LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/481033
28 Spring 2015 LOCALadk Magazine T he thirst for adventure inspires us to wake up before the break of dawn to trek up steep trails. It is what allows us to discover those moments of silence at the summit when we can have a heart-to-heart with the mountains, without any interruption. After we studied abroad in New Zealand, the travel bug hit us pretty hard. Over the past six years, we have explored southern Norway, road-tripped in the Canadian Rockies, spent the summer sailing in the Caribbean, and camped along the ring road in Iceland. When it came to choosing our trip in 2014, we decided that we wanted to do a challenging hike in an awe-inspiring place. After countless hours of research, we eventually landed on the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), a trek that circumnavigates Mont Blanc, guiding hikers through the alpine regions of France, Italy, and Switzerland. There are many ways to break up the hike and after much research, we decided on an "anti-clockwise" route that would take us ten days. With our trek mapped, lodging booked, bags packed, and the Kev Reynolds Cicerone guide book purchased (the guide book for the TMB), we were ready to hit the trail. Stage 1 Les Contamines, France to Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, France Distance: 7.5 mi (all distances are approximate) Trail time: 6 hrs (trail times include lunch breaks and plenty of stops for photo ops and enjoying the scenery) On our first day of hiking, we took a bus from Chamonix to Les Contamines, where we anxiously made our way down toward the river to find the trail that would be our home for the following ten days. We found our first TMB route marker, and over the next few hours our gain in altitude and movement deeper into the mountains began to offer us breathtaking views. Passing between steep mountains and waterfalls, and through alpine fields that held what seemed like hundreds of different wildflowers, we stopped countless times just to look around and truly soak up everything that surrounded us. The Col du Bonhomme was our first big waypoint, about five hours out from Les Contamines. In the heat of a July afternoon, Bonhomme Our Tour du Mont Blanc Adventure Story and Photos by Hilary & Evan Williams