Walking around the old town of Aosta
August 20, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Aosta Old Town with many Roman ruins to see, small narrow streets full of restaurants and little shops is a wonderful pedestrian destination. What a great place to start our trip!
Heading up to the mountains
August 21, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
After groceries shopping at Gros Cidac in Aosta, we took a bus to Cogne, a beautiful village situated at the entrance of Gran Paradiso National Park. Since we had a reservation at the AgritourismoRead more
Day hike from Lillaz
August 22, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Beautiful loop hike to Lillaz Cascade, Lake Di Loie where we had a picnic and Bardoney where the owners of the Agritourismo bring their cows for the summer (altitude: 2232m). When we arrived at theRead more
Day hike to Refugio Grauson
August 23, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
This day hike started with amazing views of Gran Paradiso glacier under perfect weather conditions.
After several steep sections, we reached a nice valley popular with mountain bikers and a good spotRead more
Day 1: Rifugio Vittorio Sella
August 24, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We made it to our first hut (refuge)!!!
From the bottom of the Cogne valley, it was a long uphill hike to 2589m.
The views of the Gran Paradiso glacier are outstanding.
Day 2: Eaux Rousses
August 25, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
A thunderstorm broke out around dinner time last night: it rained pretty hard.
This morning, there was a lot of fog but it eventually cleared up.
We hiked to a high pass (Col du Loson: 3299m) andRead more
Day 3: Col de Nivolet
August 26, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
After a delicious breakfast, we took a short bus ride to Le Pont, the last village at the end of the valley.
We hiked to our next hut, Rifugio Savoia which is very close to the Col de Nivolet.
Day 4: Rifugio Benevolo
August 27, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
To get to our next hut, we had to hike over Col Rosset (3025m). It was steep!
Day 5: Rifugio Bezzi
August 28, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Wow! What an amazing day!
We hiked up to Col Bassac Déré and had views of glaciers on both sides of the pass.
Weather was perfect so we took our time.
When we got to Rifugio Bezzi, we wereRead more
TravelerIt looks sketchy there, but it was fine. Other high passes were more difficult during the days before, with steep dirt/scree paths and some exposure, but nothing was problematic. All class 1 or 2. I just walked (very) slowly and carefully downhill. Trail running shoes provided enough traction.
Day 6: Rifugio Chalet de l’Epée
August 29, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Staying in Rifugios (mountain huts in Italy) has been fun: welcoming staff, good food, and friendly hikers from different European countries.
Today’s hike was supposed to be easy but it turned outRead more
Comment va la cheville?? Ce voyage est vraiment le grand examen de la cheville!!!!! [Laurie]
Day 7: Valgrisenche
August 30, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Today, we had a short hike down to the Valgrisenche valley. After some grocery shopping, we had a nice lunch and chatted for a while with friendly locals.
We are staying in Bonne, in a vacationRead more
Day 8: Rest day (Valgrisenche valley)
August 31, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
Today is a rest day! After walking around the small village of Valgrisenche, we took a half hour bus ride to Arvier, a small town at the bottom of the valley. We did some grocery shopping and had aRead more
Day 9: Rifugio Deffeyes
September 1, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Epic and challenging 9 hour hike: 16 kms, 2000 meters up, 1000 meters down and over 2 passes (Col de la Crosatie & Haut Pas).
We were relieved: it didn’t rain and we arrived before dinner time atRead more
Day 10: Courmayeur
September 2, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
1000 meters down to La Thuile where we had a picnic. Then we took a bus to Courmayeur, a pretty and touristy town where we are planning to stay for 2 days.
Yesterday was a hard day: we need toRead more
Courmayeur
September 3, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Today, we were hoping to take the Skyway Monte Bianco to the highest point of Italy (Punta Helbronner: 3466m). Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate: the webcam showed no visibility.
Instead,Read more
Day 1: TMB (Rifugio Elisabetta)
September 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
After 2 resting days in Courmayeur, we joined the Tour du Blanc (TMB) trail which is crowded with hikers from all over the world. Since it was cloudy with limited visibility, we opted for the lowerRead more
Day 2: TMB (Refuge des Mottets)
September 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
We left Elisabetta around 9:00am because it seemed like the rain was lighter. At the Col de La Seigne (border between France and Italy) it was cold and windy.
When we arrived at the heated andRead more
Day 3: TMB (Les Contamines)
September 6, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Today was a long and beautiful day (27kms). We hiked over the Col des Fours and the Col du Bonhomme. The main trail was quite busy with big groups.
We stayed in a small apartment in the ski resort ofRead more
TravelerProfitez bien bisous
TravelerMerci!