MONT BLANC SIGHTING

VIA ALPINA DAY 53 – THURSDAY 13 AUGUST 2026
NEAR DEBORANCE LAKE –> BELOW RIONDA

DISTANCE HIKED:  27.2 km
ELEVATION GAIN: 2,195  m

TOTAL DISTANCE HIKED: 1,346.33 km
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN:  72,326 m

I was woken around midnight by the sound of a muffled dog barking. At least that’s what Hammer thought when he woke to the same sound. We waited with bated breath, but nothing happened. Hammer went back to sleep. I lay awake, thinking that I just wanted this hike to be over.

Yesterday’s section had felt dangerous and unrewarding. There hadn’t been enough beautiful views to make the discomfort feel worthwhile, and for the first time on this trip I was questioning why we were doing this.

It was noticeably darker at 6am when we left our campsite. Autumn is on its way, even though 32°C is forecast for today and tomorrow. I’ve also started noticing a few autumn crocuses appearing. Such beautiful flowers, yet apparently highly toxic to humans, pets and cows.

We felt refreshed and ready for whatever lay ahead. I taped up my newly formed hot spots and once again contemplated my shoes.

Did I mention I’m not liking these shoes?

They’re Salomon Adventure X Gore-Tex, and it’s been surprisingly difficult to find a non-Gore-Tex hiking shoe. This particular model seems to be Salomon’s response to criticism that their shoes are too narrow in the forefoot. They’ve gone in the opposite direction and created something that feels like a wide toebox of Altra shoes —with way too much room in the front. My foot slides around inside them and with the heavier uppers, it is causing the hot spots.

Hammer, meanwhile, is determined to keep his shoes until the end of the hike, even if it means resorting to superglue to keep them together.

We were nearing the top of our first pass when the first rays of sunlight appeared over the edge of the mountain. We discovered we had internet service, so we sat on a rock and logged into the beginning of the memorial service for Hammer’s cousin.

It was a beautiful setting for such a sad occasion.

We stayed for the first half hour of the service, then had to leave. We’ll watch the rest when we next reach a town.

We had a big day of ascents and descents ahead of us. After yesterday, we were really hoping for a better day.

It was almost 9am by the time we reached the mountain hut Giacomini. Hammer had breakfast—bread and jam—and I had a coffee. He also had possibly the most expensive glass of coke ever – SF 4.50 or $7.80 and the coke was flat. No obvious reason for this super inflated price as the hut had road access.

Leaving the hut, we were ready to start the grind.   We were hiking through some sort of protected zone where cows were welcome but camping wasn’t. The trail was relatively pleasant, with a bit of up and down, and we passed quite a few hikers heading in the opposite direction.

Just when I thought the real climbing was about to begin, we started a long descent into a valley.

At the bottom was a mountain hut with a restaurant, a farm shop, a huge car park and, most importantly, a bus stop.  I was tempted.l  nstant escape.

Instead, we bought bread and sausage from the farm shop for lunch and filled our water bottles.

Many hours later, as we slogged through the afternoon heat towards Col de Martinets, we wished we’d taken on more water.

It took nearly five hours to climb more than 1,000 metres to the pass. It was hot and thirsty work, and we were running out of water. Our map showed no water sources for the next seven kilometres, until the next hut.

I asked two hikers coming down whether there was any water on the ridge after the pass   “No” was their reply. Although they did offer us some if their water 

We had to make it to the hut, with another 600m of ascent after the Col summit. At our current pace, that meant around 10pm.

The final two kilometres before the summit of Col de Martinets were particularly brutal. We began coming across patches of snow.

I scooped some up and put it under my hat.

It felt sensational.

The cold seeped into my head and, for a moment, I felt like I could think clearly again.

Hammer filled an empty water bottle with snow, hoping it would melt enough for him to filter and drink.

Finally, we made the summit.

It was probably the hardest climb we’ve done on this trip. We’d been climbing directly into the sun, and the final four kilometres were brutally steep, with loose rocks constantly shifting underfoot.

Reaching the top was an enormous relief.

We stopped briefly and looked at the map. Then I realised there was another option. We could descend to a different hut lower down and get water.

We would follow the Via Alpina towards Rionda, then diverge onto another trail towards Mountain Lodge Alplage.  It sounded perfect.  Until we started down.

The Via Alpina trail was now marked blue—the colour usually reserved for mountain climbers. The familiar red stripe on the red-and-white trail markers had been painted over in blue. Blue trails are to be avoided unless you are an experience mountain climber.

My throat tightened.

I knew what that could mean.

And it did.

The trail became diabolical, requiring ropes at least. We were descending a near-vertical scree wall with a very long drop.

Hammer took the lead. I concentrated on looking only at his feet so I wouldn’t panic about the drop below us. Hammer has no fear of heights and is very sure-footed, so I trusted him completely. The trail was littered with shrapnel probably from WWII.  There were military bunkers dug into the side of the mountain at the pass 

Slowly, Hammer got us down.

At Rionda,  we reached a fenced area containing the remnants of more old military buildings, now occupied by a sheep herder’s camp.  And then we saw it.

A water fountain.

It felt like a mirage.

We filtered and drank litres of water, filled our bottles again and finally started down towards Mountain Lodge Alplage.

We were now following an unused dirt road, and then, completely unexpectedly, we were rewarded with a spectacular view of Mont Blanc.

After the heat, thirst, exhaustion and terrifying descent, it felt like a gift.

We were well above the tree line and the sun was beginning to set, so we decided there was no reason to go any further.

We pitched our tent right there on the trail. In front if us was a brilliant views of Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.

As I finish writing this, the sun has disappeared. My feet are burning from the pounding of the rocky trail and Hammer is already asleep.

Below us, the lights of the town in the valley are beginning to glow, illuminating the evening sky.

It has been a very long day.

But tonight, looking out over the valley, I’m grateful to be here. But it was a heavy price to pay.