Showing posts with label Backpacking in Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Backpacking in Europe. Show all posts
2019-01-16
2019-01-15
Tour du Mont Blanc Day10
<Japanese version is after English 日本語は英語の後にあります>
Trail Day10 (17 km, +772m/-1546m)
It was a little sad to finish the TMB. It was an accomplishment, but I didn’t want to finish the TMB either.
There were many ladders on the final day as well, because rocky parts were steep. That area had many ibex and they climbed steep rocks really fast (see the above and left picture). Ibex are cute. The last day had one of the great Mont Blanc views from the trail. It was nice to finish the TMB with great view of Mont Blanc.
Before the long final descend, we stopped at the final hut on the TMB. As shown in the left picture, the hut was very cute. We got coffee. French people nearby were getting Splite. I was a little surprised that French seem to love Splite, Coca-cola as much as Americans. The difference is a hut gives a customer Splite can and a glass. In the U.S., either ridiculously giant styrofoam cups or only cans.
Including this hut, half of the huts in Europe have squat toilets. Squat toilets are common in Japan as well, but the style is different and usually women and men’ room are separated. At TMB huts, squat toilets are shared by men and women. Sometimes it was unpleasant. I don’t write the reason here, because it will be too much information. Well it was an experience.
After we had a cup of coffee, we started hiking on the final descend.
At far down below Mont Blanc, there is a town to go. It is amazing trail across the Mont Blanc. There is a lot to climb to the hut from the town. When we got close to the town, we saw a guy carrying baby and asking a hiker how far to the hut. He said that he wanted to have wine at a hut. No longer after that, we saw them going back to the trailhead.
After we came back to the town, we went to an Italian restaurant. I had seafood pasta. It was my first real meal after I got food poisoning. Last day I had only soup and coffee and a little rice.
The past was big and really tasty! It was a celebration for completion of TMB.
トレイルTMB１０日目：17 km, +772m/-1546m
最終日ツール・ド・モンブラン（TMB）。最終日というのが名残惜しい。ずっとトレイルをハイキングしていたい！という気持ちで少し寂しさも残りつつハイキングを開始。
この日も岩がたくさんあり梯子がかけられているところが多かった。そしてそういう急な岩を駆け上がって行くアイベックスを発見。アイベックスすごいな。急なところも何の問題もなく駆け上がったり降りたり。その後１０匹くらいのアイベックスの集団にも遭遇（最初の写真）。かわいい。
そしてTMB最後の降りへ。下った先はゴールになる村がある。
そして最後になる山小屋で一休み。コーヒーを飲む。モンブランを見ながらフレンチコーヒー。。。贅沢すぎる！モンブランとコーヒーはよく合う。こんな素晴らしい景色を見ることができるというのはありがたいことだ。全てに感謝する気持ちが湧いて来る。
そして最後の下りへ。この下って行くトレイルでは横目にずっとモンブランを見ることができる。どこから見てもいつ見ても壮大なモンブラン（写真参照）。かっこいい。
そして村へと着き無事にTMB完了。１６０キロをやり遂げたのはうれしい。
お祝いにイタリアンレストランでパスタを食す。あー。久しぶりのちゃんとした食事！食中毒にあっていたのでスープとコーヒーとほんの少しの米しか最終日は食べていなかったのだ。
TMB・・・・素晴らしいトレッキングだった。
2019-01-14
Tour du Mont Blanc Day9
Trail Day9 (10 km +1200m/-500m) (6.2 miles +4000 feet/-1640feet)
Lac Blanc |
In the morning I woke up around 4 a.m., because my stomach hurt. The way it hurt was something wrong. Then I had to go to the restroom three times. It was obviously food poisoning. Since Mr.N didn’t get one, it must be from chicken I had on a previous night. Even after going to the restroom, my stomach hurt every 5 minute, so I laid down until 11 a.m. I was debating if I would take one day rest or try walking, but I decided to hike, because Mr.N agreed that he would carry some of my stuff (Thanks Mr.N!).
Hiking without breakfast but with
stomachache was extremely tiring. I don’t have extra fat to burn when I
don’t get energy from food. I thought, “Wow, food makes such a big
difference!”
Especially a series ladder (see left picture) made me out of breath. There are more than ten ladders on the way. Despite this fact, the view was beautiful. I was determined to go to Lac Blanc, which was one of the points I really wanted to go. I kept walking with will.
Lac Blanc was amazing. It was glacier color and most of the lake was still frozen. Although it was really cold and I had food poisoning, it was definitely worth visiting the lake with detour.
We saw a lady (probably French) but spoke English. She was nice and we talked about TMB. She was a TMB hiker and she said that she really enjoyed talking with random TMB hikers. I like this kind of hikers: being friendly with good hearts. Then we descended to our final campsite of TMB. It was free. My stomachache interval got longer in the evening compared to the one in the morning, so I ate tomato soup. Even only a cup of soup gave me energy. I realized again that food actually gives body energy.
