Completing the Tour du Mont Blanc
We had breakfast at 7 AM with our trail friends, enjoying great croissants with butter and jam, cereal, and coffee. A perfect start to what was our last 'up' of the entire trip!
The morning's climb was relatively easy, leading us over two peaks to the Col de Brévent. We got stuck behind a slow-moving Spanish family with zero trail awareness, but once we passed them, they were hot on our heels! The final push involved a few ladders and rock scrambles.
The peak was swarmed with tourists who had taken the gondola up, a stark contrast to the quiet trails we're used to.
We began the long descent toward our lunch spot, a refuge about 45 minutes away. We indulged in a delicious lunch: a cheese omelette with diced tomato, bread with butter to make open-faced sandwiches, a final scoop of Nutella (using the last of that extra bread we had hoarded), and a coke.
The descent felt like it went on forever. We realized that 'running' down the mountain was better for our knees than taking heavy, deliberate steps, even if our toes weren't happy about it. We burst out of the woods into Les Houches, completing the circle!
We checked back into the Gîte Michel Fagot, where this all began. We snagged a room for six, immediately utilized the showers and laundry, and finally unpacked our clean clothes from our luggage, a true luxury.
We celebrated with a victory blonde beer at the bar around the corner and even played a game of foosball with a couple from Portland.
Dinner was great. We sat with Mackenzie, Kaitlyn, two Dutch hikers, and one French hiker. The menu included: greek salad with fresh bread, pasta with zucchini and red sauce, and gingerbread milkiness for dessert (very tasty, if a bit runny).
Now, it's time for podcasts and some final rest. We did it. We completed the Tour du Mont Blanc!