TMB Day 8: Champex Lac to Trient

• Distance: 10 miles (16KM)

• Ascent: 2,571 feet (784 meters)

• Descent: 3,287 (1002 meters) 

• Highest Point: 6,505 feet (1,982 meters)

Trekking through the misty mountains. And rosti. That’s all. Lol.

OK, maybe not all, but definitely the highlights for today. Leaving our charming little hotel in Champex Lac this morning things looked anything but rosy. 

It had been raining for hours and we delayed our departure till 9am in the hopes the rain would end. When it didn’t we resigned ourselves to the inevitable and geared up with our waterproof jackets, pants and backpack covers. Wouldn’t you know it. That did the trick. Murpny’s Law right? Within a few minutes of leaving the hotel it stopped raining. Which suited us just fine. The trek from Champex Lac to Trient was absolutely lovely. 

Most of the early part of the day was through lush forest land, made all the more lush by the recent rain. I was quite excited to find blueberry bushes along the way to snack on :)….About 90 minutes in, our ascent for the day began. Two hours of climbing, which thankfully were steady, not steep. The views certainly helped. For those Lord of the Rings fans, it was straight out of the Misty Mountains. Russ, our guide’s partner who joined us on the day’s hike promised sun at the top of the Col, just in time for lunch. I’m not sure anyone believed him. Well guess what? There was sun at the top of the Col. Sun and the most spectacular potato dish known to mankind. 

A specialty of the Swiss Haute Savoie region.  Rosti, as it is known is a heart attack on a plate. It essentially consists of pan fried shredded potatoes mixed in with cheese, bacon and topped off with an egg. Exactly. Hearty mountain food. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Needless to say, the rosti powered our 2.5 hour descent into Trient, our home for the night, and our last stop in Switzerland. Tomorrow it’s back into France!!