TMB Day 5: Courmayeur to Rifugio Bonatti

Distance: 7.86 miles (12.64 km)

Ascent: 3,300 feet (1,005m)

Descent: 784 feet (238m)

Highest Point 6,953 feet (2,119m)

Not going to lie. Today sucked. Like big time. Until it didn’t. The first two hours out of Courmayeur can only be described as my own little corner of hell.

Climbing shockingly is not my thing. And yes, I get that if you’re trekking in the Alps you’re always going to be going either up or down. But steep climbs at the beginning of the day, when I haven’t had a chance to warm up are always bad for me. The day before yesterday was the same. And just as then the first two hours of the day were sheer misery. I felt as Alex, our guide said, like someone had pulled out my batteries. I found myself stopping every few steps. Falling further and further back. The forest path not providing much distraction at all. Until mercifully, a whole lot of hating the world later, I was at the top

Here was Rifugio Bertone, our first coffee stop for the day. These refuge stops along the way really are a godsend. The coffee itself is sometimes good, sometimes not. But the views are always stunning and the break is always welcome. Today it was Mont Blanc and the Aiguille Noire that soothed my battered brain and sore calves.

Thankfully, as it turns out this was mostly the end of our climbing as well. From then on we spent the next couple of hours walking through Val Ferret, one of the most beautiful balcony paths you could ever hope to see. Flowers blooming everywhere. A gentle meandering path. And simply stunning alpine views to our side. Finally there was one more climb. A short one. Up to the most idyllic mountain refuge you could ever hope to see: Rifugio Bonatti.

To say that the vast majority of mountain refuges are simply places to put your head down for the night would be an understatement. These are dorm-style accomodations where the most you can hope for is cleanliness. This is NOT Rifugio Bonatti. Cute, quaint, and welcoming; this and a whole lot more is Bonatti. I was lucky enough to be assigned to a four-bed room with some of my group mates. We had a token-enforced two minute hot shower. But you know what? It was an awesome two minutes. And the bathroom facilities were amazing, and the polar opposite of what you would expect. Then came dinner, which was delicious. Literally, everything about Bonatti was absolutely perfect. My only sadness was that being Summer, and with a lights out policy of 10pm, it wasn’t possible to stay outside and see the night sky. I can only imagine what that would be like.