Next party was four French people and they shared pasta for dinner. They apparently carried pasta sauce that was in a glass jar. I was surprised that they carried such a heavy thing in the era of ultralight backpacking (but it is of course they can do what they want).
2019-01-13
Tour du Mont Blanc Day8
Trail Day8 (12 km, +1069m, -990m)(7.5 miles,+3507ft, -3248ft)
日本語は英語の後にあります（Japanese version is after English）
First pass on the trail day8 was Col de Balme, which is a border between Switzerland and France. Human body is amazing and it seems one week is enough to get used to a new environment. I felt easier than before on the TMB to climb 3000 feet. Probably a lighter pack helped it as well. I remember that my body got stronger after one week of hike on JMT as well.
Near the Col were green hills with a lot of colorful flowers. It was pretty. It was like I was in the Sound of Music. I also saw many marmots.
One French hiker on the trail said, “Welcome back to France!” It was funny that he seemed happy to back to his country.
There is a lift going to the pass from nearby town and everybody can come to the top by just 150 meters (0.1 mile) walking from the lift station. I saw one old Japanese couple probably in their 70’s. The guy needed a cane to walk and had to stop every few minutes to continue walking. It is impressive they came to see the view all the way there with having to walk with a cane. In that sense, I think that building artificial equipments in the wilderness to make everyone have an opportunity to see great mountains is a good thing. Of course too much human invasion into wilderness disturbs the beauty of nature, though.
I took a 30-munite nap at Day8’s highest point, Aiguillette des Posettes. It was so nice to lay down looking at amazing glaciers. It was truly a luxurious (and free) nap. Day hikers can come this mountain and some of them had dogs. One dog came to me and I pet him. At TMB, I pet many cats and dogs. It was fun.
This day we camped at the Camping Pierre Semard. It is just a yard of a hut. Because we were a little tired of camping food, we got panini from bar and ate at outdoor table. I got chicken panini, Mr.N got ham panini. It was good, but this brought me a trouble.
To be continued...
この日最初の峠はコルデバルム。フランス語でコルが日本語だと峠、英語だとpass. この峠がスイスとフランスの境界線になる。人間の体の順応の仕組みというのは本当にすごいもので、高地順応も１週間経つと完璧になる。まあ、背負っているバックパックの中身も毎日軽くなっているので日々簡単になっていくように感じているだけかもしれない（荷物が軽くなっていくのは食料がだんだん減っていくから）。ジョンミュアトレールを歩いた時も１週間経った時点で体が完全に順応したことが記憶に鮮明に残っている。なぜなら、２週目は常に空腹だったからだ。私は高地に急に行くとやや食欲が落ちるのだが、２週目は体が順応し１週目に少食だった分までお腹が空いて空いてたまらなかった（笑
コルに着くとたーっくさんのカラフルな野花が咲いていた。とても綺麗。サウンドオブミュージックの映画の中に舞い込んだようだった。そして可愛いマーモットもたくさんいた。
この峠に来るのにはもう一つ方法がある。リフトだ。ヨーロッパの山々は歴史があり、ハイク以外の方法でも山に上がれる方法がある。リフトを降りると１５０メートルでコルに来れるのだ。ここで驚いたことに日本人の老人夫婦がいた。わー。こんな山で日本語を聴けるなんて。おそらく７０過ぎで、男性の方は杖をついていて歩くのもかなり大変そうだった。しかしその状態でもここまで来る意気が尊敬に値する。特に日本人の場合、歳をとると出不精になる人が多いからだ。すごくいい気持ちになった。私もいつまでも山に行き続けたいものだ。
この日の一番高地のポイントはAiguillette des Posettes（日本語で書けない、どう読むのかもわからない）。ここで巨大な氷河を眺めそして昼寝。なんて贅沢なのだろう。そして無料。
この日はキャンプ場スマードでテント泊。キャンプ場と行っても山小屋の前にある広場だ。少しキャンプフードに飽きてきたところだったのでここで山小屋でパニーニを買って夕飯にした。チキンパニーニは美味しかったのだが。。。これが後でトラブルとなる。
続く。。。
2019-01-12
Tour du Mont Blanc Day7
Trail Day7 (15 km, +1199m, -1400m)(9.3 miles,+3933ft, -4593ft)
From Arpette campground, we headed for Fenetre d”Arpette. Fenetre d”Arpette is the highest point of the TMB, but the least popular point of the TMB. The reason why people avoid it is that the path is unclear, contains unstable boulder climb and walking uphill on the snow patches (see the picture)
You can see how the path to the pass looks like in the left picture. V shape over the snow patch is the pass. The point I took this picture is in the middle of boulder section. It was the hardest section of the TMB, but it made people avoid this portion. In result I really enjoyed the remote area.
Now this picture in the left was taken after the snow walking section. The view was amazing all the way.
Considering that most TMB hikers miss this part, I feel great, because I know this TMB’s secret spot.
