TMB Day 3: Refugio Bonatti to Courmayeur

We had an early rise at 6am this morning for breakfast at 6:15. Breakfast consisted of a lot of small bits of bread with jam and butter, and a few slices of cheese. This so far seems to be standard for the included breakfasts at the refugios and hotels. We were ready and set off at 7:30.

The first 3 hours we walked along meadows looking at the rising mountains on the opposite side of the Acosta Valley. The south ridges of the Mont Blanc massiv were becoming more visible as we progressed. There were a few helicopters and small planes flying over the valley, probably for sightseeing tourists. The noise from them is pretty loud.

Around 11am we got to the Refugio Bertoli, where we had a break and proper coffees. After that it was a steep 700 meter descent into the town of Courmayeur.  The downhill path ran mainly through the forest, which was nice, because the sun was fairly strong and it was good to be mostly in the shade. Just as we reached town there was an area where Mount Blanc itself was visible, covered in a good layer of snow.

In town the path brought us onto the church square, which we briefly inspected and which was pretty. We then went to the tourist office to inquire about a bus that can take us part of the way tomorrow. Normally tomorrow should be a roughly 19km day, but the Refugio where you're supposed to stay was not reachable when I booked accommodation in the end of last year. And now it was reachable but already booked out. I clearly missed the window of opportunity there. So I booked us into the next one along, which happens to be 27km away, with two steep ascents and one steep descent. At the pace that we're going it'd take us some 14-16 hours, if we're to make it at all. Hence we will try to take the bus for the part of the first assent.

After getting bus tickets it was onto the hotel, via some outdoor shops for hat shopping. Followed by showers, doing the washing and dinner of hamburgers. Jack's left foot is very sore for no reason that we can work out, so we bought some different insoles to try tomorrow. Fingers crossed. My cold is doing better, and I could feel more energy this morning. The forecast says thunderstorms and rain in the first half of the day, so that'll be new on the trip so far.

Highlight of the day : seeing the first set of goats on the mountainside this morning. And watching the third episode of Good Omens before bedtime on the hotel WiFi.

Lowlight of the day : buying incorrect insoles at first. Doh 🤪