Auberge du Mont-Blanc in Trient, is more reminiscent of a mountain hut than a hotel. Trient is a very small Suisse village in the St Bernard region with a visible French atmosphere and architecture. It's on the road between Montigney and Chamonix, but surely not a destination vacation stop. Auberge's only visible clientele are hikers and a couple of power hydro plant workers.
The rooms are small chambers of two twin beds, less than what I had as an university student. Dinner was served at 7p with all the guests. Each had a choice between two main courses of pork and rice, or tomato and potato fondu. There were 5 courses. We started with bread, then a delicious salad. This was followed by a yummy celery soup with some local cheese. It was very salty but just what we needed after a day of hiking. Main courses were abundant and filling. The fondu folks had left over golden potatoes that they saved for our next day. Rice and pork was filling. I'll always choose a pork meal! We were all tired and soon went to our rooms for the night.
We had a long day ahead of us. One of two hard days on our route. We were scheduled to travel 14Km, climb nearly 1400 meters before dropping 1200m into a truly Swiss style village of Champex.
Buffet Breakfast of plain yogurt, cereal and bread did not seem adequate and I wished I had saved some of those left over gold potatoes.
The trail out of Trient started steep immediately until it reached the main trail out of the Col de la Forclaz. It then followed an irrigation ditch, bisse, on a gradual climb to the base of a glacier where a mountain cafe was operated by a sole gal, covered in flour. The use if the water closet was reserved for customers only so I bought a cup of instant coffee and the girls lined up in a cue. I think there were other goodies bought. It was a nice break before the hard work started.
We began climbing a steep and rough trail. Red and white striped painted lines on the rock guided us onward. Several rest stops and snacks were required. An earlier wash out of the trail was replaced by a sketchy climb around. The pass topped out at nearly 8,770 feet. We were met with dozens of hikers traveling in a counter clockwise directions. At the summit we ate another traditional alp climbers lunch of cured sausage, cheese and bread. I brought some packaged almond butter that provided more calories for the climb down.
Then the quad burning descent began. The sun was muted by the cloud over caste. The trail steeply descended off the Fenétre d' Arpette before scrambling through a boulder field. The sign said it was a 2 1/2 hour descent into Champex. But we nearly doubled it. The rain held off until we were off the steep rocks, but still made the footwork a bit slippery.
Lac de Champex is a nice little Swiss village. The Hotel du Glacier is five star in my book. The manager is exceptionally nice and accommodating. We have a very nice room with our own shower and bathroom. The resteraunt down the street was excellent. We had a fresh green salad and a Milano pizza.
Tomorrow's route will be relaxing. A recovering 5 miles through the valley mostly descending through villages and farm land. We can sleep in.
Good night for now.