The moment I reached the top, the giant glacier view came into my eyes. The Glacier du Trient wowed me.
I thought, “How lucky I am I can see such a beauty at the top of mountain!”
This route is not recommended on bad weather. Luckily this day’s weather was perfect.
After having lunch at the pass, we started descending.
It was nice to walk seeing the massive Glacier du Trient. It was unusual experience to see glacier structure (above picture). This made me want to climb on the glacier mountains.
It is still very big, but it is quite obvious that glacier has been shrinking fast. As you can see in the left picture, all the rocky part used to be covered with glacier. It is scary to see how quickly the change is happening.
In Europe, signs to indicate destination are written with time (hr/min) not actual distance (km). At the pass there was a sign that said 2 hours to day10’s campground area. However, descending for 4 hours, trail was still going downhill. We knew we needed to go to the bottom of the valley. After all we took 5 hours to reach the campground. It took long because some portions the trail was washed out and we had to do some crazy off-trail, and trail was not well maintained. Everyday +/-4000 feet was tough. That reminded me of Mr.S2 who had knee issues and had difficult time with steep ascending and descending at our Grand Canyon trip. He might have difficult time at TMB, but hope his knees are well recovered by now.
We finally arrived at the campground in Le Peuty. In France, they use articles even for town names, hut names, and surprisingly for normal houses. The name with an article is written on a house. Articles drove me crazy in France.
The campground is in the yard of a hut. The hut owns a baby cat (American short hair). The owner called the kitten Murphy. She is very energetic and running around all over the campground and I saw she was climbing up and down bunk beds at hut.
It is funny that some hikers completely ignored the cat and sometimes hikers stop and pet a lot and saying "so cute!". Often female group stop and pet, which is kind of predictable. One nice thing I saw was one single male hiker, who was walking really fast and giant pack without smile stopped for Murphy and pet a lot. This was unpredictable and made me feel good.
It was unexpected to see many cats during the TMB. Yay! In the right picture you can see white and red sign which is for TMB.
TMB７日目 (15 km, +1199m, -1400m)
この日はアーペッテの山小屋の庭キャンプからスタートしてアーペッテの峠を越える。ここはTMBでの２つのルートのうちの一つ。９９％の人は平坦なコースを歩いたのでこのアーペッテの峠に登る人はほとんどいない。確かにトレイルはわかりにくく、スクランブルの場面もある。そしてきつい。さらに雪が残っているので雪の上も歩く必要があった。
しかし！振り返ると、はっきり言ってこのセクションがTMBでのお気に入りだ。ハイカーはおらず静かで壮大な景色が続く。なんて荘厳なんだろう。
そして頂上に着くと反対側にそびえるトリエント氷河が現れた。うわー。巨大だ。今まで見た中でも一番か２番の巨大さ。パタゴニアでも巨大な氷河を見たが、それと匹敵する。感激した。
そして麓のキャンプグラウンドを目指してテクテクと下って行く。頂上でのサインでは麓まで２時間と書かれていた（ヨーロッパでのサインは距離ではなく時間で書かれている。人によって歩く速さは違うのでどうかなとは思うが。。。それに大抵書かれている時間はかなり速いハイカーのように思われる。）２時間ならわりとすぐだなーと思いつつ下って行くが下りが長い！結局５時間かかった。そこまでゆっくり歩いていたわけでもないのに。。。まぁ途中で氷河に見とれていたりした時間はあったが。
そして麓で山小屋の庭でキャンプ。巨大なトリエント氷河を今度は下から見上げることになる。どこから見ても壮大で圧倒される。
そしてここではグレーの子猫が！ほとんどのヨーロッパの山小屋はネズミ対策なのか猫を飼っている。この子猫（山小屋の人はマーフィーと呼んでいた）が超アクティブで走り回っていて猛烈にかわいい！疲れも吹っ飛んだ！そして山小屋の簡易シャワーを浴び、キャンプフードを食べ就寝したのだった。
2019-01-11
Tour du Mont Blanc Day6
Japanese version is after English 日本語は英語の後にあります。
Trail Day6 17.5 km, +620m, -565m (10.9 miles, +2034ft, -1854ft)
We started in the small town of La Fouly in Switzerland. The ultratrail race was held on this day from La Fouly. The race is called Ultra Trail Verbier St-Bernard.
The names is St-Bernard because the course is near the Great St-Bernard pass. St.Bernard is a dog bred in Swiss, Italian, and French Alps as a rescue dog. In iconic images, dogs carry the barrel containing brandy to warm lost hikers up until rescue arrives.
Most runners were participating in the race of X-Alpaine which is 111 km and 8400 meter elevation change (68 miles, 27600 feet). The course is really challenging and tough. I admire the runners. Some portion of the race course was overlapped with TMB, so we saw around 20 runners on TMB. Because trail was narrow, we yielded the way for runners. What impressive thing was that they were very polite. Almost every runner said, “Bonjour” then “Merci” for us to let them pass. It is not an easy thing to be polite during such a tough race. AND most runners were on the steep uphill when we saw them.
