It was our third day on the Tour du Mont Blanc. We had hiked into Italy that morning, watching a herd of ibex lollygagging at Col de la Seigne, while Paul strummed his ukulele. Working our way toward Courmeyeur, we stopped at Rifugio Elizabeta for lunch — a cold Moretti and a hot bowl of pasta — all in the shadow of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe. And it struck me. This wasn’t a typical backpacking trip. This was more like glampacking in Spritz-erland.
How did this all come about?
Originally, the Tour de Mont Blanc (TMB) wasn’t even on my radar for 2026. Moving to France in May, I figured we’d be busy enough finding an apartment, getting settled in and learning about Dijon. Most people hike the TMB from refuge to refuge, and reservations for 2026 opened in October 2025 and fill up well in advance. In my mind, 2027 would be the earliest option.
As it turned out, I saw a post in a TMB group on Facebook from a guy in California named Jon, who had two sets of two bookings for an 8-day itinerary that he couldn’t use and was looking to sell. It was an aggressive, 8-day itinerary in August. I just needed to find one person crazy enough to jump in and join me.
Paul and I have met, but never hiked. We are both from Southern California, where we share a number of backpacking friends in common (Jason, Ric, Derek, Adam, etc.). Though we had never hiked together, we did share one key thing in common. We had both moved to France. The Venn diagram that represented ‘SoCal backpacking friends’ and ‘currently living in France’ intersected at the two of us.
Hiking the TMB with Paul was a pleasure. I picked up new French phrases as we hiked. Pas mal (when taking in an amazing view, or sipping on a cold beer at a refuge). Petit à petit as I paced myself up another big climb over a col. His pace was about 10 years younger than mine, and oftentimes he’d reach the next refuge before me, with a cold beverage ready when I finally arrived. Pas mal, indeed!
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to Jen and Priscilla. They had picked up Jon’s other pair of reservations, and we crossed paths at most of the refuges. These young women brought positive energy to the TMB, and it was great to break bread together along the way.
Day 1 – Pleasure Mixed with Pain
The first day was tough. I realized that my stair master training at the gym might not have been adequate. I had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro back in January, but my fitness level had dropped since then. Assembling IKEA cabinets isn’t the same as repeatedly hiking Black Butte from the lower trailhead.
That first day, we ended up climbing 5,072 feet (1546 meters over 21 kilometers). Most people stop in or near Les Contamines on Day 1, but we continued on, climbing well off the TMB proper to the amazing Refuge des Prés. It was hot. The day was long. But we made it to the refuge, where a hot shower and meal (and calf compression sleeves) made everything a little better. Our biggest climb of the itinerary was finished. The remaining days would consist of climbs closer to 3000 feet (~914 meters).
Adaptation
In the past, I’ve strived to hike THE trail, whatever that trail might be. My wife Joan got a taste of this the first time we backpacked the Trans-Catalina Trail. Picking up our permit at the Conservancy office in Avalon, the helpful person told us of a “short cut” that would shave about six miles off the trail. Joan liked the sound of that, but I’d have none of it. I was determined to hike the entire trail.
That ideology still lives somewhere in the recesses of my psyche, though it’s mellowed with time. This trek on the TMB proved that adaptation was not a compromise, but an essential element to a successful trek.
Going in, we planned to take a bus from Courmayeur up the valley to Arnuova, where we would hike over the Grand Col and down to La Fouly. Not the purist route, but an adaptation that suited our schedule and turned Day Four from a true leg-killer into another enjoyable day on the trail.
The biggest adaptation? The food along each day. On Day Two we stopped at Fromage Beaufort for a tour of their cheese cellar and a sampling of their wares. Each day we had the opportunity to break for lunch at a different refuge, complete with a cold beer and a hot meal. I’ve never eaten so well on the trail, and it’s one adaptation that was easy to embrace.
Day 8 — the day we planned to finish the TMB — we made a game day call to skip straight to Chamonix. Thunderstorms were forecast for the morning and the afternoon, and the prospect of climbing the Grand Balcon with no views of Mont Blanc in potentially dangerous conditions didn’t sound nearly as attractive as a final night in a hotel, a hot shower and a burger somewhere in town. This was the most difficult adaptation for me, but I consoled myself with the thought that I could easily return and hike it another time. C’est la vie!
As it turns out, I’ll be returning to Chamonix next week to hike the Grand Balcon, this time bringing Joan and our two labradoodles as well. Just one of the many perks of living in Dijon — we’re just a 3 hour drive from Chamonix.
I’ll be writing up more day-by-day details on the Tour du Mont Blanc over at SoCalHiker later this month. If you’ve got questions about my TMB experience, drop a comment below.
So beautiful; what an adventure! Love all the pics but that last one really sums it up. Happy hiking!