Day 10, Stage 3: Les Mottets to Courmayeur

Stage 3, about 21 km. It went from the mountain hut Les Mottets directly up to about 2520 meters, namely to the mountain pass 'Col de la Seigne'; the start of the ascent was practically 10 meters next to our room. Before that, we had breakfast, although breakfast was not as good as dinner (maybe we were spoiled), and packed our backpacks. We were ready to start shortly after 8 o'clock. When we reached the mountain pass, we were surprised that we had already been on the road for 2 hours and the 650 meters in altitude we had covered flew by. We had slowly gotten used to the hiking and climbing :))

At the mountain pass, the highest mountain in Europe west of the Caucasus, Mont Blanc, appeared for the first time in clear weather. Impressively towering at 4807m! We were very happy and also took the opportunity to take photos. We had met two Israelis on the previous stage, one of them a physicist and passionate flower photographer. We supported each other to take 'proper selfies'. From up there, we had a great view of the mountains of Val Veni. Furthermore, the mountain pass is also the border between France and Italy. So, for Jörg, it was the first time to enter Bella Italia!

Afterwards, we went downhill again, passing by the former border hut, which has been converted into a small museum about the nature around Mont Blanc. We learned that the Mont Blanc massif was formed by the superposition of the European and African tectonic plates. The 'African side' is geologically softer than the European side, which has barren and steep slopes and sometimes a different type of rock. We continued past the mountain hut Elisabetta, with a break in the shade of a ruin, as we had brought a packed lunch from the overnight hut, quite delicious! Then we continued downhill to Lac Chambal and from there up to a hill (2430m). This climb was very varied, with many flowers, streams to cross, abandoned alpine huts, incredibly many different butterflies and caterpillars, and also marmots! It should be mentioned that we also saw a small, hopping weasel. Furthermore, yesterday near Col des Fours, a mountain goat standing on a rock :)) Cool!!

The subsequent descent to Courmayeur also offered great views of the mountains and the valley at the beginning. Later on, the hiking trail ran along ski slopes and accordingly there was only monotonous vegetation, except for grass and a few trees, nothing special. Therefore, and to save ourselves 500 meters of altitude, we decided to take a cable car ride. But it was still more than 4 km to go. We also suspected that it would no longer be in operation after 6 p.m. Therefore, Jörg increased the pace, he set the 'pace' with Janina in his slipstream, and so we flew down the mountain. Shortly before the cable car (Plan Checrouit), however, we missed the turnoff to the cable car... There was also no sign... (the TMB route on Italian soil was not as well marked overall as in France). At the height of the cable car - we looked down at it from the slope, there were maybe 50 meters as the crow flies and shrubs and trees between us - we decided to take the right turnoff. So, we had to go 5 minutes uphill again! We arrived at the cable car station shortly before 6 p.m., closing time was 5:50 p.m., the cable car attendant was still on the phone with the base station, as the cable cars were still in operation. But then he made it clear to us that unfortunately it was no longer possible! Bummer... We sat down on a park bench and watched the last cable cars run and then stop. Resigned, we took a sip from one of the two water bottles, the water was down to about one third. Jörg was annoyed about missing the turnoff and the now impending downhill hike to Courmayeur, which was at 1200m. We were still at about 1700m.

As we sat there, suddenly the cable car attendant came and offered to take us down to the valley with his car! Cool, a car shuttle! The 'road' was so built that it could also provide fun as a roller coaster in Disneyland. After 10 minutes, the friendly attendant let us off at a bus stop next to his office. Gracie! A minute later, the bus even arrived, but we went to the hotel and took the opportunity to explore the small town of Courmayeur. We arrived at Hotel Berthod (very good!) shortly before 7 p.m. and checked into our room (with its own Jacuzzi and a view of the mountains from the bed). Afterwards, we devoured a delicious Italian (huge) pizza at a nearby pizzeria (du Tunnel). A cool, tasty beer after only glacier water was a must! Dolce vita!