This area has a lot of athletic events. Not only this race, there was a full marathon trail race near Chamonix on the day before we started TMB. Also the most famous ultra trail race in the area is UTMB (the course is almost the same as TMB). The elite runners at UTMB finish the course around 24 hours. It is unbelievable.
This day’s hike was unique, because the first half was walking in the villages.
It was interesting to walk in the cute houses and cottages. Because this area is cold in winter, every house had a bunch of logs for winter (or
leftover from last winter). Mr.N said it was the same as East Glacier Park.
One of the houses had two cats and they were playful. When I stopped, the cat who was sitting under the chair came to me (left picture). She was really cute and friendly. Mr.N said that she was very fat (rude) but I thought that she was only a little chubby.
Another cat came while I was petting the first one and she was looking at me as if she also wanted to be pet (picture in the right). So I pet her as well. After this village walk, there were two ways of TMB. One is 742 meter, the other is 1199 meter elevation gain. We choose the harder one, because it is supposed to be much more scenic. At the junction, almost all people went to the easier route. Somehow TMB hikers always choose the easier route when there are variants. On the way to the campground, the trail was a little confusing, but one French hiker helped us. We camped at the grass field in the back of a hut.
Trail Day6’s campground was in the yard of the hut Arpette.
There were cows and goats at the hut. The goats there were really cute, especially babies were adorable. In the evening, I saw a mother goat gave birth. There were total around 20 goats and half of them were babies.
It was fun watching the babies, because they were excited and jumping a lot (left picture).
This hut was selling official TMB T-shirt. I wanted one but I didn’t buy it, because I didn’t want to increase weight even 1 gram. Now I regret it, because I can’t find it online.
I looked at food menu at the hut, but there was no hot chocolate since it was in Switzerland. It is interesting that the moment you go outside of Italy, hot chocolate disappears. For example, Rifugio Elena in Italy had amazing hot chocolate, then at the next hut which wasonly a couple of kilometers away from Rifgio Elena in Switzerland didn’t even have normal hot chocolate. During TMB, you can clearly see three different cultures. It is very interesting and nice to have such an experience.
TMB ６日目 17.5 km, +620m, -565m
この日はスイスのラフーリーという街からスタート。この日はこのトレイルでウルトラトレイルのレースが開かれていた。ウルトラトレイルとは距離が１００キロ以上のレースだ。ここで開かれていたのはウルトラトレイル・セントバーナード。 セント・バーナードという名前はスイス、イタリア、フランスのアルプスでブリードされている救助犬、セント・バーナードから来ている。
マスコットとして見たことがある方も多いかと思うが、首に小さなワインの入った樽をぶら下げている。このワインが山で遭難した人を暖めるのだ。セント・バーナードの犬、今では世界中で見かけるが、可愛い。
トレイルで出会ったランナーたちはほとんどが１１１キロのレースに参加していた。コースは８４００メートルの上り下りがある。すごっ。TMBとレースのコースが一部被っているので２０人ほどのランナーとすれ違った。もちろんトレイルの端によってランナーを先に通す。すると、、、ものすごいことに彼らは登りを駆け上がっているのに、 きちんと”ボンジュール”と挨拶し、そして”メルシー”とお礼を言ってくれるのだ。すれ違ったランナー全員が。うわー。やっぱりスポーツマンシップってすごいな、と思う。やはり強い人ほど礼儀正しい。
そして程なくして山から出て村の中を歩く。この日のハイキングはやや違った醍醐味がある。山の中に囲まれた小さな村を歩く。村の中の一つの家の庭で猫がくつろいでいた。立ち止まると猫たちがやって来た！もちろんナデナデした。猫が大・大・大好きな私にとっては最高。
村の中を抜けると再び山の中へと入っていく。ここでは２つのTMBのルートがある。ほとんどの人は平坦な簡単な方へ行くが、我々はもちろんハードな山を越える方を選択。
この日はアーペッテの山小屋まで行き、山小屋の庭にテントを張りキャンプ。この山小屋ではヤギを飼っていた。この時期は赤ちゃんが生まれる時期でたくさんのヤギの赤ちゃんと小さな子供を見ることができた。しかも１匹のヤギはこの日に赤ちゃんを産んでいた。子供ヤギはジャンプしてすごくエキサイトしている。かわいいーーーー。
この日は次の日に登るアーペッテのパスを見ながら夕食（キャンプフード）。アーペッテは高く聳えたっている。夕焼けの中のアーペッテは荘厳で美しい。
そして就寝。
2019-01-10
Tour du Mont Blanc Day5
日本語は英語の後にあります（Japanese version is after English).
TMB Trail Day5: 28km +1000m, -1410m (17.4 miles, +3280 feet, -4626 feet)
We got tired of snoring and got up at 4 a.m. and left the hut at 5 a.m. It was really nice to walk on the quiet trail before everyone hit the trail. Early in the morning many deer were eating breakfast. They were surprised that hikers were out so early.
