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Chamonix Alps Log (2008-06-16 --> 2008-07-09)
Leaders: Michaelyn Koss and Chris Barnes
Students: Leah Andress, Grier Bomar, Chap Chapman, Tom Clinkscales, Trent Houghton, Ivey London, Lucy Lynch, Kaela McCabe, Alice McCusker, Andrew Miller, Anne Carney Raines, Madeline Stivender
We are trekking through the Pyrennes and will be out tonight and then rafting tomorrow, so we may not have an update until Friday. Stay tuned and Michaelyn will update us at her first opportunity.
Finally, a trip Update from Chamonix!! 6-28-08
Bonjour and Hola friends and family! First, I must give my sincere apologies for not getting an update to you sooner! I know you have been waiting by the computer, holding your breath to hear of our adventures and hear that we are all well and happy! Well, here we are and I can wholeheartedly say that we couldn't be better! We have completed our first trek and have just arrived in the picturesque town of Chamonix, the true title town of our trip! So without any more delay, please read on and let us welcome you into the tales of our European adventure!
After a few airport delays, the entire group finally met in Geneva and immediately boarded a train to Lourdes in the south of France. Wasting no time whatsoever, Trent began expanding upon his classroom-learned French skills to speak with all the locals. He has been more help than you can imagine in deciphering this complex, yet beautiful language. We spent the first night all together sharing our goals and excitement about the upcoming journey. Early the next morning, after a breakfast of bread and croissants (a common theme!), we were dropped off at the Col de Bucharo. We trekked over snowdrifts to reach the gateway to Spain (yes, Spain! Did you even know we were adding an extra country to our itinerary?!). Immediately, we switched our 'bonjours' to 'holas' as the people we met upon the trail were mostly Spanish-speaking. And luckily we had Kaela to navigate us through this language since she spent a month last summer studying in Spain! We hiked almost all downhill for over 7 hours this first day to the lovely village of Torla where we dined in a stone cellar-like space that we all loved. We enjoyed a meal of quiche and to the boy’s excitement, meat and potatoes! This also became a common theme of the meals. Kaela encouraged us all to embrace each new culture and custom and to try to be as respectful as possible, moving beyond the stereotype of being loud, obnoxious Americans. It helped us to stop and reflect about why we are really here. We slept in a wonderful refuge called Atalaya and awoke the next morning to...you guessed it, bread!
This next day proved to be our most challenging one so far and the entire group did amazingly well. I must say though, in the year that I've known Chap Chapman, the end of this day was the first and only time I have ever seen him tired. Chap is the living energizer bunny and to see him tired really meant this day was beyond tough. We hiked 13 miles for 9 and a half hours primarily uphill to the high alpine Goriz refuge. And I am not exaggerating. Your kids are coming home strong, healthy and in great shape! This day was probably the most beautiful and diverse day of hiking any of us have experienced in our lives. We passed too many waterfalls to count in the stunning Canyon d'Ordesa and weaved through shaded mountain trails to reach high rock ridges with snow-capped mountains as our views in the distance. It was truly a magical day. As usual, Lucy didn't voice one complaint and truly seemed to enjoy herself throughout the entire day. An amazing feat for someone always at the front of the pack. Andrew did a wonderful job motivating the folks toward the back, something no one does quite as well as he can with his songs and endlessly happy mood. At Goriz, we mingled with the climbing elite and warmed up with a delicious dinner of soup and sausage while taking in views of Mont Perdu.
The next day we descended a different vertical path that required the use of chains. Alice and Leah did a wonderful job overcoming their seemingly mild fear of heights (this was an intense endeavor and they did extremely well). We hiked another 13 miles and over 9 hours to our next refuge called Bujaruelo, which was bordered by a crystal clear river and a beautiful stone bridge. The boys and Chris all took a refreshing dip in the FREEZING water while the girls soaked their sore and blistered feet. That night we all enjoyed relaxing together in the common area between our rooms. The next day we climbed the steep hill we descended the first day of our trek, which took over 4 hours! Ivey and Anne Carney were nominated the toughest of the group that night at Moon-up for overcoming the difficulties of nausea and blisters respectively. Not to worry though, they are both doing much better and impressed all of us with their will power and optimism despite the circumstances. We crossed back over into France and spent the next two nights relaxing at the refuge run by a French couple called Les Granges de Holle. A few of us took a short hike to the famous Cirque de Gavarnie, which has been named a World Heritage Site for its beauty. We gazed upon the tallest waterfall in Europe and enjoyed a day of resting our boots and wearing our sandals! I cannot express what a treat this was!
Our next trek began with a short 3 hour walk to the refuge called Wallon where we stayed for another relaxing 2 nights in an attic-like space where the group learned to perfect the art of playing 'Big Booty,' 'Dip Dip Dip' and 'Telephone' as quietly as possible while sitting down! We stayed up late giggling and laughing on each other's beds playing games and bonding and realized these are truly the best times that Moondance has to offer. Simply being together and enjoying each other's company. The next day Trent urged Chris, Chap, Andrew and Tom to climb to the tallest nearby peak. The boys returned with great stories of sliding down snow, pictures of being above the clouds and the biggest smiles of the trip. Grier , Madeline and I napped on the grass with the breeze in our faces and could not have been more comfortable in a feather bed!
