Courmayeur, Italy, is really charming! It appears to be a big ski town. We have enjoyed our day of rest.
We started with breakfast at the hotel where our waiter insisted on bringing us Italian expresso (in addition to our coffee). So we got charged up for the day.
The night we arrived, we had pulled out all our wet, stinky clothes and washed them in the tub. After hanging them out overnight, none of them were dry, so we knew we'd have to lay them outside in the sun in the afternoon.
So, after breakfast, we went out walking around town. Almost all the buildings have slate roofs which are very interesting and attractive.
In the afternoon, we laid all our clothes out in the sun in a sitting area in back of the hotel. The clothes dried up nicely in the strong sun!
There is an air of excitement in Courmayeur as the Ultra Tour Mont Blanc is starting in two days. In 2000, a couple of runners had the brilliant idea of running non-stop around Mont Blanc (basically the same 110 miles we are hiking). In 2002, their dream became a reality when 711 long distance running enthusiasts raced to three different finishes — Courmayeur, Champex, or Chamonix. By 2008, the UTMB was so popular that registrations were closed within 9 minutes of opening. Today, in the course of a week, this huge trail running event brings together over 8000 runners from all over the world.
The trail runners are beginning to arrive for the event. In fact, over the last 3 days, we've seen multiple runners on our hiking trail. Most likely they are practicing as well as getting acclimated.
Due to this big event, there was a festive atmosphere in Courmayeur today!
Because we have a little experience with overlapping with this race when we did the Walkers Haute Route 3 years ago, we know that as exciting as it is to see all these amazing runners, it really slows up our hiking as we are constantly stepping off the narrow trail to let the runners go by. So we spent some time today trying to figure out if we will actually overlap with them again this time. We're hoping that the runners might pass by where we are during the night when we are fast asleep. :-)
Of course, being in Italy, we had to try some gelato!
Shades of various kinds of chocolate — all very tasty!
We also walked to a couple of markets to pick up items for our next several days of lunches.
Finally, we got oriented to where we will need to go tomorrow morning as we start Stage 5. We know that we will spend probably the first 3 hours going up the mountain — yikes, I'm feeling kind of lazy after my day of rest.
We started with breakfast at the hotel where our waiter insisted on bringing us Italian expresso (in addition to our coffee). So we got charged up for the day. The night we arrived, we had pulled out all our wet, stinky clothes and washed them in the tub. After hanging them out overnight, none of them were dry, so we knew we'd have to lay them outside in the sun in the afternoon. So, after breakfast, we went out walking around town. Almost all the buildings have slate roofs which are very interesting and attractive. In the afternoon, we laid all our clothes out in the sun in a sitting area in back of the hotel. The clothes dried up nicely in the strong sun! There is an air of excitement in Courmayeur as the Ultra Tour Mont Blanc is starting in two days. In 2000, a couple of runners had the brilliant idea of running non-stop around Mont Blanc (basically the same 110 miles we are hiking). In 2002, their dream became a reality when 711 long distance running enthusiasts raced to three different finishes — Courmayeur, Champex, or Chamonix. By 2008, the UTMB was so popular that registrations were closed within 9 minutes of opening. Today, in the course of a week, this huge trail running event brings together over 8000 runners from all over the world. The trail runners are beginning to arrive for the event. In fact, over the last 3 days, we've seen multiple runners on our hiking trail. Most likely they are practicing as well as getting acclimated. Due to this big event, there was a festive atmosphere in Courmayeur today! Because we have a little experience with overlapping with this race when we did the Walkers Haute Route 3 years ago, we know that as exciting as it is to see all these amazing runners, it really slows up our hiking as we are constantly stepping off the narrow trail to let the runners go by. So we spent some time today trying to figure out if we will actually overlap with them again this time. We're hoping that the runners might pass by where we are during the night when we are fast asleep. :-) Of course, being in Italy, we had to try some gelato! Shades of various kinds of chocolate — all very tasty! We also walked to a couple of markets to pick up items for our next several days of lunches. Finally, we got oriented to where we will need to go tomorrow morning as we start Stage 5. We know that we will spend probably the first 3 hours going up the mountain — yikes, I'm feeling kind of lazy after my day of rest. We will be staying in a hut again at the end of our hike tomorrow, so will "be off the grid again" for awhile. As soon as we are back to where we have Internet access, we'll put up a post.
Rest day steps - 11,751
This was the view of the sun coming up from our window in our room at the Rifugio Elisabetta. Beautiful!
This is the place where we had our meals. This morning we had breakfast with a couple from New York who are originally from India. They were delightful and it was fun to talk to them. Of course, everyone was talking about where they were on the mountain when the big storm hit. We didn't meet too many others who were right at the top of the col like we were.
On the steps of the Refugio Elisabetta ready for another day of hiking!
Some people carry their own stuff like us; some have a company transport their luggage from spot-to-spot. Of course, when you are at the mountain huts, there isn't an option to transport by car so other methods are employed.
The sun on the glacier and waterfall right next to the Refugio Elisabetta.
