Wow, what a roller coaster so far. I've walked about 130 km so far, over mountain ranges, along ridges, down steep slopes and through Swiss valleys. I'll try to give a day by day account.

   The first day was wet at first, and at the top of the first climb I very nearly decided the whole thing was a silly idea. I was actually giving off steam at one point, so I lost a layer of clothing and put my foot down, this would not stop me. Many hours later I staggered through les Contamines to Notre Dame de le Gorge where I stayed the night.

   The next day looked a lot better weather wise and started with some lovely pasture. The cows were tinkling their bells and the flowers were blooming. I came to Col du Bonhomme at about lunch time and could see an awfully long way from there, but there was more to come. I carried on up to Col du la Croix du Bonhomme and then decided to make the diversion to Col de Fours. At this point I had to do a fair bit of tramping in the snow, luckily I had splashed out on some new hiking poles when I passed through les Contamines so it was easy going. At the Col I met a group of five French people and asked them to take my photo. Their leader (called Heidi!) did so and then the six of us made the final accent to Nord Tete from where I could see the day's walk. It certainly looked impressive. They went back to their refuge, and I headed down the other side of the hill to Refuge Mottets. It was a long way down, and a lot of it was on snow. I really wanted to pull out my skis, and reach the bottom in about 5 minutes, but they must have been in my other bag ;-) At Mottets I met some good people, who have been with me on and off for the walk so far. Three of them are in this hostel right now.

   The next day (Friday) Heidi's group came by the refuge just as I was packing up, so I walked with them for as long as I could keep up, but had to drop back eventually. At about 11:30 I came to the border at Col de la Seigne. That was a great view. I took plenty of pictures (as I have for the whole trip) so you can see them all once I return to England and put them online. Down into Italy and it got hot. For a while I walked level but then climbed up to Mont Favre Spur before descending past a ski resort into Courmayeur. Walking the long dusty road from the resort was hard. Anyone who has ever driven up to one in a car knows how steep they can be. I was glad to be going down but it was very hard on my feet. At the bottom I passed through Dolomme which was an amazing little village with winding streets and over hanging buildings, a great welcome to Italy. That night I stayed in Pensionne Venezia, and much to my disappointment was placed on the 3rd floor, without a lift! The owner spoke no English, and I spoken no Italian, so we both muddled along in French. I managed to find all the shops I needed, and I didn't miss breakfast so I figure everything went well

   Saturday was a hard day. I waited a while in Courmayeur for Heidi to turn up at the bus stop. She took a bag with some of my stuff in it back to Chamonix because I was carrying too much weight with me. I gave her some of the kiwifruit jam I had been carrying for just such an occasion. After that things start to turn a little pear shaped. I took the route up to Rifugio Bertone but got a little lost. Well a lot lost actually. I spent 2 hours climbing up some scary slopes, scrambling over boulders and clinging to tree roots while desperately trying to get either foot onto something solid. Eventually I climbed out of a gully and found a grassy patch. I was very close to calling a rescue helicopter, but carried on up the hill to find the Rifugio. When I got there I texted mum and dad and almost broke down in tears. It was a very scary morning and when I think of how utterly stupid I was, and what could have happened, well I was very glad to be there in one piece. That afternoon lifted my spirits. A stunning walk along the ridge from Mont de la Saxe to Tete de la Tronche and then down into a beautiful hanging valley. I raced down the next valley to Rifugio Bonatti. Great meal and met up with some people from the previous days. None of them had trouble on the path where I got lost so it must just be my own fault.

   I'm up to Sunday right? From Bonatti I dropped down to Val Ferret (Dad, I didn't see any ferrets, but they are quick little animals and may have been hiding). At just about the same time as the sun really started doing its thing I started going up hill to Grand Col Ferret which had me crossing from Italy to Switzerland. That night I stayed at le Dolent. Normally the hostel hosts large groups but because it was Sunday they had all gone home. The owners were kind enough to let me have a room, even though they left at about 8pm. I found I was locked in, but could escape via the dinning room windows :-)

   And that brings me to today. An easy walk down hill to Issert. I bought some strawberries along the way and really enjoyed the little Swiss hamlet though which the Tour de Mont Blanc passes. Eventually I came to the hill climb, but it was only about 400m for the day which is the smallest so far. I am now at Pension En Plein Air in Champex. I've had a swim in the lake and spent about an hour on the computer. I would go out in the sun, but I am already a little toasted around the edges.

   Tomorrow is the hardest of the lot. Fenetre D'Arpette takes 3 hours (I'm guessing 4 hours for me, and is 1200m above where I am right now. I'll be starting early to avoid the main heat of the day and should be well past the summit before lunch.

   I am missing home of course, but thankfully I haven't much time to sit and think about just how far away form everyone I am. Text messaging is brilliant. I was glad to text Peter on Saturday night and get replies from other people. All spending the evening at the flat I assume :-) Bronwyn and Nina, I think I am going to need about a dozen packets of Winegums (the English ones only), can you bring them to Spain pleeease :-) Right I had better let someone else use this. Au revoir

A sweet little French house on the way to Bionnassay Walking uphill after Notre Dame de la Gorge

The valley leading to La Balme from Notre Dame de la Gorge Looking up at Aiguilles des Glaciers from Refuge des Mottets

The French/Italian border at Col de la Seigne The walk along the ridge of Mont de la Saxe

A small valley facing the Grandes Jorasses, on the way to Rifugio Bonatti The Italian/Swiss border at Col de Ferret