Wow, after 170km and 10 days I am back where I started, and thankfully in one piece.
   As Dad has told you in the replies to my last posting, I did indeed tackle the Fenetre D'Arpette. It was a tough one for sure, but I just had to do it. It did actually rain a bit, but got much better when I reached the really hard part. The descent on the other side was just as slow and hard, almost three hours of clambering over larger boulders and being very careful not to take the quick route down the middle. That night I stayed in a lovely barn in La Peuty. No one else was there so I got to be in the top bunk, and I mean the TOP bunk, right up in the rafters. Thanks to Matt's spare earplugs I was completely oblivious to the cows ringing their bells outside.
   After that it was the climb to Col de Balme, the French-Swiss border. From there I could see Chamonix and it was a welcome sight, despite being a bit obscured by the haze. Another harsh descent into the valley and that night was spent at Tre-le-champ. Inside the hostel seemed like lots of little buildings put together in a heap. All inter-winding rooms with windows between them and the hall. That night I loaded up on carbos, in the form of about 7 servings of pasta, and it did me well until breakfast the next day.
   Thursday started by waking me up to the sound of wind and rain, so things didn't look good for an early start. Eventually I got going, and with my new hiking buddy Matt, we cleared the ladders in sunshine. The mountain that morning was probably the steepest of the tour, but the path went along rather than straight at it so the elevation gain took plenty of time. After the ladders were lots of steps. Wooden logs nailed in place and when there was nothing to hold onto I felt very exposed. In the afternnon, Matt, (Dave who caught up with us at La Flegere) and I went up the chairlift and walked along to Lac Blanc. A very nice place when the wind stopped.
   And that brings me to today. The three of us set out at 8:30am under swirling clouds. By the time we reached Plan Praz there were a quite a few paragliders launching themselves off the slopes. We climbed on and had lunch at Le Brevent in glorious sunshine. From there on it was all down hill, and in the sun. There were so many people going up the other way. Perhaps starting the Tour de Mont Blanc in a clockwise direction, perhaps just a day walk. But whatever their reason, it was a tough day to be going up hill.
   So we reached the bottom together and I am back in my starting hostel. Heidi did come through and the bag of my cold weather gear was here waiting. Must go before time expires.

Heading towards the Swiss/French border crossing at Col De Balme Climbing the ladders on the way to la Flegere Dave, Matt and I sitting at the train station after finishing the walk