Waking up with blue skies and knowing the sun is about to peak above the mountains feels incredible. The motivation I felt checking the weather report on my Garmin gave me a much needed boost after yesterday. I knew my tent would be dry at night and even putting on my wet and cold shorts did not limit my motivation, in a few hours I would be warm. Life in the mountains is unpredictable. From a end-of-the-world-scenario to a day, when I would wish some of that rain back.
Heading out from LaFouly was easy! I felt unstoppable, I felt like a hiker, I felt great. The lush rolling hills through deep green forests and through fields
provided some important shade and great air. This section of the trail is the flattest you can find on the TMB. I walked and walked and never once felt out of breath. Sierra was doing great and
sniffing along on the ground for all the new animal scents, and I even managed to sing along to the beat of my steps. This is what it feels like to hike with ease.
We got into our groove and crushed miles after miles. It really came as a surprise when I realized that to get to Champex-Lac we had to climb up. "Not that bad." I
though. "How high up can a lake be?!"
Spoiler!
Quite high up!
After an entire day of cruising along, this mountain gave me a kick to my stomach. It was incredibly hard and quite a lot of people walked past us on the way up. This was also the first time that Sierra gave me signs of being done. She needed to rest a lot and started to limb. I could not find anything wrong on her paws but knew she wasn't giving me those signs out of boredom. I knew we didn't have much more to go, so we slowly managed our way up. A few steps, break. A few steps break. Until we finally made it to the top. The lake was absolutely stunning, and I am so glad we pushed on because that meant a nice long break on the shore, giving Sierra an opportunity to swim and cool her legs. I took this time to reflect on the hike, what was still ahead of us and Sierras wellbeing. She seemed fine again, but once we started walking to the campsite, I discovered a tiny bounce in her step. Not the good kind, though. After checking her paws, I discovered a small sore spot.
I decided to prepare a Plan B and went to the tourist information. There I asked for a way off the TMB and back to Chamonix. I wanted to observe Sierra a bit more during the day but also made the decision to leave the TMB if she did not feel better. Champex-Lac was the last "easy" option to bail out, as they had a bus service heading down the mountain, where we could take a couple of trains back to our starting point. Pressing on further meant a few more days in the mountains and bailing out points that were either really expensive or meant walking down. Not a great option if Sierra really has an issue with her legs or paws. There is only so much a first aid kit can do.
In the afternoon, I decided to grab some food and bail out the next morning. Sierra seemed tiered, and she started to limb a bit. When hiking with your dog, your hike turns into your dog's hike, and so I decided that this is our final day on the TMB. The next morning we took the bus and train back to Chamonix where we took another few days off in order to rest up, do laundry and sleep for a bit. Funny enough, we were chased down by another big storm that nearly destroyed the campsite. I have only once on the PCT experienced wind this strong. Everyone was desperately trying to hang onto their tents and belongings. It was madness, but only lasted about an hour before the sun came back out. I was really lucky to have also met a really kind soul who decided to give us a lift back to Germany! That helped us immensely to not worry about another 15+ hour train ride back home. Thank you again, dear friend. I will never forget and be forever grateful.
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