The Best Hike of my Life: The Tour du Mont Blanc
Earlier this fall, four of us – total novices at long-distance treks – hiked around Europe’s highest mountain. (On the first day, large birds of prey were circling overhead. My guess: they were vultures just waiting for one of us to drop.)
The Tour du Mont Blanc is a 100-mile, ten-day hike—but we cheated a bit, hiking the best 60 miles from mountain lodge to mountain lodge in six days, catching local buses from the less exciting parts, and letting a “Sherpa service” carry our bags each day through France, Italy, Chamonix, and Switzerland to Chamonixland.
It was the first time I had enjoyed a slice of Europe with my girlfriend Shelley, and we were joined by Sue and David from Minnesota. (I worked with David Preston at TPT – Twin Cities PBS for 20 years. In the world of public television, he is considered the “pledge drive guru.”)
Each day, we would hike what the trail signs indicated would be a five-hour hike — which took us six or seven. Our mantra: “Take our time. That’s why we’re here.” Typically, the day begins with a 3,000-foot climb to a pass (or “col”) 8,000 feet above sea level. Each colonel was a small victory, its rocks arranged in a pile, dramatic weather flying everywhere, beautiful views, and congratulatory selfies.
Part of our pre-trip training was a steep hike close to home. As a typical day’s climb on the TMB is a thousand meters (or about 3,000 feet), I would recommend choosing a practice hike with an elevation of 3,000 feet so you can use that as a reference. We had the Mount C Trail in Washington State. We even had a term for the 3,000-foot elevation gain: “a mountain.”