We had about a 45 minute descent down from the Refugio and then entered into a beautiful, long, FLATvalley called Vallon de la Lee Blance. 
Wild flowers were blooming.
There were several points where there were reflection pools that made for some great photo opportunities. 
About 2 hours after we left the Refugio, we came to where the "high trail" went up steeply to take us to Courmayeur. One note about the times — we learned this the last time when we hiked in the Alps. We have to plan for about 1.5 times the length of time they say on the signs :-)
One of the things we were excited about today is that for most of the day, we would be hiking this high trail where the whole southern face of the Mount Blanc range would be in view. It was spectacular — so happy that the weather cooperated for hiking stage. Here I am sitting on a bridge over a rushing mountain river with Mont Blanc in the background.
We did lots of climbing (8000 feet plus) and then followed the high trail along the range for several hours. 
This photo gives you an idea of what the high trail looked like as we traversed the mountain side.
Once again, the weather was great and we saw plenty of pink wildflowers that contrasted with the blues and greys of the mountains.
Okay, great day but when we arrived at the final Col Checrouit, we knew we'd have to descend more than 5000 feet to get to Courmayeur. My knee screamed NO, NO! So we took the cable car from the col part of the way down and a gondola the rest of the way down. See my smiling face :-)
Once we got down to Courmayeur, we had to hike about another 30 minutes to get to our hotel. SO HAPPY!! REST DAY TOMORROW!
This is the view from our hotel room — all is good with us!
After checking out of the hostel, we stopped at a little store to buy some more things for our lunch. 
We then found our sign pointing us to Col de la Seigneur which is on the France/Italy border. Today was going to be an easier hike than the first two stages and we were very glad!
As you can see from this map, we are traveling around Mont Blanc counter clockwise which is the route that the majority of hikers take. 
The first part of the hike was actually on a road, but we didn't see any cars on the road. The guidebook says that this is one of the most popular times of the year for the Tour du Mont Blanc. However, this morning we didn't see any other people on the trail until about lunchtime. 
The weather was still picture perfect in the morning!
Along the way, we ran into a herd of cows on the trail and had to step off the trail to give them "right of way" all the time being careful of the multiple cow piles :-)
As we walked, we had a beautiful view of the valley leading back to Les Chapieux.
For lunch, we stopped at Refuge Des Mottets, a former dairy farm that has been converted into a dormitory and has a quaint restaurant decorated with an assortment of old cheese-making instruments. As we ate, the clouds rolled in and we had our first sprinkle, so we pulled out our rain gear. 
We then began our trek up to Col de la Seigne which is supposed to have incredible views of both France and Italy. We were excited to see the beautiful vistas our guidebook described. 
Unfortunately, when we reached the col, the winds and rain had come up and no views were to be seen. We snapped this quick picture to prove we made it to the col and then started scrambling down the path. One of the worst places to be in a storm is at the top of a mountain! 
After hearing some cracks of thunder, we sought shelter under some rocks — didn't prevent us from getting soaked but at least served as a lightening rod.
We were much relieved when the storm passed, but we were soaked and cold. We started our way down the descent where we found a small shelter. We then pulled out our down jackets to wear under our rain jackets which helped a lot.
Here is a view of Rifugio Elisabetta which is at the bottom of a glacier. However, it also was a climb up that necessitated taking one more series of switchbacks up.
Here is the amazing view from the porch of the Rifugio Elisabetta. We're hoping that tomorrow we'll have some more clearing so we can see even more of scenery.
We had a delightful stay at Hotel Gai Soleil in Les Contamines. 
In the morning, we had a delicious breakfast before heading off to start Stage 2. We knew this would be another long day, so we wanted to get going early.
We started out by walking down through the town where there were picturesque churches and little hotels. Once we got to the river, we hiked along it until we reached a pilgrimage chapel of Notre-Dame de la Gorge.
Notre-Dame de la Gorge.
Here we took a quick rest break and applied some moleskin to some developing blisters. 
At this point, the trail took a steep turn upward where we climbed for about an hour.
The trail eventually entered a stretch of open meadowland — we found a water stop with refreshing cold water where we took a short break while enjoying our morning snack. 
The Aiguilles de la Pennaz (Aiguille means "needle") were along side of the meadow. I, for one, welcomed the beautiful FLAT meadow before beginning the ascent to the 1st col, Col du Bonhomme (good man) at 7642 ft.
As challenging at getting to the top of this col was, the view was spectacular! It's always amazing to see where you have come from. We reached this 1st col at about 3 pm. 
We took a short break to consult our trusty guidebook and learned we still had another col to climb — Col de La Croix du Bonhomme.
We reached the 2nd col (at about 8000 ft) by about 4:45 pm.
We then started the long, (very painful on my knees) descent to Les Chapieux. Within a short period of time, I was wishing for some more uphill — harder on the lungs, but so much easier on the body!!
Along the trail down, we ran into a huge herd of sheep. We got to see the sheep herder signal his two dogs who proceeded to round up the herd. 
You can't even believe how happy I was to finally make it to our hostel at 7 pm. Stage 2 — 10 hours of hiking and 30,442 steps!