Tour du Mont Blanc Day3

日本語は英語の後にあります。

Tour du Mont Blanc Day3 

Trail Day3 (30 km, +1460 meters, -1500 meters) (18.6 miles, +4790 feet, -4921 feet)

Originally we planned 10 days to complete TMB, however, we had to do in 9 days, because British Airways gave us the next day flight. This day we decided to do two day itinerary in one day. So we got up at 3:30 a.m. and started hiking at 5 a.m. 3:30 am CET is 9:30 p.m. in Eastern US time. Circadian rhythm was just a mess during this trip. Until 9 a.m. no hikers were out there. It was very quiet and nice. I like to start hiking a little before sunrise and see the mountains getting light and scenery changing minute by minute. It is very beautiful. By 9 a.m., we reached the pass (Col de la Seigne). This is the French and Italy border. I saw a stone cube on the top, one side said “I” and the other side “F”. The view from the top was so pretty. Definitely it is one of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, and of course one of my favorites.

 

Majestic. This is the word I can think of. It is hard to describe those mountains. Looking at big mountains, I felt like the beauty was absorbing me, because I am small in front of the mother nature.  From the pass, we descended the valley. This valley was beautiful. Although the plan was to go a lot further, I couldn’t help stopping sometimes and admiring the marvelous view. I wanted to hike this valley forever. 

 Soon after the pass, there was a hut called Rifugio Elisabetta. It was a small detour of uphill, so we discussed if we should go. Since the hut stands right in front of the giant glacier (Glacier de la Lee Blanche), we decided to go there to check the view out. The glacier was amazing. European Alps offers so many glaciers. It is very exciting. 

 

The Rifugio Elisabetta has an excellent position to see the glacier as the picture in left indicates. Mr.N got cappuccino and I got hot chocolate. Everybody knows Italian cappuccino is the best. Now taking this opportunity, I say that Italian hot chocolate is the best, too. As you can see how thick the Italian hot chocolate is. It is very dense. Last spring in Aosta valley in Italy, I fell in love with Italian hot chocolate and I was excited about getting Italian hot chocolate again. At the next table there were two Norwegian guys and they planed to do TMB in six and a half days. After TMB they planned to do one day downhill biking before going back to Norway. They had a very intense trip. It was nice to chat with random friendly TMB hikers.

On the way to the bottom of the valley we saw many day hikers, because there is a trailhead at the end of valley. The day hikerswere mostly Italians. One group had several adults and 10-15 kids, probably teachers and boy scouts. They were asking backpackers their nationalities.

One of teachers asked Mr.N, “Where are you from?”

Mr.N said, “United States.”

He answered, “Okay.”

It sounded no interest.

Then he asked me next, “Where are you from?”

I said, “Japan.”

He said to the kids, “Giappone!!”

Then kids started taking pictures of me. The teacher told the students to get my permission to take pictures. It looked like their project was how many nationalities they could get on the trail. Italian hikers are friendly and funny. 

 Now in Italy, the sign became all Italian of course. An example is shown in the left picture. This is the sign for the campground we stayed. Mont Blanc in French is now Monte Bianco. I was so jealous that all latin related languages have similarities. For example, mountain, mont, monte are kind of similar. Instead, mountain is やま(pronounced as yama) in my language. It was much harder for us Japanese to learn English. Anyway...

As the sign indicates, this campgound had mini market and small shower. At the mini market, Mr.N got cheese again. Mr.N loves cheese. I got tomato, because I felt that my body needed vegetables.  

To be continued...

３日目 (30 km, +1460 meters, -1500 meters) 

当初はTMBを10日間でハイクする予定だったが、飛行機が１日遅れたため9日間で終わらせなければならなかった。そのためこの日は２日分のハイクを１日で歩かなければならなかったのだ。なので朝３：３０起床。アメリカから来て時差ぼけの上にこんなハチャメチャな時間に起きたりしていたのでサーカディアンリズムが狂いまくった。５時にハイク開始。９時頃までは誰もトレイルにいない。私は朝、日の出前にハイクを開始し、日が出てくるのをハイキングしながら見るのが好きだ。徐々に山が朝日に照らされていく様子が素晴らしいからだ。 

９時には一つ目のパス、Col de la Seigneについた。この頂上はイタリアとフランスのボーダーだ。小さな石がありイタリア側はI、フランス側はFと書いてある。国境が山の頂上かー。日本ではありえないからなんか不思議。

それはともかく１枚目と２枚目の写真にあるように、景色がすごい。ものすごく綺麗。圧倒される景色だ。なんて美しい場所なんだ！と見惚れる。この日の予定を考えると歩き続けなければならないのだったが、時々止まって景色を見ざるをえなかった。美しい山々がそこにあるので止まって見ていたかったのだ。

このパスから少し下ったところに山小屋Rifugio Elisabettaがある。氷河が見える絶好の場所にある。イタリアに入ったことだし、ということでイタリアンホットチョコレートを飲んだ（写真）。私はこの超濃厚なイタリアンホットチョコレートが大好きだ。去年イタリアの山小屋で初めてこれに出会い恋してしまったのだ。この絶景とホットチョコレート。最高すぎ。ここで隣のテーブルに座っていた男性２人組はノルウエーからTMBをハイクしに来ていて6日間！の予定でハイクをしていた。そしてその後にマウンテンバイクをしてノルウェーに帰る予定だそうだ。わー。すごい。こういう雑談、好きだ。

そして山小屋を後にしハイクしていくと、小学生らしき集団と先生が。ボーイスカウトみたいだ。そして我々にどこの国出身か聞いて来た。MrNがアメリカというと子供達は興味なし。私が日本というと急激にはしゃぎ始めた。どうやら色々な国の人に会ってカウントするゲームでもやってるみたいだった。イタリアの子供たち、面白い。 

最後の写真にあるのが我々がこの日止まったキャンプ場のサイン。イタリア語だ。

これまではフランスだったのでMont Blancだったがイタリアに入ったら  Monte Biancoになった。とはいえ、ヨーロッパの言語は似てていいよなーと思った。これだけ似てて二ヶ国語喋れると言えるのに、英語と日本語では到底違うやないか！それでも二ヶ国語喋れるという同じスキルなのだ。英語と日本語なら２.５ヶ国語話せるといってもいいのでは？などと考えながらキャンプ場へと向かったのだった。キャンプ場には小さなマーケットがあった。MrNはチーズをゲット、私はトマトをゲット。体が野菜を欲しがっていたのだ。そして簡易シャワーを浴びて寝袋へと潜り込んだのだった。