Day 6 Trekking
Arp Nouvea to Champex-Lac
9 Miles, 2500 ft Ascending, 3300 ft Descending

If I had a Powerade and a Magnum bar right now, I could rule the world. Much to my dismay, only one is available and probably not the one that’s best for me in my current state of heat exhaustion but that’s okay because the magical powers of ice cream trump all.

We have arrived in the Swiss village of Champex-Lac, having crossed from Italy into this land of banking and chocolate via the Col Ferret, at over 8300 feet. The day began like every other, us raising our feet above our heads to reduce the swelling and generally just ensure that we can still move our bodies. I wouldn’t exactly call it a proper stretching routine, but it’s nice to start the day with a feeling of accomplishment, no matter how small.

In what was an unusual twist to the day, however, was the yelling of “Heads Up!” during our initial ascent toward the Col. Looking up in time to see a boulder the size of a baby’s head come bouncing down the mountainside, bisecting our line of hikers in front to take aim at our line of hikers below, there was a brief moment of thinking Ack! (the clean version of other words I’m pretty sure we all were thinking) quickly followed by WTH? Luckily we all dodged the boulder-bullet but our guy Guy from New York was convinced that he saw one of the cows up-slope from us sporting a huge grin.

Body parts intact, the push toward the Col included one last Italian cappuccino at perhaps the most pristine mountain hut I’ve ever seen before finally arriving at the Swiss border. It’s still crazy to think that we have now crossed through three countries by simply putting one foot in front of the other, all the while surrounded by breathtaking scenery and the camaraderie of former strangers now happily bonded together by this shared experience. That cow may have thought it could ruin our day but Mother Nature and Team Tour du Mont Blanc are not so easily deterred.