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This was another easy day, with splendid weather. It was a little bit humid, perhaps this contributed to some of the haze that we had on the most distant peaks. We started early from Auberge Bon Abri after a breakfast of bread (with chocolate spread!), museli with yogurt, and juice. This Auberge is actually located in Haute Champex, rather than in Champex proper - which meant we were 2 km outside of town, and thus 2 km further along on our hike right from the start, but we only had a total of 16 km for the day. The big climb is a steady ascent up the side of the Alp Bovine. This was not a steep climb, and the total elevation gain was less than some of our hikes on the previous stages of the TMB. I think it helped that our early start meant that we were in shade for most of the uphill part of the hike. The San Diego group passed us by on Alp Bovine, they moved faster than we did. We caught up with Esther - an English housewife who was hiking the TMB on her own. She must have started quite early - she wasn't fast, but she moved relentlessly it. It was Esther's plan to skip the night's stay at Trient, and continue on up to Col de Balme. The forecast predicted rain showers tomorrow, and she wanted to get up over the pass before the rain hit. My left knee felt much better on this day. I didn't have difficulty with the uphills stretches, on the downhill portions, I did a lot of backwards walking to keep the strain off of my knee. It probably helped that this day and the previous day were not hard hikes. From Alp Bovine, we entered forested slopes of conifers. It was about lunchtime when we reached the tiny town of Forclaz. A short day indeed! Our nightly accomodation was in Trient, which is in a valley below Forclaz. It is a steep descent to reach the Trient valley floor, but by 1 PM we were in Trient and our day was already finished. We stayed at the Auberge Mont-Blanc in Trient. Unfortunately, the inn didn't serve dinner until 7 PM, and we were much too hungry to wait that long before eating. We asked the man working the bar if he could make us some sandwiches, and we ended up getting some large sandwiches piled high with ham. Along with some Coke Zero and ice cream bars, it was a satisfying dinner for me. Panorama Photos
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Click on any thumbnail to begin the slide show at that photograph TMB Stage 9
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