September 9, 2024. Final Thoughts

 What a great hike!  The Tour du Mont Blanc was spectacular. It was hard but I was never concerned that I couldn’t make it. I never got sick or had any physical issues (other than somewhat sore feet) and for the most part had pretty good weather.  I feel very fortunate to be healthy enough to do this.
 
The Alps seem very different from other mountains I’ve been to in that they are so vertical.  Spires jut up many thousands of feet out of relatively low valleys. And they have glaciers!, at least for now.   Pictures from the 1990’s show the glaciers WAY larger than they are today.  It is very sad how fast they are disappearing. 

Inside Mer de Glace glacier 

Here are some final actual TMB statistics (just because I like that sort of thing) from my watch recordings. In the 10 days I was hiking:
Distance - 106 miles (170 kilometers)
Ascent - 35,140 feet (10,710 meters)
Steps - 301,608

As all of you know, I have also been encouraging you to support my favorite organization, Tuleyome. For those of you who have already given, you have my deepest gratitude and, I’ll be sending you a personal thank you card (if I haven’t already). If you had planned to donate and haven’t gotten around to it yet, please consider it now. Here’s the link one more time:  https://secure.tuleyome.org/forms/bills-tour-du-mont-blanc-2024?campaignId=21&

Yesterday I had an extra day in Chamonix, a really beautiful town. I wanted to take a gondola ride way up to the Aiguille du Midi (12,600 ft), the highest point you can get to by cable car on Mont Blanc. I was told that there would be nothing to see though because it was in dense clouds. So I went halfway and hiked over to the Mer de Glace glacier. Here are some pictures…












































Comments

  1. BrentSeptember 9, 2024 at 2:38 PM

    Congratulations on finishing the Tour! Impressive! Appreciate the shots from inside the glacier ---give at least the appearance of cooling since it's pushing 100F here in Davis today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andre and EllenSeptember 10, 2024 at 6:38 AM

    Congratulations Bill! What an achievement! Thanks for letting us follow along from the comfort of our home. We wish for you many more adventures!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2024 at 12:05 PM

    The ice tunnel looks amazing! Congratulations completing a tough ride! And to think you just started biking a few years ago! A true inspiration to others to continue to try new things in life!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

August 23, 2024 Genèva, Switzerland

Image
  At the Sacramento airport (notice the  Tuleyome  travel T) I’m in Switzerland!  I arrived yesterday with no problems with one tiny exception. When I was sitting down waiting for my first flight I noticed that the strap on the backpack I was planning to use for 100 miles of hard hiking was literally holding on by a thread!  A $5 airport sewing kit and some sloppy sewing fixed that right up.  I think I’ll carry the sewing kit with me though… Before  After After arriving in Genèva I did lots of walking around town in a jet lag haze but it was interesting. The hotels give tourists a city bus pass for the length of your stay. That also includes some nice boats that cross the lake from one part of the city to another   I’m pretty sure that’s Mont Blanc in the distance. It looks pretty intimidating! The famous water jet in Lac Léman, Genèva Today’s hike.  Cable car up to Mont Salève (actually in France) And hike back down to Genèva . 
Read more

August 16, 2024 - Half Dome!

Image
  Half Dome Sunset from the Backpacker's Campground in Yosemite Valley August 11, 2024.   My Tour du Mont Blanc training hiking this past week was special.  I've always wanted to hike to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.  I've seen it from the bottom many times, but not from the top.  This last week I finally did it together with my son, Nick, who turned 28 while we were there. For people who are new to my Tour du Mont Blanc blog, please take a look at my very first blog entry on July 1 for an explanation. I'll start with my training totals since July 1, 2024 Distance hiked: 189 miles (305 km) (goal 200 miles) Ascent hiked: 28,671 feet (8,739 m) (goal 30,000 ft) Several months ago I got a permit to hike Half Dome on August 13.  Many people do the full 15 mile, 5,700 ft. ascent round trip in one day, but I decided to get a wilderness permit for a night in Little Yosemite Valley, about half way to Half Dome.  An additional benefit of ...
Read more