The Original Plan
| Estimate Mileage | 16.7 miles |
| Climbing | 6,640 feet |
| Descending | -4,833 feet |
| Highest Elevation | 8,733 feet |
How It Actually Went
Leaving Gite le Randonneur the next morning was like the previous mornings. Clear blue skis with sparse pockets of mist hanging around the peaks but generally cool and crisp. Like those other mornings however, our first steps on the trail demanded upward movement before we would enjoy a shorter downhill section.
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| Departing Randonneur |
On paper, the mapped route for this day was difficult to reconcile with the statistics. After descending a bit from Gite le Randonneur the route appears to hug the side of the mountain and even dip into the valley. Easy-peasy right? Nah.
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| Glaciers and the 'easy' route for the day |
Once you descend, the trail may give you some relief - meaning, it's largely smooth, some concrete and/or crushed gravel - but you're basically hiking uphill for 10 miles through what is essentially the remains of a long-receded glacial valley. Facing southwest in the valley, there are numerous modern glaciers still impacting the Mont Blanc massif...they're amazing to witness.
- Ghiacciaio del Miage - it's the most obvious feature cutting down the side of the Alps and depositing rock and glacial water into the lower streams
- Glacier de Tre-la-Tete - almost a horseshoe-shaped feature that looks perched up high in the mountains...until you realize that you're hiking up to the same elevation!
Despite the glaciers to distract us, our route continued to climb towards the high-point of the day at the Italian-France border (Col de la Seigne). If there's one thing we learned on our trip, it's that European's rarely use switchbacks when ascending a mountain...they like it steep. This would be the case as we marched slowly to Col de la Seigne. The beautiful thing about this section is that it was riddled with amazing geological features, glacial streams and wild flowers of every kind. I would stop every chance I got to fill my water bottles...you never know when the next water stop would be.
...and then about 200 feet from Col de la Seigne, I yelled, "Shit!"
 | | Col de le Seigne |
|  | | A big glacier |
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 | | Looking back |
|  | | Bus ride from Mottet's |
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I had left my GoPro sitting on a rock down by one of the streams when I filled up my water bottles. The anguish of realizing I had to go back down to get it was hugely demoralizing. Two very nice US ladies offered to grab it on their way down and mail it back to me but honestly, I still wanted to use it for the remainder of the trip. With no real choice, I shrugged off my pack, grabbed my poles and launched myself back down the mountain.
I got back to the stream and found a nice British couple eyeballing the camera (wondering who it belonged to). I grabbed it and they joked about taking it back to Courmayeur to sell it for beer lol. With my camera secure, I tucked it away and turned around to make my way back up the mountain to the rest of the group. It was amazing not having 20 pounds on your back! I motored up the mountain in what felt like record time. I even got back to the place I left the group and didn't see them so I assumed they continued up to Col de la Seigne. I sat down off the trail and scanned the mountain only to find them tucked behind some rocks eating the picnic lunches packed from Randonneur. They were surprised to see me back so soon!
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| Awesome hill repeat to fetch my GoPro! |
We would descend nearly 2,000' from Col de la Seigne down to Refuge des Mottets - taking in the views, seeing goats and trying to shake off the mist and impending rain. There had also been talk of a potential bus stop at Mottets that could take you to Les Chapieux. Granted it was only about 4-net-down-miles from Mottets to Les Chapieux but we had a 5 pm check in time AND we knew what awaited us at Les Chapieux 😭
Insert Travel Nightmare: It was here at this fateful bus stop that Shane would reach into his pack for the 5 Euro bus fare and realize that his passport, credit cards and cash where forgotten at Gite le Randonneur. Note his facial expression in the picture above...
Putting it simply - the elevation of Les Chapieux is about 5,000' and the elevation of our lodge (Bonhomme) was at 8,000'. We knew exactly what was left. No trams. No shortcuts.
Our group naturally split into 3 climbing groups:
- Mid-packers: Marshall, Adam, Christian and myself
- Back-of-the-packers: Shane and Lance
- The mountain goat: Tomio
We unleashed Tomio and told him to do his thing. Climb! (and get us checked in on time). The rest of us formed up and tried our best to keep some sort of momentum up these steep climbs (to make this real, I'd say the average grade over these 3 miles was 25-30%). The mid-packers would eventually form up to perform a "rotating engine" strategy in which the person in front would lead for 100-200 feet (depending on the terrain and grade) and then pull off an go to the back...making room for the next person to lead...and so on and so on. It maintained momentum and gave those in the middle and back a breather...
Refuge del la Croix du Bonhomme
As we approached the top, the weather began to turn. Visibility was near zero. The wind was gusting. Rain started to fall. Tomio would greet us (mid-packers) on the balcony (having been there for :30 now!) and help us get situated and unpacked. All gear, shoes and poles had to be left in a utility room below the lodge and baskets were used to help move only what you needed into the lodge.
After finding our room and getting situated, we made sure to go back out and wait for Shane and Lance who were directly caught in the changing weather. The rain had turned to hail at this point and hikers of all kinds passed in and out of Refuge Bonhomme as we approached dinner time. They even announced that they had run out of food and snacks to sell (unless you were staying there). That's how remote this lodge is.
Dinner started with lentil soup, bread and butter followed by a pasta and chicken casserole. There would be chocolate cake for dessert. Breakfast was a combination of bread, whipped honey, jams and musli (with warm milk!). We ordered picnic lunches to take away the following day but had no idea what it would be!
Our room fit the 7 of us (snugly!) and it was then - with the door closed - that we realized how horrible we all smelled. Sweaty clothes. Half-washed socks. General BO. We attempted to leave doors and windows open but it ended up being quite cold otherwise.
Amenities - 6/10
Food - 7/10
Location - 7/10
We could feel the journey getting closer to the end upon leaving Bonhomme. It's that stage in the trip when Day 1 in Trient seems so long ago and the trails, sights and food all start to blur together.
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