The day started out like many others on Tour of Mont Blanc, with a breakfast consisting of cereal, toast and Nutella all washed down with lots of coffee (Sure what else would ye want). The Rifugio has benches outside, so we put our hiking boots on outside, while the enormous Mont Blanc mountain blocked the morning sun from hitting us.
The Tour of mont blanc trail continues up over the rear of Rifugio Walter Bonatti, then it swings a left following the contours of the mountain. The hiking trails are nice and easy for morning walking, the surface is nice and smooth, perfect for sore feet.
In the below picture we are looking backwards and you can see Rifugio Bonatti in the distance at the edge of the mountain shadow.
The trail starts to pass streams with bridges and some streams still frozen over without any footbridges. The ice helps us cross over these streams, We imagine these streams in late summer can be a little bit trickier.
The morning part of the trail leading down into the valley was a nice easy section. We got to the valley reasonable quick and we passed hotel Chalet Val Ferret at 1790mt high, we didn’t stop as we knew there was another Rifugio further up the trail.
I wouldn’t have attempted this later that evening
We crossed the bridge after the hotel and walked up parallel to the river, we were walking toward Rifugio Elena at 2061mt high, so we knew we were climbing 271m in a short space of time. The streams were still covered with ice and the TMB hikers before us had walked a pathway into the frozen water but one wrong footing and you could slip down the edge of the mountain.
Not all of the streams were covered in ice, some of them had footbridges in place, which were in very good condition considering all the materials must have been carried here by hand.
We arrived at the rear of Rifugio Elena but at this stage, we were happy to see it, as our coffee fix was overdue. It was a hard climb up to the Rifugio but it will be an even harder climb after it.
We went into the Rifugio and got our coffee and hot chocolate and consulted our guidebook while rested our sore feet on the balcony, before attempting the mountain at the rear of the Rifugio.
We knew after Elena, we were going to climb to the top of Grand Col Ferret which was at a height of 2537m and represented the border between Switzerland and Italy. We started walking the trail up the side of the mountain which was again zigzagged into the side of the mountain but was horrendously steep in sections. We just kept moving and forward admiring the views but also trying to concentrate on the mammoth climb ahead of us. Some of the trails in this section had us scampering over rock edges and care was needed, as we were climbing very close to cliff edges.
The views up towards Grand Col Ferret were simply some of the best we had experienced but it was also one of the hardest climbs so far on the Tour du mont blanc. The higher we got up the mountain the greater the number of people seemed to grow. In this section of the hike, it was hard to manoeuvre past people, so sometimes there were large cues behind slower or older hikers, we didn’t mind as it made us reduce our pace and have a chat and try to breathe.
The higher we got up to Col Ferret we notice all the nice meadow fields and flowers disappeared and the landscape became very sparse with hardly any grass remaining in places. The footing is so steep on some of these sections the Swiss or Italians have installed timber steps to help with the climbing.
When we reached the top there was still snow in sheltered patches. We were tired and hungry at the top but we didn’t stop as there was a bad wind chill, so we decided to take a few quick photographs and get a small picnic lower down the mountain where it was not as cold.
On the way back down from the col we walked over numerous large ice and snow sections. Like all the descents on the tour of mont blanc when you start descending it happens very quickly, so much that you’d nearly be looking for an uphill section to give your knees a break.
On the way down toward Auberge De La Peule, the trail cuts through a farmers field, on one occasion the farmer had an electric fence and cattle still in the field. We weren’t too sure if we should attempt to walk past all the massive cows or if any of the cattle were actually bulls, so we settled it by playing a quick game of paper rock scissors to decide who would go first or should we not go past them. The results of the game were that we’d walk past the cows and Georgina would go first.
It turns out that the cows couldn’t have cared less about us and they seemed more like pets than a wild animal. I think Georgina grew slightly overconfident towards the cows when she realised they had no interest in her (selfie time). We then walked down toward Auberge De La Peule, which has two Mongolian yurts and a lovely little coffee shop.
This was our first experience in Switzerland and we immediately noticed an increase in cost, everything seemed to be more expensive. We got a quick coffee and used the Auberge free wifi to find accommodation in La Fouly as there were rumours that beds were limited in La Fouly. We made a few phone calls and most of the places we rang were indeed fully booked, we got a hotel room in hotel Edelweiss for a jaw-dropping €100 each (We was expecting a 5-star hotel for this price).
We continued down toward the Swiss valley, the further down we got the greater the heat increased. We reached a river in the valley with a very small car road on one side. This Swiss valley was so pretty, it was rammed full of wild animals, birds and flowers, it really was a beautiful scenic descent.
The small lane turned into a larger tarmac road for cars, then it arrived at a small village and we took a left turn into a wooded area over a bridge which then turned onto a woodland footpath.
The trail follows the road and river downhill through some lovely quiet woodland paths. The hike then past some honeybee hives, which was placed beside the path. We imagine this is where all that lovely alpine honey comes from.
The trail crosses the river again, we then walk into la Fouly by the road. At this stage of the day, the sun is so hot the road surface is starting to bubble, we imagine our sunburn is starting to resemble the road surface.
We go straight to our Hotel and book into our room. Our first impression of the Edelweiss hotel was of an older building that had a recent renovation inside, the reception was new and the dining area seemed modern and very clean, so we were hopeful that our room would be nice.
Unfortunately, that’s where they seemed to stop the renovation work. We walked into our room, which cost us €200 and a double bed bearly fits inside, as it was so small, there was no room to unpack our bags and the toilet was tiny. Maybe we got spoiled in France, where we stayed in a 5-star hotel for the same price, ah well, we live and learn.
To be fair to the Hotel Edelweiss, the dinner and breakfast was a very high standard and we could not fault it. Accommodation in la Fouly seemed to be expensive in all the hotels, so maybe try to avoid here or budget it into your hiking costs. There is a supermarket and a few bars in la Fouly, so restocking supplies here should not be a problem.
We found today’s hikes harder than other days, as we found the initial hike up to grand col ferret very steep but the views made it all worth the effort. Crossing the border into Switzerland was a nice section and the heat seemed to intensify immediately but maybe the weather was just improving. The cost of accommodation, food and drink increased more than we were expecting and felt that some of the hotels/ hostels might be taking advantage of the limited accommodation and food options in some of these sections.