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During July, GWCT's Dr Louise de Raad is spending two weeks of unpaid leave to hike Tour Du Mont Blanc, one of the most famous long-distance treks in the world, totalling 170km. She hopes to raise enough funds to help improve facilities at our Auchnerran Demonstration Farm in Scotland.
Louise has sent the following update:
Day 1 - Les Houches to Les Pontet (about 19.5km and 1,000m altitude metres).
Great first day! Steep climb to start the day with, but after the first 2-3 hours it was quite easy going. Quite a bit of road walking, but nice to get a feel for the wee villages and some of the views were already spectacular!
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Climbing out of the Chamonix valley, pretty fantastic view looking back.
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The view up the main road was good! Little did I know I would nearly be able to touch those peaks the next day!
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Tonight's campsite.
Day 2: Les Pontent to Chapieux (20km, 1380m climbing)
Absolutely stunning day with beautiful views. I can’t believe that this is not the most beautiful stage of the TMB! Some nice wildlife today too! Did the route pretty fast and legs feeling strong!
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Some of the birds to be seen in the area!
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The route ahead (with the peaks I saw yesterday!)
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Nice wildflower meadow … hoping Auchnerran will look a bit more like this next year!
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Made it to the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme
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Well deserved G&T!
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Campsite at Chapieux!
I also saw about 10 baby stoat cross the track right in front of me … maybe not a sight that everyone in Scotland likes to see, but amazing nonetheless!
I ended the day with a yoga session with some of my new ultramarathon runner friends (hoping this would help me be less sore the next day)!
Day 3: A short day today, with ‘only’ 1,000m ascent, hiking from Les Chapieux to Refuge Elisabetta, crossing the border at Col de Seigne into Italy!
I think the muscle ache from day 1 is kicking in, because my legs were very sore today and I was glad to arrive at my destination!
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The views today were breathtaking though, especially looking back into the valley and then into Italy!
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Refuge de Elisabetta
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View from the balcony