The Tour Du Mont Blanc: Hiking 110 Miles Across the Alps

Somewhere between France, Italy and Switzerland, there's a trail that circles giants. The Tour de Mont Blanc, one of the most famous long distance hikes in Europe. The trail starts and finishes in Les Houches, a small village in the Chamonix Valley. With roughly 110 miles and 10,000 meters of incline, it is no walk in the park. The fact I'm only just getting round to hike this trail proves how many great walks we have in the world. Oh, I'm Liam by the way. People generally stay in the mountain huts in the Alps or at designated campsites, but for me, it totally defeats the point of doing all of this. I want to be as close to nature as possible, so I'll be wild camping wherever I can, carrying everything I need to survive in the mountains for a week. I'll be using all the freezing glacial rivers to my advantage, drinking from them, bathing and washing my clothes in them, totally reliant on the nature around me. The Alps in summer are said to be idyllic, with flowering meadows, alpine cowbells and small picturesque villages. I was so looking forward to experiencing it. I arrived at the train station early in the morning. This meant I had a full day's walking ahead of me. I took some time to take everything in and set off through the famous Tour de Mont Blanc Arch. The blue skies were out and summer was in full bloom in the Alps. This is just the start. What a restaurant at the top. That is such a good sight. What a crazy introduction to the Tour de Mont Blanc. I wouldn't have it any other way. That was awesome. I actually really enjoyed it. And the fact there was a cafe there to get a nice cold coke, so needed. You can just see all of the glaciers on top. It's stunning. I don't really have any words for it. I am so looking forward to doing this. I was so happy to come across fountains like this. With the sunny weather in the Alps, I'd need all the water I could get. I think I've found the source of the fountain. Oh yes please. Amazing. The shaded forest was ideal to get the miles in. Hours seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Currently at 1425 meters. I'm climbing. Oh this is tough. What I've done is, I've passed the first day's itinerary for the campsite which was a few miles back down that way. And this is supposed to be the second day's incline and I'm doing it now on the first day. Sometimes I just can't help myself. I feel a need to push on. In the end though, it seemed to have paid off. I got some amazing alpine views. I don't think I'm going to get a flat spot tonight but if I can get somewhere near a stream, maybe like behind that rock, it's going to have to do. Result, big rock, pretty flat ground, stream just over there. It's beautiful. I've got to watch out for snitches though in case there's a route in the morning. Everybody takes this up so I need to be up before them. I'm pretty covered though. I was just happy to have found a place to sleep. It didn't have to be anything fancy. I waited for it to get slightly darker and I decided to get a wash. I just dipped my head into that freezing ice cold stream. I've never felt cold like that. I nearly just died just on the spot. It was coming straight from that up there. I'm never doing that again. That was terrible. It's nice and fast flowing coming straight from there. Oh man, no joke. At least I felt fresh. With all the calories burnt, I made sure to hydrate and eat something. I could just tell with the sound of the stream I was going to sleep so well. Usually I reflect on the past day while in my tent and for day one of the Tour de Mont Blanc, I was having a blast. I woke up pretty early and to my surprise nobody had spotted me. I was quick to get out there. I like to think today was the only day of inclines but this was the first of many. This is going to suck. Other than hopping over meltwater streams, the trail was super easy to follow. There's just something about the beauty of the Alps. They're so iconic. I'm encountering quite a bit of snow now, especially above 2000. I've got my snow spikes actually but I'm kind of annoyed that I brought them. It's just extra weight. I haven't used them yet. You never know though. The trail does have a name for being pretty busy but I found the opposite. I was alone for a lot of the time but the best kind of alone. Eventually, I came across a mountain cabin. It's such a good feeling seeing a place like this in the middle of nowhere. For a while now, I've been using a disposable camera to capture moments just like this. It beats digital any day of the week. It's amazing how long distance hiking can make you feel like you just want to end it. Some inclines and declines are just horrible and then you get to like a refugio at the top like that and they sell just soft drinks and coffee and you take 20 minutes to yourself just to recover and you feel great again. You feel on top of the world actually so that's the point I'm at right now. They say with every mountain peak comes a mountain valley. The constant moving through different places is what makes an adventure for me. I took a short break and got myself a well-earned coffee. I really wish I could translate but French isn't my strongest language. It was still early in the season so the snow melt stream crossings were pretty fun. My feet got wet a few times doing this. I'm just on the border with Italy that way. France, just where I come from. I'm pretty sure it's here. Let's cross it. France, Italy. If you squint your eyes, you can be on any