And the UTMBler greets daily

After three days of culinary exceptional circumstances, it was time to leave Chamonix and France in general. I expected four more days to Martigny. Longer stops were no longer planned. On the contrary, it was necessary to take advantage of the current good weather window before something else came in. I would complete the TMB in 1.5 day stages and then join my own track with two more tough passes.

But let's stick with the TMB for now. Comfortably but with annoyingly heavy traffic, we went up to Argentiere at the end of the valley. After that, it became lonelier again. I wanted to follow a gravel road through a ski area to the Col de Balme. To my surprise, the road was closed. The chairlift was apparently completely restored, including replacement of the steel cable, and the trail seemed to lead right through there. So, acute risk to life, complete closure! However, one of the best trails of the TMB awaited at the pass. And the alternative crossing would be the heavily frequented mountain pass road. So, no good alternatives in sight. So, a little awkwardly, I turned a few meters past the barrier onto the gravel road. After all, it was Saturday, and the French certainly wouldn't be working there anyway. The stereotypes confirmed themselves. I survived the ascent. With an absolutely magnificent view of the entire Mont Blanc Massif, I said goodbye to the truly great trail down to Switzerland, to Trient.

When I arrived at the bottom, a juicy green meadow awaited me, which could be used for camping for just five francs, and another hippie hostel with delicious, extravagantly large hot dogs. A really great place to spend the night. Unfortunately, it was only noon, and I still had to cover quite a few vertical meters. From the Col della Forclaz, I wanted to continue crossing over to Lac de Champex. And somewhere halfway, I wanted to set up my camp. Theoretically, according to the map, it looked promising.

Practically, starting from the Col della Forclaz, I met my old acquaintances again, the UTMBlers. I was really at a loss now. Where on earth did they come from again? Yesterday was already the third award ceremony in Chamonix, and to make matters worse, they suddenly came from the completely opposite direction, namely towards me. And so, they were really starting to annoy me. It's okay to block the trails for such an event. But it's been going on for days now, with no end in sight. In any case, I was now allowed to push my bike up the steep trail in the midst of the crowd. And where I could find a quiet sleeping place was also a mystery to me.

It went on like this for almost three hours. I uphill, a UTMBler downhill every 1-2 minutes. At the highest point, I had to find a solution because I didn't want to ruin the descent with oncoming traffic. Fortunately, the landscape opened up - the steep mountain forest gave way to hilly alpine meadows. There was also a spring and a gigantic view of the Rhone Valley far below me. With a strenuous climb of over 100 vertical meters, I finally found an unseen place to spend the night. And it just didn't end. I saw the bouncing lights of headlamps passing by for half the night. Until eventually the UTMBler spectacle was finally over.