We wished our hostesses a fond farewell, thanked them for the best dinner music, and began the hike up to our last Col of the trip.I didn’t wait around for the others as I marched up the trail. Most of the ascent was done from within the cover of trees, so I didn’t get a good look at the receding village or valley floor as I went up.

Once above the trees the views returned to me. Oh how I missed them. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing the sides of mountains as they shoot towards the ground below them.

Several pink flowers dotted the landscape, as well as an abandoned house, as I continued on up to the loneliest looking of buildings at the Col de Balme.

It was here at Refuge du Col de Balme that the Swiss world blended in with the French world. Switzerland on one side, and France on another. Borders exist only on paper. In nature, they are invisible and there is no distinction from one side of a field to another. Except for this one, because dead ahead was the massif of Mont Blanc. It had taken nearly 9 days, but we were finally in sight of it once more.

We worked our way down and across the tops of rolling hills towards the Aig des Posettes, the high point of todays hike. It was a mostly easy hike up to the top, with only minor scrambling at some points.

Above us hang gliders had taken to the skies as we sat down on the rocky ground and broke out our snacks: chocolate, banana chips, more chocolate, and some nuts.

I can’t believe that this trek is almost over. There’s only a few more days on the TMB. It has been an amazing experience and journey so far.

The hike down wasn’t that bad, but it was just as tough as some of the others. It wasn’t long before we were safely under the cover of the trees again. The sun was high in the sky by this point and it was shaping up to be a warm day. More switchbacks as we made our way down. I was glad that the ground changed from rock to sandy dirt to leaves. It made the impact of the foot with the ground a lot easier to handle.

We found our way easily enough to the Auberge for the night. I said goodbye to Laura (USA) since she was continuing on to another town and ending her hike a day early.

I learned to play Taki (the Israel version of Uno), and had a good dinner with some Dutch people. Learned that tafle is Dutch for table.

The setting sun lit up the sky in a bright purple, and the mountains glowed a beautiful pink.