Tour du Mont Blanc 101: Some Details for YOUR Self-Guided Tour :)

Well, it certainly was fun to "relive" the last 10 days of our Tour du Mont Blanc on this little blog. Thanks for reading!  I know friends and family who viewed the blog on Facebook, but have no idea who the rest of you were who were reading it on the blogspot site. I know there were over 130 of you who viewed some posts and I'm guessing many of you might be considering this trip?  Here are some DETAILS of how you, too, can organize this fantastic voyage. We discovered it was a perfect trip to undertake in our 60's and we were not alone!  We did not go through an agency and found it fairly easy (and inexpensive) to organize. Here are four suggestions with the details listed below. 1) We read two blogs about previous tours, 2) got a copy of Trekking the Tour of Mont Blank by Kev Reynolds (EVERYONE carried a copy with them), 3) used the official TMB website for where to stay and to book refuges, and 4) packed lightly (see gear list). Good LUCK and please contact me if you wanted to know more about our trip (bbrock@ewu.edu). Let me know if you do it!  :)

1) BLOGS:  (Dave and Brenda) https://hiking.topicwise.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=305241&v=8U;  (Rich Landers and family) http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/sep/16/family-trip-of-a-lifetime/
2) BOOK:  Purchase the latest edition of Tour of Mont Blanc by Kev Reynolds.
3) WEBSITE: http://www.montourdumontblanc.com/uk/index.aspx
4) GEAR: 3 pr wool socks (DarnTough brand is awesome - with a lifetime warranty!), 2 pr underwear, 1 pr quick-dry shorts, 1 long zip-off pant, 1 yoga pant, 3 quick-dry tops, 1 long sleeve lightweight shirt, 1 long sleeve sport top, 1 multi-purpose scarf, 1 down jacket, good rain jacket and pants, good mittens, neck gaiter or hat, visor, sunglasses, REI towel. Camelback water bladder, headlamp, toothbrush, multi-purpose soap, ibuprophen - lol!, emergency kit, plug-in adaptor, waterproof camera, good book (did not read that much - too much to do! And many refuges had libraries). I used a 36 liter Osprey backpack. Total weight carried was about 11-13 pounds. We kept in touch with our kids through the free Whatsapp program and most refuges had WiFi. Note on boots/shoes: Nearly everyone wore typical hiking boots (high/low top), but I have wide feet/bunions, so wore the Altra training shoe with a good tread. They were excellent for all the days BUT the snow day. It was a risk that worked for me - no blisters or issues - my feet were in heaven!