Haute Route - Foreword and Day 1

Diane and I wanted to go hiking again this summer. Having done two joint hikes in relatively crowded natural areas, I looked forward to visiting a more remote place together. However, I had had surgery for hip impingement a few months prior, and Diane was recovering from tendonitis in her ankle, which meant it probably would be better not to go completely off-grid. As I had limited vacation days, I ideally also wanted to combine our hike with seeing my parents. The Alta Via 1 route I hiked with Koen a year before had been beautiful, so I looked for a similar hike in the Alps. Eventually, we decided on the Haute Route. Although definitely not remote, the area looked beautiful, and there were plenty of campsites where we could meet my parents, who would follow us with their camper. Hiking this route would also enable me to try out ultralight hiking further, as I had done on the AV1. Including food for a few days, my backpack weighed about 9 kg. Most people who hike the Haute Route sleep in expensive mountain huts with restaurants and showers, but we planned to camp in our tent as much as possible. Finding places to camp had been quite easy on the AV1, so I did not expect too many difficulties in this other part of the Alps.

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Diane and I boarded our flight for Geneve and, after landing, took a bus to Chamonix, a French ski town next to the Mont Blanc and near the Swiss border. My parents were already waiting for us. I had not seen them in several months, so it was nice to explore the village together. By pure chance, we arrived in the same week as the Tour de Mont Blanc, which, with 160 km and 9 km of elevation gain, is one of the longest and most challenging ultra marathons on Earth. The whole village was crowded with runners, and several were finishing shorter races.

 

Diane had forgotten her jacket at customs, but luckily, we found an outdoor store to buy a new one. Her ankle was also acting up, but after swapping out her insoles for various others, we discovered that, ironically, she had barely any pain when using any. My parents had already reserved a camping spot for us, so all we had to do in the evening was pitch our tent and go to bed. The campsite was right next to a road, and between our jet lags and the car noises, we didn't get a great night's sleep. Little did we know that would be a recurring theme throughout the hike.