In the morning the Mount Blanc was bronze in the sunrise (picture above). Quite dramatic. It was half hidden in the clouds. Mount Blanc is awe-inspiring at every moment, from every angle. As the name Tour du Mont Blanc indicates, this route has many opportunities to see Mount Blanc in a different angle. Every time I found its beauty and really enjoyed it.
2 hours of hiking, we reached Rifugio Bonatti where we had considered to
come on a previous day. The view around there was beautiful (above picture). It was amazing that TMB offers gorgeous glaciers scenery
continuously. Near the hut, there was a guided group. I wondered how
much it cost (later I googled it and it cost nearly 3000 euros including everything! (not including airplane or shuttle or lunch). We carried on self-guided hiking.
The next few hours was hiking along the glaciers. It was amazing to hike seeing glacier after glacier. Especially, glacier called Glacier de Pre de Bar was very big and beautiful.
As you can see in the left picture how big and long this glacier is. It sweeps down from the top of Mont Dolent to the valley. It was a little cloudy this day, so the glacier was only visible when clouds had gaps. It made the glacier view even more precious.
Most of the amazing viewpoints in European Alps there is a hut. This place is not an exception. You can see this marvelous view from Rifugio Elena. It was very windy and cold this area, so it was nice to have a protection to take a break at Rigugio Elena.
This is in Italy. It means that hot chocolate with whip cream is a must to have. The one I had at Rifugio Elena was great (picture in the right).
After this break, we climbed at Grand Col Ferret, but it was very foggy, so we kept walking to the campground.
TMB トレイル５日目
行程：28km +1000m, -1410m
山小屋でのいびきがうるさすぎたので４時起床５時出発も苦にならないという１日の始まりだった。
ハイカーが全くいない夜明けのトレイルは美しい。鹿も何匹かのんびりと朝ごはんを食べていてハイカーが朝早くいることに驚いているようだった。朝靄のハイクはだんだん日が差してきて景色が一刻一刻変わっていく様子が美しく大好きだ。
１枚目の写真が朝のモンブラン。雲から出てきたモンブランが朝の黄金色の朝日に照らされて輝いている。壮大な景色だ。荘厳と言ったほうがいいか。とにかく圧巻されながら歩いた。TMBはモンブランの周りを１６０キロ歩くコースだが、どの角度から見てもモンブランは威厳がありそして美しい。TMBに皆が魅了される理由がわかった。
２時間歩くと次の山小屋に到着した。昨日ここまで来れるか山小屋バートーンに聞いて見たところだ（昨日のブログ参照）。２枚目の写真が山小屋付近の風景。綺麗の一言だ。山小屋付近ではガイド付きのハイキンググループがいた。こういったガイド付きハイキングは３０００ユーロ（３０万）かかる。山小屋の宿泊費（夕食、朝食付き）で５５ユーロ程度なので、ガイドハイキングがいかに高いかがわかるだろう。しかし、山小屋の予約も全部してくれるし便利なのは確かだ。自分でも予約できるが空き次第では理想通りの行程にならないこともあるからだ。その点キャンプは簡単だ。
そしてまた歩いて行くと、巨大な氷河、 Glacier de Pre de Barが！山の上からかなり下まで長い氷河だ。またまた圧巻される。３枚目の写真がその氷河。うわー。言葉が出ない。写真も縦にしても収まりきらないのだ。
山小屋エレナがこの氷河の向かい側にあり、そこで一休み。ここはイタリアなので私のお気に入りのイタリア式ホットチョコレートをゲット。たったの３ユーロ。超濃厚なココアにホイップクリームが載っている。こんなすごい氷河を見ながらイタリアンホットチョコレートを飲めるなんて、、、幸せすぎる。
そしてコルフェレットの山を越えてキャンプ場へと到着し、夕飯を食べてテントへ。
2019-01-09
Tour du Mont Blanc Day4
日本語は英語の後にあります。
Trail Day4 (4.5 Km +600 meters) (2.8 miles, +1970 feet)
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| Glacier near the hut |
In the morning Mr.N had intestinal issue. He ate 100g of cheese/day previous two consecutive days. I think that caused the issue, because 200g total of European cheese definitely impacts the intestine that is not used to those kinds of cheese.
We started the walk by stopping a grocery store in Courmayeur. Courmayeur is the second choice to start TMB. Some people fly to Milan and take a bus to Courmayeur to start TMB. So there are many hostels and cafes, and a grocery store.
At the entrance of grocery store, there was a cat. He said meow when he saw me. He was really cute and I pet him. Then I gave some pieces of my turkey jerky. He ate them immediately. So cute.
This day’s itinerary was short, because we had reservation at a hut. The reason we had to stay at a hut this day was that the next official campground was very far and wild camp is prohibited.
During the climb to this day’s destination, Rifugio Bertone, Mr.N got really slow due to intestinal issue. It reminded me of the time he got pulmonary edema: he was that slow. I thought that we might have to go back to Courmayeur to bail out. It is always possible to come back to TMB as long as you are healthy. To keep healthy sometimes you need courage to bail out. Around noon, we arrived at the hut and chilled. The view was beautiful.
Because Mr.N was sick, it would be nice to stop at noon at the hut (Rif.Bertone). However, the problem was that the next day’s hike would be really long. An ideal place to stay was the next hut, Rig.Bonatti, but Bonatti was not available when we planned the TMB. Because the availability could be different due to last minute cancellations, we decided to ask a receptionist at Bertone about Bonatti.
As a general rule of hut, huts are required to help hikers’ accommodation, because huts are not just hotels, they also function as shelters. They need to care hikers’ safety. It is universal. Japanese huts, in general, are not allowed to reject hikers if they want to stay there.
Also we knew that very popular TMB guide book describes that huts usually call for hikers if the next hut has availability. So Mr.N talked to a receptionist.
Mr.N, “We have reservation here, but we are wondering if we could stay at Rif.Bonnati.”
The receptionist said, “You can try.”
Mr.N said, “My phone doesn’t work here, do you know a way to contact them?”
The receptionist looked annoyed and said, “I don’t know.”
She then shrugged.
It was surprisingly unhelpful.
She was clearly not willing to help, so we decided to stay at Bertone. This hut owned a cat (picture in the right), but she was shy and not up for being pet by anybody. She was very cute though. This hut also had a black dog.
Then we went to bed. Here bed means a bunk bed.
We went to bed first in the room, because we ate our own food early, but other people were having expensive dinner served by hut. There were a bunch of bunk beds in the room. Total 20 people were sleeping in that room. I slept for a little until people who finished dinner came in. Soon after people went to bed, I couldn’t sleep due to huge snoring sounds. I hoped it would be gone soon, but it never ended. One person’s snoring was huge, and there was another person having normal snoring sound. Apparently somebody was annoyed by the sounds and did “tsk, tsk..” maybe to stop the snoring. It had no effect.
Several times for a moment the snoring stopped, then he farted. It was also a big noise!
He farted a couple of times during night.
I should have brought ear plugs. I thought, “Oh gush, I am so glad this is the only night I have to stay at a hut!”
To be continued...
TMBトレイル４日目：4.5 Km +600 meters
この日の朝、MrNはお腹を壊した。おそらくチーズが原因だろう。前日と前々日に２日連続で１００gのチーズを食べたのだ。合計で２００gのヨーロピアンチーズ。普段ヨーロッパ産のチーズを食べてないと胃の調子は狂うだろう。そこまでひどいものではなかったのでとりあえずハイキングを開始。
この日は街を通る部分があり、スーパーに寄ることができた。ここで食料を調達。コートメイアーという街だ。ここからTMBをスタートする人も多い。２番目に人気のスタートポイントだ。もしイタリアのミランに飛行機で行くとここにバスが到着する。
スーパーではインスタントライスやジャーキーなどを購入しTMB後半の食料をゲット。スーパーの入り口付近に猫を発見！（１枚目の写真）。可愛い！ターキージャーキーを少しあげると嬉しそうに食べた。かわいいー。
この日の予定は短いものだった。目的地は山小屋バートーン。本当はもっと歩きたかったが、キャンプサイトが１日ではとても行ける距離ではないのでこの日だけは山小屋に泊まることになっていた。かなり前に予約したのだが次の山小屋は空きがなく、バートーンしか空きがなかったためこの日の距離は短かった。
バートーンには昼頃着いてしまったので、山小屋の人に次の山小屋に泊まれるか聞いてみたが、”さあ、知らない”と言われた。
なにっ！これが山小屋の態度？？と思ってしまった。TMBのガイドブック（ほとんどのTMBハイカーが持っている本）によると、山小屋は予約するのをヘルプしてくれるということだった。また、日本の山小屋でもハイカー受け入れはどんな時でも一応義務になっている。
バートーン、すごく感じの悪い受付。。多分その女性はオーナーのうちの一人だと思われる。要注意！
そんなこんなで仕方ないのでバートーンに宿泊。
そして夜。２段ベットが１０個くらい並んだ大部屋で寝る。
夕飯の後皆ベットに潜り込み、眠りにつきたかったが。。。寝れない！
いびきがうるさい！本当にうるさい。巨大ないびきが一晩中続いた。明け方まで。そしていびきが一瞬止まったかと思うと巨大な放屁。ハァ。
我々は次の日の５時に出発することにしていたのでイビキが響く部屋を出て歩き始めた。
はー。山小屋に泊まるの１日だけにして本当に、本当に、よかった。
2019-01-08
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。
2019-01-07
Tour du Mont Blanc Day2
Trail Day2 (18 km, +1316 meters, -929 meters) (11.1 miles, +4318 feet, -3048 feet)
Because the first day of TMB was very hard, we thought that it was better to start a hike early in the morning. So we woke up at 5 a.m. On the way to the pass (col du Bonhomme), we stopped at a hut to have a cup of coffee (refuge de la balme). All huts in Alps are at the great location. The view was spectacular from the hut. Green mountains and glacier with many falls from glacier. How nice to see those with coffee.
