TMB Day 4: Courmayeur to Refuge des Mottets

We got up way too early at 6am and were fully packed at 6:30, which left a whole 45 minutes to twiddle our thumbs before hotel breakfast. While we waited we pored over the map and realised that the refuge where we were going to have lunch is actually off the path uphill. So we went to a bakery across the street and got warm pizza bread to take with us.

We took the bus up to a place called La Vasaille up at around 1600 meters. We were very glad that we did, because from there downhill (!) it was going to have been 4 hours to Courmayeur. Meaning it would have easily taken us 6 or 7 hours to walk up. On the bus up there was also a nice young American couple who left their four (!) kids at home to come and hike the TMB. They've were doing the circuit with camping in between, meaning a lot more gear to carry.

It was cold and drizzly when we started off just before 9am. It took us just under an hour to reach Lake Combal. From then it was another hour of flat walking through the glacial valley and then a slow climb up to the pass Col du la Seigne from Italy to France. The pass itself was a very barren and hostile place yesterday. Extremely cold and windy. It was also very cloudy, so there wasn't much to see there.

We crossed the pass around 1pm and started descending to our refuge. After we got out from the clouds it started to warm up and the first mountain and valley became visible. Very beautiful. We met a flock of sheep with their sheep dog. It was fascinating to watch the dog gather such a huge number of sheep and how they all paid attention.

We arrived in the Refuge des Mottets just before 3pm. We were some of the first, so we managed to get a hot shower and our choice of bunk beds. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the common room studying the map for the next few days.

There was no reception anywhere near the refuge, so posting this one day late...

Highlight of the day : dinner in the refuge that consisted of very tasty bean soup, cucumber salad, rice with vegetables and what I think was beef bourguignon, followed by cheese and panna cotta for desert. Just after the main course and before desert one of the hostesses played a few songs on a hand organ.

Lowlight of the day : tiniest shower on the TMB so far. 👎 Water nice and hot though 👍