August 2, 2024: Today, we hiked from Les Houches to Les Contamines. Connie, still feeling the effects of our first day's challenging hike in Chamonix, found the idea of a 7 to 8-mile hike a bit too much, so she decided to stay in town. Our daughter and Chenggang initially planned to take the bus to Les Houches and then ride the cable car up to Bellevue to start the hike. However, yesterday we discovered that the Mont Blanc Tramway also reaches Bellevue, which would save us some time on the journey.

We set off early, taking the Y84 bus to the center of Saint-Gervais, aiming to catch the 8:00 AM Mont Blanc Tramway from Le Fayet up the mountain. When we arrived at the base, we found out that the 8:00 AM tram had been canceled, so we had to wait for the next one at 9:00 AM.

The first two miles of the hike from Bellevue were relatively flat, including a crossing over a suspension bridge spanning a large stream. After that, we ascended 1,500 feet to the Tricot Pass and then descended steeply by 2,000 feet to the Miage Refuge.

The refuge is a major stop on the TMB, with many hikers enjoying lunch and drinks. We treated ourselves to homemade blueberry pie and other delicious snacks.

After refueling, we continued on the trail. Light rain began to fall, so we put on our rain jackets, but it didn’t deter us from pressing on over another mountain pass before descending back into town. Fortunately, the rain lasted only about 20 minutes before it cleared up. This hike turned out to be the most challenging of our trip so far, covering 7.8 miles (12.4 km) with an elevation gain of 2,300 feet. The trail was both beautiful and demanding, offering stunning views along the way. We returned to town by 5:00 PM.

Although Connie didn’t join us for the hike, she didn’t stay idle. Les Contamines may be a small town, but it’s surrounded by mountains with beautiful scenery, including rivers and chalets, and plenty of trails to explore at your own pace. She ended up walking nearly 5 miles (7.5 km) around the town.

We ended our day with a nice dinner.

勃朗峰山脉徒步游第七天-莱斯康塔米纳

2024年8月2日：今天我们从莱斯乌什（Les Houches）徒步到莱斯康塔米纳（Les Contamines）。Connie被第一天在霞慕尼的爬山折磨得很痛苦，觉得7～8英里的徒步对她来说有点长，所以决定她一个人留在镇上。女儿和成刚原本打算乘公交车到莱斯乌什，然后坐缆车上到Bellevue作为徒步起点。但昨天我们发现蒙布朗电车（Tramway Mont Blanc）也到达Bellevue同一地点，还能为我们节省一些路上的时间。

我们早早出发，乘坐Y84巴士前往圣热尔维（Saint-Gervais）市中心。计划是搭乘8:00从勒法耶（Le Fayet）到山上的蒙布朗电车。来到山脚下却发现8:00的电车被取消了，我们只好等9:00的下一班。从Bellevue开始的头两英里徒步相对平坦，还跨过了一座悬在大溪流上的吊桥。接着，我们攀升了1500英尺到Tricot山口（Tricot Pass），然后急降2000英尺到Miage山屋（Refuge de Miage）。这个山屋是TMB的主要停靠点，有很多人在那里享用午餐和饮料。我们品尝了自制的蓝莓派和其它美食，非常美味。

补充体力后，我们再次踏上小径。天开始下起了小雨，我们不得不穿上雨衣，但这并没有阻止我们继续翻越山头，然后下山回到镇上。好在雨下了大约20分钟后就停了。这是我们这次旅行中到目前为止最艰难的一次徒步。行程为7.8英里/12.4公里，攀登高度为2300英尺。但小径美丽而充满挑战，风景如画。我们在下午5点回到了镇上。

Connie 虽然没有与我们一起去徒步，但也没闲着。 莱斯康塔米纳镇虽小，但四面环山，周围环境很漂亮，有山有水有度假屋，还有许许多多的小径，想走多远就能走多远。绕着小镇她居然也走了近5英里/7.5公里。