What a view! Near the hut |
When we were at the table, one party came in. They were three American females. I knew that they were American, because they spoke American English and one of them had Wholefoods hand sanitizer. Three of them were at a table, but they only tried to order one coffee.
The staff said, “Everyone needs to consume.”
One American female said, “What do you mean?”
I thought, “Come on! Everyone should order if you are at the table!”
French seem to have different English word choices from Americans. Probably that made the American female ask the question. After they understood staff’s comment, two of them ordered drink and one person went outside, because she still didn’t want to order anything.
I thought that it was manner to order something if you go inside and sit at the table. Furthermore, coffee there was only 1.5 euro. If she had money to buy (unnecessary) expensive Wholdfoods brand 70% ethanol, she could definitely afford to buy 1.5 euro coffee.
I think that it would be nice to behave and enjoy where you are. If you are traveling in Europe, it’s better to enjoy behaving in an European way rather than demanding American thing in Europe.
On the way to the pass (Col de laCroix, 2483m) was very pretty. A lot of flowers were in bloom, such as Edelweiss. It was great to see an iconic plant in European Alps. I had never seen this European Alps specific species. It reminded me of the music piece Edelweiss. In Japan, it was mandatory to play Edelweiss with recorder at 7th grade.
The view from the pass was amazing. European Alps has a lot of glaciers. I saw at least a couple of glaciers each day. Although they are melting fast these days, it was still massive and amazing. Because Alps is very steep and and thick glacier is melting, there are tremendous numbers of falls all over the TMB. That makes the view more gorgeous.
This day we climbed two passes and then descended to a campground near the hamlet. This campground is free, probably because the village wants to attract people. There are some hostels and shops in the village. We checked out one of them. I bought apple juice and learned that apple is pomme in French. It was useful to know French names of food for the later TMB. Mr.N got goat cheese, which was made at the farm in the village. I am not a cheese fan, but Mr.N is a big fan of cheese. He ate all of it quickly.
To be continued...
２日目 (18 km, +1316 meters, -929 meters)
初日のハイクが非常にきつかったので、２日目は早めに出発した方が良いだろうということで ５時に起き、まず最初のパス、col du Bonhommeと向かった。col du Bonhommeが見えて来たところで山小屋があったのでコーヒーを飲んで一休みすることにした。MrNはコーヒーを、私はココアを注文した。
ここで３人の女性アメリカ人グループがコーヒーエリアへと入って来た。３人のうち１人しかコーヒーを頼まないが３人ともテーブルへ座った。山小屋の人が全員注文しなければならない旨を伝えると、何も注文したくない人はテーブルエリアの外へ。
私は、”えーっ、失礼やろー”と思いつつ、”これだからアメリカ人はヨーロッパで嫌われるんだろうな”と思った。やはり中に入ったらコーヒーくらい頼むのがマナーだろう。それに日本の山小屋みたいに飲み物はヨーロッピアンアルプスでは高くないのだ。コーヒーはたったの１．５ユーロ（１５０円くらい）だ。
そんなこんなでcol du Bonhommeを目指し歩く。景色が綺麗だ（１枚目の写真）。そしてたくさんの可愛い花も咲いている（２枚目と３枚目の写真）。アルプスの花、エーデルワイスもたくさん咲いていた。まさにサウンドオブミュージックの世界。
この日は２つのパスを超え無料のキャンプグランドに泊まった。ここは小さな村のそばにある芝生のエリアで無料。ラッキー。この日もたくさんの登り下りがあり疲れた。村にはちょっとした商店街があり、そこで私はアップルジュースをMrNは手作りのゴートチーズを買って食した。
2019-01-06
Tour du Mont Blanc Day1
I hiked the entire Tour du Mont Blanc in the 2018 summer. I would like to post the journal of the TMB adventure. TMB is a 170km (110 mile), BEAUTIFUL hike in Europe (France, Italy, Switzerland).
Trail Day1 (18 km, elevation change: +1418 meters, -1318 meters) (11.1 miles, +4652 feet, -4324 feet)
Mount Blanc |
Finally we were able to start the hike this day. Magnificent Mount Blanc was seen from the starting village (picture above). So exciting. First one hour was near the farm village. I saw sheep and cute lamb. In Europe, livestock have bells. So in the country side with farm, you hear nice bell sounds. It is relaxing.
Cute Lamb |
3 km later, there was a hut and train station. It was surprising to see train at 2000 meters of altitude. It is good that everyone has access to the beauty of nature. However, some people probably don’t like it because trains/huts disturb wilderness and campers can’t have absolute peace.
