The TMB was by no means an easy hike with daily ascents and descents of hundreds of metres. I’m pretty sure we had to do a 1,600m ascent on the last day! By that stage in our travels we were I was excited about the prospect of having a reduced pack weight as the hike was hut-to-hut (ie no need to bring our tent, sleeping gear and even food as the huts were catered! That’s about 7kg off our pack weights). We were fortunate to be able to leave some items with our relatives and friends in London so we only took our essentials along with us on this hike.
Not only were we spoilt with the amazing views of the Alps everywhere we looked, but this was the first hike where we could stuff ourselves silly with food as the huts were catered. On some days we ended the day in quaint villages which had local food options eg. Swiss fondue in Champex, Switzerland. It wasn’t cheap but after a long day’s hike a delicious meal was welcomed with open arms! For the first time Nathan said he didn’t go to bed hungry, unlike the situation in all other nights of hiking… (bringing more food meant carrying more weight, and also Nathan says he lets me eat to my heart’s content while he goes to bed in hunger)
A downer about the hut-to-hut hiking was having to share accommodation with other hikers, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but we generally preferred having our own space. However we didn’t have any bad interactions and enjoyed meeting other hikers who were on the trail for various reasons. Most hikers were much more organised than us and had planned their trip a year or a year and a half in advance!
The coolest thing about the TMB was that the hike goes across three countries – so we can excitedly say we hiked from France, to Switzerland, to Italy and then ending back at France! The weather was great (except for a day or two of rain) and it was actually quite warm during the day (this was the first time we hiked in shorts!)
A young Kiwi couple we met told us about wild raspberries growing along the trail. It was an additional treat to be able to forage and eat whilst hiking!
Nathan and PK 