The next day our travel guides, Rufus and Mandy, dropped us at our whitewater rafting location...Les Gares Sauvages. We enjoyed a change of pace on the cold, exciting rapids. After a day of train rides, we are now in beautiful Chamonix headed out for another 8 day trek. Stay tuned for our next update. The kids are calling me to come play, so I must go! We miss all of you and are thinking of you!
Michaelyn
Update 7-5-08
Hello again friends and family! Here we are again in the heart of Chamonix, back from 6 days of trekking through the glorious Alps! We began this trip with a van ride through the longest tunnel any of us have ever been through. If I'm not mistaken, the tunnel went under a mountain and once we came out on the other side, we were in country number four of our trip, Italy! We immediately strapped our packs on, which were probably a bit lighter this time after learning how every ounce of weight adds up from the last trek. Heading uphill, and I mean STRAIGHT uphill for nearly 3 miles, we crossed back into Switzerland and sadly said good-bye to Italy. (Too bad we didn't at least get one meal there!) After the climb, we reached the highest point of our entire alpine journey and stopped for as many pictures as possible before the wind-chill forced us to keep going. After such a tough uphill portion, we realized the effort was worth it for the panoramic view of the snow-capped mountains. Andrew, Tom, Chap, Ivey and I posed next to an elevation marker with our matching, yet varied Moondance Capilene shirts. Definitely one for the catalog! We gladly hiked downhill for the remainder of the day and found ourselves in La Fouly where we stayed at Hotel L"Edelweiss. After a delicious dinner of chicken and rice (I think this was our very first meal of chicken for the entire trip!), we decided that although it wasn't very outdoorsy, we just had to gather in a lounge and watch the final UEFA Euro 2008 soccer match between Spain and Germany. Yes, it was TV, and yes, we are on a Moondance trip, but we decided that we could do nothing more European than watching that game at that moment. After all, everyone else in Europe was doing the same thing and this trip is about cultural immersion! We had a blast cheering for Spain, with the exception of Leah who stayed strong in her support for Germany. Throughout the game, people from all over Europe joined us in front of the TV, even the Chef who cooked our dinner that night! Much to Leah's dismay, Spain won 1-0 and we happily went to bed.
The next day we hiked from La Fouly to the tourist village of Champex, which is perched on a beautiful lake in Switzerland. This was a relatively easy hike (only 5 and a half hours and very little of it was uphill). You have to understand, we are old pros at the whole backpacking thing at this point and 5 hours was nothing to this strong group. We shopped at a local grocery store in Champex for spaghetti and made our own delicious dinner on a picnic table overlooking the lake. And of course, after dinner we all had ice cream cones. Upon waking the next morning, we headed out again for Trient, a tiny, yet lovely town with a beautiful church framed by the Swiss Alps. During our hike this day, we solidified our hiking groups and I have to publicly thank Andrew and especially Madeline for our conversations and for getting me up all of those mountains with their friendship, perseverance and motivation! Kaela, Chap and Lucy led the group almost every day...I swear long legs have some sort of advantage. They were really an inspiration to those of us huffing and puffing. Ivey, Anne Carney, Leah, Alice, Trent and Grier perfected bringing up the rear and don't for a second think this is because they were slow! They enjoyed their time taking in the views, relaxing and playing the new favorite, "Would You Rather?" So, would you rather be on our amazing Chamonix trip or somewhere else? You get the idea...Our night in Trient was spent at the lovely hostel Relais du Mont Blanc which has been the highlight of our trip so far. We sat down to a normal and seemingly uneventful dinner (although the food was especially delicious) and when they brought around the ice cream dessert (a first), a table of French middle-aged men began singing "Happy Birthday" to one of their comrades. Well, they didn't stop with 'happy birthday' and dinner lasted an extra hour because of the singalong! We were taking pictures of them and clapping and cheering before they finally urged us to sing our own American song. Andrew stood up to raucous cheers from the entire room and led us in our best version of "Lean On Me." It was one of the best times I've ever had on a Moondance trip. Every person in the room had a smile from ear to ear. Isn't that what it's all about?!
Finally, after falling asleep from our exciting night, we arose to a tough uphill day from Trient to Col de Balme. This was by far the most beautiful day of the entire trip and again, worth every drop of sweat, and burning aches in our legs. We hiked 4 hours uphill and as we rounded the top of this section, the green rolling hills gave way to the most awe-inspiring view of Mont Blanc and the surrounding mountains. We had a 5-star lunch basking in the sun and the view before packing up again and heading down to one of our new favorite towns, Argentiere. We stayed in the cozy Hotel de la Couronne and cooked our own delicious meal of grilled ham, salami and cheese sandwiches on a small one-burner stove. This was perhaps the best meal yet. Rain woke us up the next morning for the first time the entire time in Europe and we realized just how fortunate we've been to have sunshine every single day. We made it to another alpine hut perched high in the clouds called La Flegere and relaxed among the lodge-like atmosphere playing cards and reading books.
For the 4th of July, we rounded out our hike with constant gorgeous views of Mont Blanc and American songs on the trail right until we reached Chamonix. We are now in the middle of a huge party in Chamonix celebrating 100 years of the Mont Blanc Railway. So I'm off to enjoy street parades and live, free concerts with 13 of my favorite people in the world! We miss all of you and will be in touch soon!
Michaelyn and Chris
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