Tour du Mont Blanc

We walk up the valley then turn right to climb the high pass of Col de Sauts. Ted is skipping around like a ten year old and I am hoping I have his energy and zest for life if I ever get to his age. This man is truly inspiring. The back marker today, having done my stint, is Health and Safety Norman who is not best pleased to say the least. He has to wait around for Ted who is running all over the place photographing flora and mountain scenery at Norman's disdain. "Fall in Ted, there's a good chap! Anyone would think you were on holiday". When we arrive at the Col there is an option that a half a dozen of us take up. It is to climb the two hundred metre Tete entre deux Sauts whilst the rest of the group push on to the Tete Bernarda the proposed site for lunch. The extra push up was worth the effort as we are standing on a ridged peak with spectacular views of Mont Blanc.

We eventually catch up with the rest of the group at Tete Bernarda which is a perfect place for lunch even though it was a tough steep climb to get there. It is probably the warmest day so far on our trip so we spend a good half an hour eating lunch and soaking up the majestic view whilst basking in the sun. As we set off there seems to be some sort of a helicopter rescue going on high above us near the peak of Mont Blanc. As we are moving I am still trying to watch what is going on up above us in the mountains. I trip and completely lose my footing and I fall down like a wounded soldier from a scene out of the film "Platoon" but manage a commando-type roll and land back on my feet. With nothing bruised but my ego and much to the amusement of Graham and Lee, who thankfully were the only two people to see what went on, I carried on. Stop laughing for heaven's sake!

The descent down to Courmayeur is extremely steep and tough. The heat is not helping us and the valley floor is getting even warmer walking on stone pathways. Soon we come to the shelter of some woodland and the remaining descent is easier.

As we have an hour or so to kill Lee and I head straight for the climbers' bar in Courmayeur. We are joined first by Graham and then Mike and his son Kevin. We have a pleasant hour before catching the bus to our new campsite in the spectacular Val Veny valley. Lewis has a night off tonight so we are to eat in the restaurant on site.

After a taking a well needed shower I head off to the restaurant at a hasty pace as the thunderstorms have arrived that had been threatening us all afternoon. The food was good and plentiful which was welcome after a hard but pleasant day. We chat for a while longer after dinner but most are feeling weary so one by one we trundle off to bed.