Au Revoir, Mont Blanc

After six tough days of hiking, I’ve folded up my hiking poles, packed away a pile of stinking Under Armour clothing and headed to Geneva to celebrate the completion of our Mont Blanc adventure.

Hiking here in Europe was an entirely different experience than hiking to Machu Picchu in Peru.  There, we worried with high altitude and drinking the water but were rewarded with a lost Incan city. Here, we encountered lots of daily mileage and rocky terrain but were rewarded with alpine villages and fine wine as we winded up each day.

The Europeans have an interesting take on hiking. They think nothing of cranking out a dozen miles on the trails on a random sunny Saturday. They will stay in spartan accommodations with shared bathrooms and lumpy mattresses but insist on chocolate croissants and cappuccino at the trailside refuges encountered high on hiking trails. 

During our adventure, we traveled counter-clockwise around majestic Mont Blanc, beginning and ending the journey is picturesque Chamonix, France. Each day was packed with miles of rocky terrain and challenging inclines and descents, but we were greeted to spectacular vistas laden with glaciers, alpine lakes and grassy knolls for mid-day picnics. We visited tiny hamlets bursting with flower boxes and alpine inns. We traveled through France, into the Italian countryside and through Switzerland.  We visited local cheese makers and enjoyed their wares for lunch each day.  We learned of local history, celebrations and customs from our knowledgeable guides.  Local cuisines and wines surely packed on a few kilos. It was challenging each day, but we were more than rewarded for our efforts.  Au revoir, Mont Blanc!

Hard Core vs. Soft Core

I’ve always thought the most difficult people were those who think they are low maintenance but are really high maintenance (of course, I consider myself low maintenance so who am I to judge?) Similarly, as I begin my Mont Blanc hiking excursion, I’m feeling like a bit of a hard core adventurer as I start this 60+ mile trek across the French, Italian and Swiss Alps, rounding Europe’s most famous and celebrated peak. That was, until I reached Chamonix, the quaint French mountain village hosting the Ultra-Train de Mont Blanc.

Frankly, I’d never heard of the UTMB.  These men and women are nuts and are definitely hard core! This annual mountain ultramarathon covering approximately 166km of wicked mountain terrainand elevation gain, takes place annually, beginning and ending in Chamonix.  Some believe it is the most difficult footrace in Europe. These 5000+ athletes don’t have a guide, a bed or a support driver. They run armed with hiking poles, compression socks and headlamps to assist as they trek throughout the night.  Rain, cold and rugged terrain are to be expected.  While the speediest will cross the finish line in slightly more than 20 hours, most take up to 45 hours to complete the course and this year 1100 were forced to drop out along the way.  My most memorable moment was watching four runners hoisting a makeshift sled carrying a disabled little red-headed girl over the finish line.  While no prize money is awarded to the winners, this team and their accomplishment was priceless.

Our group of six took the decidedly more soft core approach.  We head out on Monday with our lead guide, Flo, a 40-something lithe bundle of muscle, and our driver/ assistant guide, Laurent, a lean Frenchman with unbridled energy and enthusiasm.  Our group, all experienced hikers, are ready with our Camelback bladders in backpacks, rain gear on ready alert, Voltaren on our achy knees and stories to keep each other entertained as we conquer the trails of Mont Blanc.

Wish us soft core luck!

What Once Was Lost, Now is Found

Finally, after six drays of trekking, we arrived at Machu Picchu!

Talk about a happy accident. Yale historian Hiram Bingham, the man credited with re-discovering Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Inca, was actually on the hunt for another city when he happened into this magical site. Bingham and his team of explorers arrived in Cusco in 1911 with hopes of finding Vilcabamba, the LAST city of the Incas. Since the local Quechan language is spoken and not written, little survived from the Incan times to tell of Machu Picchu (meaning Old Mountain in Quechan.) Local maps to Vilcabamba showed another settlement and as Bingham headed off to Vicabamba, he uncovered Machu Picchu which lay directly in its path through the Sacred Valley. Actually, locals continued to farm the flat, sunny terraced areas of the city and the Incan Trail had served as a local supply route since ancient times. The site had gone undiscovered by Spanish conquerers and later explorers due to its heavily overgrown vegetation. Even from nearby Agua Calientes, you can look directly up to the site and not see it. Bingham later returned to the site in 1915 with a band of scientists to uncover remains and begin research.

The real boom to the city came in 2007 when the site was named one of “The Seven Wonders of the World.” This led to efforts by UNESCO and the Peruvian government to carefully restore and preserve the site. Daily crowd limits to both the site and the Inca Trail serve as a means to keep the site intact.

Built in the mid-15th century, Machu Picchu was a sanctuary for Incan royalty. The landscape is stunning with orchids and the massive cliff face of Huayna Picchu towering overhead. The city is divided into three sections- the Sacred District, the Popular District and the District of the Priests and Nobility. The architecture and location indicate the site is a sacred place. Numerous nearby archeological sites such as the one we visited the day before all face Machu Picchu. As with other sacred buildings, the finest craftsmen build the site’s temples using perfectly fitted stones and no mortar. Agricultural and less important structures use rougher stones and mortar. Incan architectural elements such as trapezoid windows, inward slanted walls and terraced planting areas reinforce the stability of Incan building and city planning techniques.

Theories abound as to why the city was abandoned. Some speculate it served as the estate of a local ruler and was deserted upon his death. Others theorize that disease brought by Spanish conquerors ultimately led to the city’s demise.

When he left in 1915, Bingham took 174 boxes of human remains and artifacts to the U.S. for further study. Most reside today in the Peabody Museum in CT and the Peruvian government continues to negotiate the return of these artifacts.

What a fitting end to our journey. After an overnight stay in Cusco, I’m headed off to the Peruvian Amazon.