The summer season in the Alps is starting to get underway, and the meadows are all in bloom with some fantastic colours...
After a very nice breakfast, we (almost reluctantly), left our humble mountain lodgings...
The main Tour du Mt Blanc (TMB) route, takes a high level path over the Col du Balme, but there was way too much late season snow for this to be safe (or enjoyable), so we took the lower 'varient', where we still encountered a fair bit of snow...
We had lunch by the chalets of Catogne, where deep snow still remained in places, but was gradually breaking up and melting...
I was particularly grateful at lunch, for the homemade chocolate brownie I was carrying. It's amazing what a morale boost, some nice food can be. Especially at 2000m when it's raining!
Where the snow had begun to melt, the crocus' were in bloom. In places, the ground was literally carpeted with them and it was hard not to tread on them.
The larches had fresh needles on the way, as well as a flower I'd never seen before...
On the hike downhill to Trient, the destructive side of nature was shown, in the form of some big landslides. In places the path had been swept away.
After a brief threat of rain, we got some good glimpses of the Trient Glacier (or what's left of it), up in the distance.
Down in the Trient valley, the whole place seemed in bloom. There was a brief period of sunshine as we got to the refuge, then almost as soon as we'd taken our boots off, we had to rush to get inside as the rains started in earnest.
It was a comfy night, with boil in the bag meals for dinner. Sleeping took place under blankets, on a big communal alpine bunk in the loft of a renovated cow shed. All very cosy and fun, but seemed a far cry from the luxury of last night though!
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