Some sections of TMB has two routes. Usually one is easier and the other is hard. We choose all the harder ones. This day had the alternative route and we had a hard day. There was a big climb (1418 meters/4652 feet) and downhill (1318 meters/4324 feet) with a heavy backpack. Since it was a first day, the amount of food I was carrying was big (I was a little stupid: carrying 4 Japanese curry packs and 9 tuna packs, I should have reduced the amount). Although TMB has more elevation gain/loss compared to Sierra’s hike such as John Muir Trail (JMT), there are some good things. One is a hut. This day after a big climb, I had cold orange juice at a hut.
In European huts, you can get great coffee, hot chocolate, juice, beer,
wine, and any food. Even though it is deep in the wilderness, food is
not expensive. For example, cappuccino is 1.2-2 euros. From the top of
mountain, I saw massive glaciers. In this area, there are many, many
glaciers. It is simply amazing.
After a long day finally we reached the campground in Les Contamines. I learned that French has the plural form of article (les). Japanese doesn’t have singular nor plural nor article. For me it is unbelievable that there is a language that has different forms in articles for plural or singular. Too complicated!
Of course the view was fantastic all day, I was tired by the time to arrive at the campground. However the moment I saw an orange cat at the campground, I forgot how tired I was. The cat walked straight to me. She was affectionate. I pet her and she purred.
After 10-15 minutes of petting, I thought about going to the tent area, but the cat was not done with hanging out with me.
The last time I saw cats on the camping area was on Kauai island in Hawaii. Those in Hawaii are feral cats, but European campgrounds and huts own cats, probably to eliminate rodents. More cats will be posted in the TMB journal....
To be continued...
2018年夏、ツール・ド・モンブラン（Tour du Mont Blanc）のトレッキングをした。
ツール・ド・モンブランとはアルプス最高峰のモンブランの周り１７０kmをフランス、スイス、イタリアに渡り一周歩くトレッキングだ。非常に美しい景色が絶え間なく続くものすごいトレイルだ。MrNと私２人で、８日のうち７日間はキャンプ、１日だけ山小屋泊。もちろんガイドなし、荷物も全部自分たちで運ぶ（テントや食料含めて）、生粋のトレッキング。このブログでは毎日の日記を紹介。
１日目 （18 km, ＋1418 メートル −1318 メートル）
ここまでの長旅を経て、ようやく今日TMBを始める。モンブランが最初にスタートする村レ・ズッシュ Les Houches から壮大なモンブランがお出迎え。
最初の１時間は村の農場を通って行く。羊がたくさん。子羊がたくさんいて可愛い！ラム。。。美味しそう。ヨーロッパでは羊や牛など農場で飼われている動物は皆、ベルをつけている。そのため動くためベルが鳴る。壮大な牧場ではベルが音楽のように鳴り続け、のどかで美しい光景だ。この農場のベルの音、すごく好き。
３キロ歩いたところで最初の山小屋、そして電車の駅が。えー。２０００メートル地点まで電車が通っているのか。やっぱりヨーロッパ、しかし、ロープーウェイやリフトだけでなく電車まで高地まで来ているとは。 人工物が山のどこまで入り込むか、というのは賛否両論だろう。アメリカでは山は完全に自然のままにすると法律で決まっていることが多い。ヨーロッパの場合は歴史的にすでに山小屋は人が介入していたため、違うのだろう。
ここからTMBは２つのトレイルに分かれているセクションがある。後でまた一つのトレイルに戻る。大抵、一つは高低差が少なくほとんどの人が行くトレイル、もう一つのトレイルは高低差が激しいが景色がいいトレイルという具合になっている。我々はもちろん高低差が激しい方を常に選択。この日は初日ということで私は４パックの日本のレトルトカレーパックと９パックものツナをパックに入れていたので上り下りが辛かった。後でツナを持って来すぎたことを後悔。
しかし、景色は絶景だった（写真）。大きな氷河に覆われた壮大な山。カラフルな綺麗な花。緑の絨毯のような草原。どこを見ても綺麗で何時間でのここに佇んでいたいと思うほどのすごさだ。
しかし疲れていたので、山を登って降りた後に山小屋に立ち寄りオレンジジュースを飲んだ。日本の山小屋と違ってぼったくりの値段ではなくコーヒー２ユーロ、ジュース２ユーロという感じで躊躇なく払える値段なのだ。ありがたい。
この後さらにもうひとつ山を越え、ようやく初日のキャンプ場（レスコンタミン）に到着。かなり疲れていたが、オレンジの猫を発見し、元気復活。猫の方も撫でてもらってご機嫌。ゴロゴロ言っていた。カワイイ！！！！私のそばにずっとくっついていた。猫と一緒に２日目からハイクしたいほどかわいかった。
ずっと猫と遊んでいたかったのだが（笑、次の日に向けて十分休養をとることが大事なので、ささっと共同シャワー場でシャワーを浴び、レトルトカレーをジェットボイルで温めて食べ、テントに入り就寝した。
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