TMB Day 3
Today would be our first border crossing, from France into Italy,, at 8200 feet elevation on Col de la Seigne. This is followed by a descent into the Aosta Valley in Italy. The trail as mapped ends at a bus stop in La Visaille, where a you can catch the free bus into Courmayeur. Our plan was to stay the night in Courmayeur, then bus back up the valley tomorrow, and backtrack a bit, to pick up the trail where we left off.
Breakfast at Auberge De La Nova starts at 7am. We were there as the line was just starting to form. It wasn’t really necessary to get up so early since we were stuck waiting until 9:15 for our scheduled bus ride. But we were starting to get into a rhythm of early mornings and thought we might also try our luck finding empty seats on earlier busses. There was no such luck, the buses are small and each one was full. Tour operators, who were unable to purchase enough tickets, were waiting at the bus stop trying, with little luck, to convince drivers to squeeze people into any free seat they could find. I can’t reiterate enough how important it is to get these bus tickets the minute you arrive in Les Chapieux. Alternatively, you can stay in Refuge des Mottets, further up the valley and get a ride up there in the afternoon. Of course you can hike there as well, either up the valley or by crossing Col des Fours on day 2 and dropping down from there. Look up details on the Cols des Fours TMB variant for this option, but it will require even more uphill hiking on an already difficult day.
Our scheduled bus eventually came, and we started our hike at the bus stop for Ville de Glaciers. A handful of generic stone buildings comprise the town of Ville de Glaciers and it wasn’t clear to me if any of them were commercial or residential. The trail leads away from the town to the east, across the river, then turns north toward Refuge des Mottets.
From here it’s an easy climb for about a mile. Then, just as Refuge des Mottets comes into view a short distance below, the trail begins a 2.5 mile, 2000 foot climb to Col de la Seigne and the Italian border.
The valley below stays in view as you climb, stretching farther and farther off in the distance. At the same time, the Aiguille des Glaciers mountain peak grows larger, giving you a great view of the aptly named Glacier des Glaciers (Glacier of the Glaciers) near its peak.
We reached the col shortly after noon and decided to break for lunch. It was cold and windy at the top, so we walked a short distance into Italy to find shelter by a large rock outcrop. We had purchased a bagged lunch from the hotel to avoid running into the issues we had encountered at Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme the day before. But we didn’t know at the time that Refugio Elisabetta, an hour or two downhill from here, had a delicious looking menu and clean tables and restrooms. It’s a beautiful spot to rest and eat lunch and on a second trip through I would definitely be willing to wait for it.
As you approach the Rifugio Elisabetta the valley opens into a wide grassland which eventually becomes a wetland as you continue to descend toward Lac Combal. A long, very straight gravel road runs along the wetlands and is used as the main route for that section of the TMB.
Rifugio Combal sits at the end of Lac Combal, just after you pass the wetlands. A paved road continues steeply downhill from here, and the TMB route turns southeast and climbs to Arête du Mont Favre, a ridge line that overlooks and eventually descends into Courmayeur. Our route continues down the steep paved road for a mile and a half to into the town of La Visaille, the final bus stop on the Val Veny Orange Line. If you have the energy and enough daylight, you can instead take the TMB route into Courmayeur from here. It is another 7-8 miles from here and there is also a gondola that will shorten the trip, taking you down the other side. I’ll cover it briefly in tomorrow’s post…..but we skipped it.
The road to La Visaille follows the Dora di Veny river, eventually crossing it just before the bus stop. We arrived 5 minutes before the bus to find the stop packed full of hikers. The bus arrived empty and left uncomfortably full. We were packed in like a rush hour subway, squeezed between people with barely enough room to stand. As the road wound down to Courmayeur for the next 20 minutes, the bus would lean and sway on corners, causing the crowd of exhausted people to bump into each other and shuffle around to avoid falling.
If you arrive with enough time, consider walking down to the next stop and catching a bus the opposite way, coming up the hill. If you do this you will be able to easily get a seat, and you can remain in your seat as the bus reaches the end of the line, turns around and packs full of people.
We unloaded at the final bus stop and walked a short distance to Hotel Bouton d’Or, where we would stay for 3 nights. This is one of our favorite hotels on the trip. The location is convenient for exploring Courmayeur and the room was large and comfortable. And we were finally able to have both our shoes and our luggage in the room, a pair of conveniences that we never thought we would be without.
Start: Tour Du Mont Blanc
Previous: Day 2: Les Contamines to Les Chapieux
Next: Day 4,5: La Visaille to Courmayeur (TBD)
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