this is what I love to do. 

Jeff and I both continued to research the hike, the time needed to complete the journey, and then bought a book on trekking the TMB.  We both read it from cover to cover.  I spent my time researching all the towns that we would stay in on the journey, and Jeff looked at the pictures :). 

We set our schedule and then I put together our route.  Fortunately, this is easy, since there seems to be only two logical routes.  Clockwise or Counter clockwise.  We chose counter clockwise since that seems to be the more heavily traveled direction.  We would start/finish in Les Houches.

As I began to put together our itinerary, Jeff spent time researching what gear we would need.  Since we decided that our old bodies were not able to camp through the journey, we would stay in the small gites, refugios, and dortoirs along the route.  This would enable us to carry less gear.  No tent, sleeping bags, cooking gear, or food.  We would have beds, bathrooms, breakfast, and even dinner in many of the villages. 

I spent the better part of two weeks emailing the various villages on the route to secure our rooms.  We were able to secure private rooms (with private bath) in most of the villages.  A few only offered dormitory style accommodations, but that should be fine.  We even went so far as to view the menus of some of the locations to determine where to stay.  After long days hiking and climbing, wine and food will be very important!

The journey begins in 85 days, but the preparation has been ongoing since October 2012. Here's our story