mountain range in the world if you try to imagine hard enough. Lower down the mountain, I came across some marmots. I was so fascinated by them. I've gone slightly off piste. I'm heading for that trail down there. I'm pretty sure I should be up there. Anyway, see you later mate. What cool animals. I sat and watched them for a good while. I knew this was one of those points in my life I'd never forget. Being surrounded by 3,000 meter peaks, well, I felt super fortunate. Okay, I've made my way down finally. This is just extra now. It's declined. You can't see it. It's this huge mound but behind that there was another refugio that people were staying at. It looked really busy as well so I had to come all the way down but there are glaciers to the left and right of me. Crazy. This glacier is feeding this whole valley. It's so reminiscent of northern Sweden and Scandinavia. Just lots of little rivers all the way through from what I've seen. I'm gonna try to just camp somewhere here. With the amount of salt I lose through sweat on tough days like these, it was vital I replenished my electrolytes. These were honestly a lifesaver. Okay, just gonna have a quick wash in the river. This is gonna be freezing like last night. Oh no, that's a bit warmer. Cold but so nice. Look how just... it's cloudy because of how cold it is. It's crazy. Coming from that up there. I need to be careful. The road is just there. I'm gonna set up later as the sun goes down. To have a glacial river next to my campsite was, I mean, this is the type of wild camping I love. I've been putting off a full body wash because of the cold water for long enough. It was time. Jesus. This is no joke. Never again. Fighting for my life, I erected the tent as quickly as possible. It was worth it for the views though. I've been out of the water for five minutes now and I still can't feel my feet. They are just like ice bricks. I reckon if my body was fully submerged under that, I'd have just a few minutes and that would be me. Cold water is no joke. I feel fresh. I'm actually more awake now than I was like six hours ago. I shouldn't have done that. But I'm just glad to be here. It's going dark. It's like 8.30 and I'm feeling good. So I've eaten. I've had something to drink. I've washed all my clothes. They're all drying now so I'm just going to hit the hay. This was some of the clearest water I'd ever seen. Perfect to drink as is. I slowed down and took my time getting ready. I really didn't want to leave this place. Like most mornings on the Tour de Mont Blanc, it would start off with some kind of incline. Good morning. So basically there was a huge incline after that valley I slept in. I've got to get all the way up there. I've been going for about an hour. It's tough. The sun is out. Blue skies. Can't complain. We've just come across this little pool and I would love to have camped there just to have a little swim. It's always around the corner. Man, it's so annoying. But this morning, I planned on having a huge lie-in till like 9.30, maybe 10 because of all the work I did the past couple of days. But with the sun it's just way too hot to stay in the tent so I woke up at like 7. I just chilled in the shade for a bit but I slept well. Whenever the trail flattens out, I try to make the most of it. That way I can enjoy more of the views. I didn't even realise you could get a view while hiking the Tour de Mont Blanc. It is so high. Just to get up there. Some alpine honey sounded great. I love honey but it was probably not the best idea to get any closer. The hike down the mountain to the town was tough on the knees but it was a welcome change of pace. It has to be 30 degrees C down here. So hot. The intensity of the sun too, I can feel it. Luckily I've got this to protect my neck. No joke. I was craving some proper cooked food so I headed to the nearest place to eat. A burger with chips and a beer will always be my go-to hiking meal. The food went down well so I took a nap in the shade. Feeling revitalised, I set back off. Avoiding the midday sun was the best thing I could have done. I followed the river along the valley for a few hours. I reached a crossing point and I really couldn't resist taking a look over the bridge. You don't want to fall in that. I've been walking for a few hours now. Now that the sun's gone behind the mountains, there's a bit of cloud, it's so much easier to walk. Yeah so it's about 7pm. Oh man these sights are crazy. It's actually quite scary. The glacier right there. There's a huge river coming off it, feeding that monster I just crossed. This is just, I haven't seen any signs or anything but it looks quite, just beautiful. So I'm gonna try tuck in hopefully. Some places are too good to turn down. This was one of them. An opening in the forest would do just fine. I tried to look back to see if my camp was visible. I was well hidden. After hydrating and getting a quick wash, it was time to cross this monster again. This is going to be a tough one. There's a huge incline coming up and apparently this is one of these sections where you have to carry water because there isn't much up there for about 12 miles. 