Day 3 - Tuesday 25th August 2015 – Trient to Champex

Total distance walked:	13.70 km	8.51 miles
Total hours walked including stops	9 hrs 17 mins
Total hours walked excluding stops	8 hrs 06 mins
Height at start	1279 metres	4196 feet
Height at finish	1466 metres	4810 feet
Total Height Gain	1495 metres	4905 feet
Total Height Loss	1281 metres	4203 feet
Maximum Height	2644 metres	8675 feet
Average speed excluding stops	1.69 km/hr	1.05 miles/hr

Knowing that I had a long day ahead of me, I was up at about 6.10 am, dressed, washed and packed and down to breakfast at 6.30 am.  Standard breakfast of cereal, yoghurt, bread, butter, jam, orange juice and coffee.

I started off shortly after 7.00 am and again and trouble with Viewranger showing me in the wrong location.  A steepish climb out of Trient towards Cold de la Forclaz and stupidly I hadn’t read the guide book properly and on reaching the Bisse (irrigation channel turned left towards Forclaz instead of right towards the Chalet Glacier.  So on reaching Forclaz, I had to turn round and retrace my steps but I only lost about 10 minutes.  I soon reached the Chalet Glacier having walked on a nice level path beside the bisse.  Unfortuantely the chalet was closed so I couldn’t have the Chocolat Chaud that I was anticipating.  I was there about 9.00 am and stopped for ten minutes and had a mini Mars bar.  An American couple who had stayed at the Belvedere on Sunday night had stopped there just before me.  They had stayed at the Grand Ourse Hotel in Trient the night before next to the Auberge Mont Blanc.  The hotel looked as run down as it did four years ago.  I was to meet the American couple again although they were never particularly amenable keeping to themselves.

I then started the long steep and hard climb up to the Fenêtre d’Arpette at (2665m).  The sign posts said it was 3 hours whereas the guide book indicated 4 to 4½ hours from Trient, in fact I arrived at the col at about 12.30 pm after having a couple of short stops on the way up, the second time to take off my fleece as it was starting to get warm as the sun came over the top of the mountain ridge.  There were a lot of people making their way down from the col and quite a few still there – all on the TMB variant which I don’t think we even knew existed in 2009 but it is quite a lot longer and much harder than the route via Alp Bovine.  It had taken me about 5½ hours from Trient so with stops a little bit longer than the guide book indicated.  The American couple (Greg and Molly, I discovered several days later) arrived at the cola after I had been there for about 30 minutes. And reached the Pension en PleinAir about an hour after me so as he was 57, I felt that I hadn’t done badly. 

I ate some bread and saucisson at the col, the saucisson wasn’t very nice and I ditched it when I reached Champex.  I started on the descent after resting for over 30 minutes.  It was very steep and rocky and I stopped after I had passed the worst of the boulder field and again an hour later.  I also took off my fleece which I had put on at the col and also got out my sunhat for the first time as it was quite sunny.  I reached the Relais d’Arpette which looked very nice and stopped for a beer (Є4.00) at about 4 o’clock.  I then continued down to Champex where I arrived at the Pension about 5 o’clock.  I checked into the Pension en Pleinair and had a shower, shave and washed some clothes.  Then down to the bar for a large beer (Є5.50) at around 6.00 pm to write my diary.

I ordered a 50 cl bottle of red wine to have with dinner, a little cheaper at Є12.00 than that at Trient.  Dinner was at 7.00 pm, a salad to start followed by chicken curry (not very exciting but probably the Swiss understanding of curry).  This was followed by ice cream, once more.  I sat with two French girls, an Englishman and his French wife, Patrick and Veronique who were also walking the WHR and a Frenchman and his two daughters.  A pleasant meal after which I went to bed and read before going to sleep.  I slept a little better than the two previous night.  The total bill including the beer and wine was CHF 87.05 so CHF68.55 for dinner, bed and breakfast.