Day 1 Les Houches to Contamines

So we started out in Les Houches  with our destination being Les Contamines.  We were feeling ambitious so we decided to take the variant route which adds 2 hours, 2 kilometers, and 1400 kilometers of climb to our day.  The up side is that we get to hike to the base of a glacier! And we have views that promise to be amazing. We were not disappointed! The glacier was amazing and the views were unsurpassed!
What we didn't know was that we would climb and decend 5 times in an 8 hour period!  The other imperative items that were missing from our book that we followed like a bible were that we BOTH needed hiking poles, and that there were NO meandering paths. We were either climbing at a steep pitch, or decending at an even more ridiculous pitch with rocks on the path! Last item that was not mentioned in our book was that parts of this path were only passable by the use of cables attached to very narrow, wet rocky ridges that were in avalanche zones and had extremely steep (at least 500 foot) drop offs.  Even through all this, we enjoyed spectacular views, a fantastic lunch in the valley below a glacier, and finally when we reached our Chalet Chovettaz where we were greeted by Chris and Fiona with a cold beer, spectacular room, and fabulous meal.  Tomorrow is a new day!

Fun places to grab a quick beverage

Great lunch in a beautiful meadow below a glacier!

Working our way down to the valley

Great Himalayan bridge.

Two days until our departure

As promised, I have laid out all of my gear for the trip.  The tricky part was how to pack 12 days worth of hiking clothes, rain gear, toiletries, etc into a pack that I can manage for the entire 105 miles.  Sadly the items that took up the most room were my toiletries.  Day cream, night cream, sunscreen, eye cream, and a plethora of hair and skin care products.  It takes a lot to keep this old girl going. 

Here are my things laid out, my empty pack, and my full pack.  I only had to remove a few items (not creams of course).  Success!!!

Accomodations

Date	Hotel	Address/Phone	Price/dinner	Cash/Credit
28-Jul	Hotel Le Chamonix	11 Rue de l'hotel de Ville	102E/rm	Credit
		Tel : +33(0)4.50.53.11.07
29-Jul	Hotel Le Chamonix	11, Rue de l'hôtel de Ville	102E/rm	Credit
		Tel : +33(0)4.50.53.11.07
30-Jul	Chalet Chovettaz	30 chemin de la Chovettaz d'en Haut	110E/rm/45E	Credit
		Tel: +33 (0) 4.50.47.73.05
31-Jul	Auberge de La Nova	Les Chapieux	56E/pp/half	Cash
		+33 4 79 89 07 15
1-Aug	Refugio Les Mottets	Vallee De Glaciers	196/room/half	Cash
		+ 33 (0) 479 070 170
2-Aug	Gran Baita	Strada Larzey-Entrèves, 2	152E/rm/break	Credit
		+39 0165 844040
3-Aug	Gran Baita	Courmayeur	152E/rm/break	Credit
4-Aug	Refugio Bonatti	Malatra Val Ferret	60E/pp/half	Cash
		(+39) 165 869055
5-Aug	Hotel Edelweiss	1944 La Fouly-Orsieres	217chf/rm/half	Credit
		0041 (0)27 783 26 21
6-Aug	Belvedere	Relais de campagne CH1938	220sfr/rm/half	Credit
		41 27 783 11 14
7-Aug	Col De La Forclaz	Forclaz 2 1929 Trient	118chf/rm/half	Credit
		027/722.26.88
8-Aug	La Boerne (dorm)	288 Tre Le Champ 1400m	45E/pp/half	Credit
		04 50 54 04 14
9-Aug	Refugio La Flegere (dorm)	On TMB path-Catherine	52E/pp/half	Cash
		+33(0)6.03.58.28.14
		+33(0)4.50.55.85.88 C
10-Aug	Hotel Le Chamonix	11 Rue de l'hotel de Ville	102E/rm	Credit
		Tel : +33(0)4.50.53.11.07

Three weeks from departure

Yesterday,  Jeff and I went to REI to check out packs for our trip.  We have several heavy back packs from our treks to Kibbie lake, but we needed something lighter for our TMB adventure.  We will not be carrying our sleeping gear (ie; tent, stove, sleeping bag) or food, thankfully. 

So the dilemma at this point was, do I need a 32 liter, or 27 liter pack?  Jeff was looking at packs on line, however, I am a touchy feely kind of girl and need to see exactly how much space is inside these packs.  So to end the suspense, I have ordered a 27 liter pack and let's hope that all my 'stuff' will fit.  After 30+ years together, I still don't think Jeff understands how much stuff I really need.  Anyway, this pack should be fine since I do know how to travel light.

This past week I have also spent time reconfirming all of our reservations and putting together a travel doc with all the necessary information on our whereabouts as well as the contact information of all the refuges where will be staying.  Important within this doc as well, is whether or not the refuge accepts credit.  We want to make sure that we have enough cash on hand to pay our bill (I don't like to wash dishes), and there aren't ATM machines in every village.

Next week we will be going over our inventory list to make sure we have everything we need.  Medical supplies are essential as well.  Key items on this list would be benedryl (for bug bites), nu-skin, sudafed and mucinex (since we have all had the dreaded cold we received from the recirculated air on a plane), motrin and other pain relievers, sleeping aids (besides wine), and of course a laxative.  We will also be organizing all our our gear and doing a trial run of packing our packs.  So stay tuned, this should be interesting!