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Tour du Mont Blanc Day Four – Les Chapieux to Rifugio Elisabetta

The small village of Les Chapieux sits at the western most point of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Although it’s elevation is 1549m (5,082ft), far higher than any land in the U.K. it is surrounded on all sides by higher mountain ranges giving it a somewhat enclosed, protected feeling. It has a shop with attached pizzeria, two functional but not luxurious Auberges, a tourist information office and a large Aire de camping car.

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Tour du Mont Blanc Day Three – Refuge de Nant Borrant to Les Chapeiux

If day one of the Tour du Mont Blanc was an hors d’oeuvre and day two a starter, day three is the 16oz steak and chips. Today we finally enter the land of big mountains with two high cols, the Col du Bonhomme and the Col de La Croix Bonhomme to get over and one one iconic mountain hut, Refuge Col de La Croix Bonhomme to visit.

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Tour du Mont Blanc Day Two – Refuge du Fioux to Refuge de Nant Borrant

The Tour du Mont Blanc and the Alps in general are perfect for hut to hut walking. In France they are generally called Refuges, in Italy Rifugios and in Switzerland Auberges. They are often located right in the heart of the mountains among the most spectacular scenery and provide you with dinner, breakfast and a bed for the night. They also have showers, of varying degrees of efficiency. Last nights was by means of a token, which gave me maybe fifty seconds of mildly warm water before stopping altogether whilst in mid soap. We shared a room with an older German couple, the lady spoke reasonable English, the man none, which matches the extent of my German.

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My walk to Sycamore Gap and some thoughts

“This oak tree and me, we’re made of the same stuff.” Carl Sagan

There has been a great outpouring of emotion and some anger this week and not just on social media about the Sycamore Gap tree. For those who have no idea you can read the story here.
I thought I would tell of my own walk to that tree one grey October day some years ago and share some thoughts as to why it’s felling may have touched people’s emotions.

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Tour du Mont Blanc Day One – Les Houches to Refuge du Fioux

The storm eventually passed over in the early hours leaving behind a dry but overcast morning. Steve slept right through it all, not a care in the world, that’s an Irishman for you. Although it’s dry now, more thunder and lightning are forecast for the afternoon, just as we will be at our high point on the Col de Voza, so there is some urgency to our efforts to get out of Les Houches and on the trail in order to beat the storm.

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The Tour du Mont Blanc – An Introduction

It’s been a long two days in the driving seat, it turns out the Alps are a long way from the UK but at 5pm we roll into Bellevue Campsite in Les Houches. Dark, brooding, rain filled clouds are hanging low over the Chamonix valley cloaking the mountains. The atmosphere is still and electrified, awaiting the coming storm. The driving has stopped but walking the Tour du Mont Blanc is just about to begin. I’m tired but excited in equal measure and I can’t wait for the next twelve days.

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A walk up Place Fell from Patterdale

Place Fell is one of Lakeland’s iconic and best known mountains. The walk up it from Patterdale, one of it’s prettiest villages is a Goldilocks walk, not too long, nor too steep, but just right. It attracts children and grandmothers alike, neither of whom would be inclined to tackle other tops and the view from its small but perfectly formed summit is also one of Lakeland’s finest.

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A walk up Rest Dodd and The Nab from Brotherswater

It’s a dank grey day in Lakeland with a cloud filled leaden sky hovering worryingly over it. A day where the monochrome clouds threaten to descend to earth and smother the tops with their blanket of invisibility. Having a self imposed rule that I will see the view from each summit as opposed to only the hand in front of my face has inevitably meant some return visits on my journey through the Wainwright’s. This is because the weather does what it wants and does not seem the slightest bit interested in my needs, wants or desires. If we were in a relationship it would not be a happy one. It’s all good exercise though and as the saying goes, a cloudy day on the hill is still better than a good day in the office, not that I have had occasion to visit the office recently. And so it is in this frame of mind that I set off, more in hope than anticipation towards Rest Dodd and The Nab.

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Stony Cove Pike and Hartsop Dodd from Brotherswater

Putting my boots on in the car park of the Brotherswater Inn, my eyes are drawn upwards to the long straight grassy ridge that leads to the summit of Caudale Moor. Stretching high into the blue sky it gives the mountain the look of a giant green Lakeland pyramid and I wonder what ancient king is buried at its centre. This ridge is my chosen route to the heights today where I’ll be visiting Caudale Moor, (which has a somewhat split personality as it is also known as Stony Cove Pike and John Bell’s Banner) and Hartsop Dodd. The ridge looks pretty steep from the car park but I console myself with the words of Wainwright, who says “Of the many approaches to the summit, this is by far the best”.

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Five Wainwrights from St Peter’s Church Martindale

The morning sunlight is casting soft shadows over the quiet valley of Martindale as I park up at St Peter’s Church. Time passes slowly in this peaceful remote valley on the edge of Lakeland. St Peter’s sister church, St Martin’s, a little further down the valley dates from the fifteenth century and has a thirteen hundred year old yew tree in its graveyard. Not far away there is a Queen Victoria post box dating from 1851. Five Wainwright’s is a lot for me but they fitted together nicely when I was planning the route. So ahead of me, on what is turning out to be a fine spring day are Steel Knotts, Wether Hill, Loadpot Hill, Arthur’s Pike and Bonscale Pike.

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