Tour du Mont Blanc

[naturelover]

I have just written up a trip report on the Tour du Mont Blanc that my husband and I walked in July 2006, with 20 photos. It might be of interest if you are thinking of walking this route - which we love so much we've now done it a full three times and in part many times more than that. Sometimes we finish ahead of schedule and start all over again, not actually because we lack imagination, but because it's just so beautiful that it seems like the very best way to spend the days we had left for mishap / emergencies / illness or whatever (and it seems daft to waste time going somewhere else when we we are is so magnificent). This trip was in July, and very crowded. We did it in early June where we had deep snow most of the way and only encountered eight other people (who were all travelling together with a guide) the whole length of the route. The third time was mid June with medium snow, lots of flowers lower down, and not too many people.
Mostly my blogsite is about climbing Tassie mountains, but I was too sick to go up anything this week, so used the gap to begin writing up some of our overseas ventures. This was the first.
The site is to be found by googling natureloverswalks.blogspot.com
Happy to answer questions

[icefest]

Nice post, I really like the photos.

You now have an extra blog follower.

[naturelover]

Thanks! So glad you liked it.

[whynotwalk]

Lovely work Louise - beautiful images and words. Having just spent a few weeks in the Alps, and seeing bits of where you walked, I know exactly why you wept as you left. And why you keep returning to the Mont Blanc area!

Glad to see you turned some sick days into a positive. Hope you're well now,

cheers

Peter

[Mark F]

A great walk and beautiful pictures. I have only done the section of the TMB where it is part of the GR5 - I will do it completely one day. On my recent flight back from the Pyrenees (Toulouse to Frankfurt) I flew across the western face of Mont Blanc in that perfect late afternoon light. It made want to parachute out and start walking.

[wayno]

thats fantastic. Were you in tents or were you staying in huts?

[naturelover]

We stayed in the lovely high huts or Rifugios - crowded, simple, but jolly good fun. Some of them seemed more like an animal shelter than a mountain hut. The only one we didn't like was the one I have in the picture and we would never be persuaded to stay there again. The French guys used an improvised shelter lower down, and perhaps we should have done that too. We were based at Oxford Uni at the time, and didn't have a tent with us in Europe. That said, we really enjoyed the difference from home where we just about always have a tent, even when huts are available. Nice to have two different styles. We also enjoyed the camaraderie of shared meals with other like-minded people from all over the world (and I adore being able to put my German and French to use). There's plenty of time at home to do the other, Aussie-style walking. But each to his own, of course.

[Tortoise]

Absolutely beautiful! And very well written. Don't suppose there's any plans for a book?

[Watertank]

What a find! Thannk you for the link to your blog. Such a pleasure to find beautiful writing and photos in the same blog. I'm planning on my first Tour Mt Blanc next year, unfortunately I think it will have to be July as it is the only time I can be away from work. Do you think the crowds will be too intense?

[Giddy_up]

Thank you so much for sharing this, it is just magnificent.

G_u

[naturelover]

Thanks so much for your kind comments everyone. I'm sorry Watertank, I didn't see your question until just now. July is chaotic, but nothing is impossible. We were in the area yet again in July last year doing the GR5 and haute route (yet to be written up in my blog), and used one of the TMB huts. We had to wait until after dinner to get a bed, but were not turned away. If you can cope with a little chaos, then it seems to be alright. If you want to arrive and go straight to the bed that is yours, then you may be disappointed. I travel with my own sleeping bag and sheet and so am never truly alarmed if things look grim on the accommodation side, as I can improvise a shelter and use my own sleeping gear. I've seen people sleeping on verandas, in old war tunnel entrances and so on. A lot depends on how creative you're prepared to be. I have a suspicion that if you're still there after dinner in need of a bed, then they'll give you emergency floor space rather than turf you into the clouds.
One trick you might like is to join the Austrian Alpine Club, English division (google it). As a member of a proper Alpine Club, you gain certain rights and some refuges are obliged to find you something to sleep on, no matter what.
Hope that helps.

[Watertank]

Thanks naturelover for your reply and your useful insights, yes I can cope with a little chaos, in fact a little chaos is a good thing, it helps keep the mind on those things that really matter! I will keep an eye on your blog for further installments, I'm not set on the Mt Blanc tour - I've yet to explore the Alps but I figured the Mt Blanc tour was a good place to start. I will look up the Club. Many thanks