So last night I had a really nice stay in the hotel at Courmayeur, and woke up at 6.45 for the breakfast.  The entire hotel felt so empty… Like it was just me and a couple of people. Naturally because it really is a ski town and it’s barely that season yet.

So I left for the trail head behind the church and finally saw the marker at about 45mins of steep uphill on a small road, passing through what seemed like the residential area of the town. Half way through I saw a bus which went up and I was like damn.

There was so much switchbacks today and it started raining as forecasted. Then it became hail near the top. My first hail encounter! Finally reached the mid point for the day at Rifugio Bertone and saw the Danish girls again! So happy to see familiar faces on the trail when you least expect to.

I joined them on the second half of the day and initially planned to go to Rifugio Elena. But it was full for the night so we stayed at Rifugio Bonatti instead. The trail was relatively flat and easy, but super muddy cos of the rain. We arrived at our Rifugio for the day at about 2pm I think.

Anyway, Bonatti is beautiful and looks like a fancy Italian restaurant. Lunch was some yummy tomato pasta, and of course I tried the highly recommended hot chocolat. Verdict is that the one at Elisabetta was way better(thicker and more chioclatey). Haha. Then at dinner I saw the cute french grandpa again(from Bonhomme and earlier at Bertone). So funny. Anyway, dinner was great. We had bean soup, egg and kale(like fritata), cabbage, potatoes and chocolate pudding. It was so satisfying.

Going to be a long day tomorrow. Hoping for great weather to hike and camp at night.

Photos of the day (with caption):

The famous hot chocolate from Rifugio Bonatti. I find the one at Rifugio Elisabetta one a ton better though!

As we arrived after lunch time, tomato pasta and ham and cheese sandwich were the only option. But oh man, this simple tomato pasta was SO delicious.

The view right outside Rifugio Bonatti

The hilarious and ever- friendly Beijing group.

The elusive Mont Blanc, right there.

Everyone was sitting outside, enjoying the warmth after a rainy morning hike.

The refuge provided funny and cute felt slippers! 🙂 I was probably not supposed to wear it out.

Dinner time! We had fresh salad, something a little hard to come by while hiking the trail.

Check out my other articles on the Tour du Mont Blanc: