I should rewind a bit after the prelude, and talk about the logistics of the trip. I would guess upwards of 75-80% of people who hike the TMB use tour guide companies to at least help with accommodations, though a quick check with Grok and it might be less. Either way, self booking can be pretty complicated. There is a site that ties most/all of the Refugios together, but if you want to mix it up and use some hotels and some Refugios, it gets harder. That combined with having a distance range in mind per day, trying to secure lodging when different places open reservations on different days, etc, and it can be quite difficult and time consuming. All that said, KellyE took it on to manage all of that, and KellyB and I are incredibly grateful! From securing lodging, buses, breakfast/dinner/lunches, and luggage transport, KellyE had it all planned and documented for us!

Wednesday, July 9th, we woke up in Chamonix, had breakfast at our hotel “Plan B,” and jumped on an early bus to Les Houches. We were getting a little nervous that maybe we were at the wrong place as our bus was late, but there were other folks there that were obviously going out for long hikes. We later found that the buses in the area are often several minutes late. Our bus eventually arrived, we boarded and had a good 10-15 stops before Les Houches. At each stop, more and more people got on. It was soon quite crowded! But we made it to the bus stop right across from the Arch that is considered the start of the TMB.

And we were off! (After we watched everyone else get photos, and we took a few of our own.)

We had about a mile or two on flat ground before we started climbing! Scott and I got ahead of the ladies, and I quickly saw that navigation was not always going to be obvious. There weren’t always signs at road/trail junctions, or if there were, I thought they could be a little confusing. I was using Far Out and could see where I needed to go, but I was worried KellyB might not have been as familiar navigating with that. So I jogged back down to Kelly and Kelly, got KellyB set up with Far Out and the TMB maps, and started back up. KellyE always had paper maps as well as the book descriptions of what to look for. We really needed all of those sources over the course of the trip!

I reached a water stop and bathroom, and opted to run back a little to the ladies so we could enjoy some of this section together:

There were some huge slugs!

It was near the water stop when I overhead a group of runners talking about pin holes in their bladders, and I asked if they had tried to patch, but the one had just received a replacement from Salomon.. I told them that I had several pin holes right before “a big event,” and the patches didn’t help, so just had to order a new bladder rather than try to get a warranty replacement. One of the ladies asked what the big event was, and I was like “uh, Barkley.” I hadn’t really planned to say the event name, but she asked directly! They were all quite surprised! Normally I don’t really talk about that event much, and this was the only time all week it came up with anyone outside of those I was with.

Eventually I took off from the ladies to run the last bit. This was when there started to be some discrepancies between Scott’s GPX files and the Far Out app. And even the street signs weren’t always that helpful. One example:

The red line is supposed to be the main route, and the purple is an alternate. I ran up to the red, but it was just a paved road, while the purple was a trail along the river. So I opted for the latter which looked much nicer. This would become a theme the rest of the trip… Debating between Scott’s GPX files, the Far Out app, and what was actually there in real life! Scott’s was nice because it actually took us right to our lodging locations when they weren’t on the trail, so I just used a combo.

I got to the Refugio and it wasn’t open yet, but Scott and I sat on the deck for a while. Eventually the owner came and let us in, and I got cleaned up and had enough time to wash and then dry my clothes in the sun. We had a nice dinner and the four of us were in a private room, with a shared bathroom (with a bunch of ladies from Norway)!

Elevation profile and map: