Day two on the trail! There is so much to say, but I don’t know if there are words to describe the agony, the joy, the pain, the rewards. I’ll do my best.
In the past two days we’ve hiked 25.58 miles and climbed 8,430 feet. According to my app, which has been a bit higher than Zak’s. That’s more than a marathon and to the top floor of the Sears tower almost 6 times. In two days. So proud of us, especially the girls.
We started at 7 and were happy to find the first two miles or so being flat. Glorious. But in true TMB fashion, when the up started it was abrupt and steep. The struggle was real, but our attitudes were good and we just took one step at a time. About five miles into the hike, as we reached almost 2,000 feet in gain, Zak said that if there is a snack around the next bend, we were getting it. Well, golly, there was a rufugio that was serving blueberry tart and cafe au lait! That’s the way to do hiking!
After our snack, the up just went on and on. It was really challenging. Climbing and climbing, with really no end in site. The only thing to make it rewarding were the views! Today’s were so different than yesterday’s. We didn’t go through any villages today, just the mountainous, low tundra landscape. The flowers were stunning and the long distance views took my breath away, WHILE I was trying to catch my breath. (Not fair, nature!) We passed cows with actual cowbells, a few herds of sheep, and a handful of burros who were in charge of bringing supplies to rufugios.
We went over two passes to conclude the climbing portion of today’s hike. We were all so relieved to know that after 4,827 feet we were done! Just over the second pass was another rufugio that, so fortunately, was still serving lunch. Ellie got pizza and the rest of us got a delicious pasta. Again, I have never had a plate of pasta in the middle of a hike, and never would have thought it was a good idea, I will now never turn it down.
The rest of the hike, just over three miles was all downhill. With a descent of over 3,100 feet, it was tough, especially with our exhausted bodies. Fortunately, the trail was not challenging, just worn down dirt, no big boulders or steps down. Before long with saw our rufugio in the distance and slowly inched toward it.
Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly, asked to remove our boots and store them in the communal boot room. (It was a very smelly room!) We grabbed cold drinks, showered and did laundry. (I’ll write about laundry another day…but it’s a hell of an adventure.) At 7:00 the dinner bell rang and we joined the other few dozen guests and campers for a delicious, hot, homemade dinner.
We’re writing these post as the sun sets with a bottle of wine in a community (of three buildings) in the French Alps. Today was hard, there were tears, and sooo much muscle pain, but I hate that it’s almost over. We only have 11 days on this trail and I’m working really hard to savor every moment, even the hard ones.
Holy adventure!!! I cannot believe how hard and rewarding that all must be! So glad you didn’t have to walk to dinner this night 🙂