28k roughly. So luckily I did my research on this bit. Huge incline, lots of blue sky and sun, which yeah I can't complain but that forest was amazing. I slept really well. The burger, chips, the beer, I can feel it just working its magic in repairing my body. So let's see what today brings. The trail was so easy to follow I could get into a world of my own. It's times like these where I can live step by step, minute by minute. Even the water breaks left me speechless. It took me a good hour to get close to the summit and with the sun beaming down it was a pretty hard task. At the top I took in the view and headed towards the Swiss border. This was the part I was looking forward to. I'm in Switzerland, just crossed the border up there. That's where the peak is so all the day hikers, they were coming up and then they go back down luckily for them. But I've got to keep going over the mountains right in front of me. Lots of peaks, snow. I'm enjoying it. So it was a tough ascent but I was okay to be honest. The burger and chips definitely sorted me out yesterday. It sounds so good just to say I'm in Switzerland. Okay let's keep going. The ascent may have been okay but on the way down I really had to watch my footing. Switzerland seemed to be my idea of heaven. I got to move on and eventually headed down into the valley below. Names like Le Clou were exactly how I imagined Swiss villages to be named. Every chance I got to fill up my water I took it. I love the generosity up here. A small church with a bench made a great place to have a break. I made my way into the village and I was sold on the wooden buildings. So much character. No. No way. What? I'm just kidding. I am in paradise. It's just gone 3 p.m. I came out of the town of Le Fouly. Really nice town. I resupplied so I got myself a banana, some bread. Just a day's worth of food really because on the Tour de Mont Blanc you can just... You don't have to carry much at all. It's great. It's really good in that sense. So I got myself some Swiss milk. Nice and cold. And a beer and then some like tuna. So 3 p.m. I'm going to stay here near the river. I've just come off the beaten trail and I'm just chilling in the shade. It's pretty hot. It's like 28 degrees celsius. So I'm gonna stay here for an hour. Wait for it to cool down a little and then keep going. Up there in Le Fouly was a campsite and it was so tempting to stay. £20. Relatively cheap in Switzerland. And there was a shower. Just flat ground. Really tempting but I'm gonna go on. I can't waste time like that. It's just not me. You would think a place like this would be heaving with tourists. Nope. Just me. Just me here. It's tempting to go in there and just take a dip but it's pointless because I'll sweat it out later. So I'm having fun. It's been a really good day today. Really good day but I'm just going to enjoy this view. You can only imagine the torrent of water that came through here at one point. It's huge. That's the size of the meltwater right now. The river. So small. This is the whole flood plain. Just wow. Honestly, what am I seeing right now? It looks like the gateway to Narnia up there. What the? I was glad my new shoes had plenty of grip. With all these narrow passes, I could have been in trouble. A lot of the Tour de Mont Blanc looked like this. A few cabins dotted around. There weren't many locals but the few who I did see always smiled and said hello. I think the weather's about to change. Take a look. Clouds. It's so humid. It's warm but at least the intensity of the sun's gone. Pretty sure I can feel rain now I've had it good. I've been really lucky. It's going to suck tonight. There's no other way to find a camp spot. I'm in a valley. I've passed several villages. There's a road going straight through it. The river's down there. It's going to be a tough one. I kept on walking for a good while. I hadn't a clue where I was going to sleep but I was okay with that. There was a path just below me but this was good enough. Luckily, the rain waited till I was in my tent. To make sure nobody spotted me, I was up nice and early. My morning routine would consist of me heading down to the river below, having a wash and filling my water up. Good morning. After that thunderstorm, it cooled right down and I slept probably the best I've slept so far in the Tour I was just down there near the river. I really thought I was going to have to. There's a huge incline coming up now for the next mile or two. I had like that much left of water but luckily I could get down to the river, fill my bottle up, had a wash and now I'm ready to go. Hopefully, I can get a campsite tonight. I really need to wash my my clothes or if I can get near a river and then dry them out slightly earlier, I will. So that's the plan. Looks like it's going to be a nice day again today. Luckily, I'm in a shaded forest so let's go. Walking through the forest in the early morning is my favourite thing to do. You can feel the whole place starting to come alive. After an hour or so, I finally reached the outskirts of a town. No way. Is this where the Saint Bernard dog's from? That's crazy if it is. I need to do my research but if it is, I love that. Hopefully, I see one. If I never used a river to take a wash, I'd be straight in there. I stopped at a cafe, got myself a coffee and just watched the world go by. Relaxed and caffeinated, I left the town behind and started to head for the mountains. Oh wow, I've got to cross this. Crazy. I don't think this is a glacier but oh man, one of my worst fears. He's just fallen in a crevasse somewhere. I think it's just snow but yeah, I'm just heading over there. You can see all these rocks that just come tumbling down and don't slip because it's just Yes, land. Okay, up there I go. Just about 75 meters behind me. There are three like, I don't know, just like really thin but like fit guys who are like coming up. They've tried to pass me a few times but I'm still in front. I've got a big heavy pack on, they haven't. I need to beat them. And there we are. Beat them. They should be embarrassed. Sometimes I do not know why I do it to myself. If I never had those guys trying to catch me up and lit a fire underneath me just to get up before them, I'd have been so hard. It felt great to take it easy. For the next few miles, I let my body recover. I had a long way to go yet. I was heading down towards a campsite in the valley below. I was actually going to treat myself to a well-earned shower. It wasn't far away at all. They even had a restaurant too. I could smell the cooked food from here. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. That campsite was everything I despise. It was super busy. You can pitch up your tent and then like pay later when the guy comes around but there was 40 people there already. It's only just gone 4 p.m. Showers are only open from 4 until like 7 p.m. and you're only allowed in there for five minutes and then people start knocking to tell you to get out. You've had your time. Crazy. I was so looking forward to a shower and washing my clothes. The campsite's over there, about a mile away. I've come down towards the river. I'm just going to try and find a wild camping spot. I thought I may as well keep the wild camping streak going. So this isn't used by anybody which is great for me. River's not flowing too fast so if I can just get down, cross it, happy days. Yes, this will do. So vehicles just do not use that as you can tell. Oh, my legs are stung with nettles though. Let's just go a little further. It always pays off. The river was clean and I could wash my clothes so I was happy. To bathe your feet at the end of a long day's hiking, well, I really can't describe how good it feels. So I managed to find some Swiss cheese, just 2.40. 90 grams of it and I think it's gruyere, I think that says. So it looks pretty good. It's a bit melted but I'm still going to eat it. That's really good. I've got some bread, some salami, that will pair perfectly. Once the sun came over the peak, I sunbathed for a little while, listening to the nature around me. I calculated if I pushed hard enough, I could maybe reach the end point just before 7pm. The morning would consist of a long arduous ascent. Luckily, the forest was shaded for the first part of it. The constant blue skies really aren't that common in the Alps, even in summer. Up ahead was a really cool looking cabin so I had to take a look inside. I'd need all the caffeine I could get. The valley down there is where I'm heading. So in a couple hours, this is where I'll be going down. Somewhere down here and towards the valley of Chamonix and then the finish line where I all started this. I don't know where Mont Blanc is, maybe it's somewhere in that direction but these views are crazy. So I've run out of food purposely. My pack is so light, you can see usually it comes up to my shoulder but there's nothing in it apart from just all my camping stuff. So I've been getting a move on. There was a huge huge incline to get up here and I'm glad it's over but nice coffee, can of coke and fuel to get down. There was a lot of decline to come. Sometimes a camera doesn't seem to capture just how far away things actually are. I really enjoyed my time in Switzerland. I do hope to come back one day. While I'm still in the mountains, I'm just gonna get myself a little piece of it. That'll do. Not too big to remind myself of this place. Go in the pocket. It was the perfect way to leave this place. The cowbells didn't stop jingling all of the way down. Chamonix was everything I expected. It was a great looking town. I can only imagine it in the winter. Each step was taking me closer and closer to the finish line until eventually I could see it. And there it is. Oh thank you, thank you. If I never receive a standing ovation again in my life, I'll be very happy. Okay, this place will do. Finally made it and it feels so good to say. So today, by far the hardest day. Coming down wasn't too bad. It's just decline. Your knees feel it a little bit. But this valley, the Chamonix Valley, traps so much sun. It's only until half an hour ago. Now it's about 8 p.m. that the sun has gone and it's shaded and it's pretty cool. It's like 23-24 degrees right now celsius. All day it's been 30-32 maybe. I had to take cover in some of the woods just a few miles back for a few hours. But I made it to the finish line slash start point Les Houches. Got a standing ovation by a few of the hikers who did it as well. This trail is like, it's really popular, the Tour de Mont Blanc, but I expected it to be way worse with like all the hikers and getting held up by people on the trail. But it's not, it's absolutely fine. I really enjoyed it. My knees, today they felt it a little bit but in general okay. I could probably do another week but I need a shower and I need to eat some proper food because chorizo and cheese and bread, I've had enough of it. But somewhere over there, just above the peaks is Mont Blanc. Most famous mountain in Europe probably. I've wanted to do this trail for so long, finally done it. Six days it took me. I was expecting to do it in about eight. So yeah, really surpassed my expectations. Will it be in June? Yeah, the wild flowers, the meadows, the cows with the bells and obviously the Alps, the peaks, amazing. Glaciers, the snowmelt, the river. Oh, it's 10 out of 10. So yeah, France, Italy, Switzerland, thank you. I'll leave you from Chamonix.