This was our first "real" day on the TMB. There were hordes of people on trail, we had a twelve-mile itinerary, and we ran into many friends from camp the previous night. The day began with a fairly gentle road climb out of Les Contamines, then the path steepened as we climbed out of the valley. We raced to the top and beat our time estimate at the expense of our dry shirts. Along the way, we navigated a herd of cows migrating down the path. Through panting breaths, we befriended Gary, a guide who convinced us to take the Col du Fours variant. Evan befriended a fellow photographer/programmer/climber named Yanko. We also met Amy, a coworker of Mel's, because yet again, Seattle is just that small. Unfortunately, we didn't see an ibex on the Col du Fours variant nor did we get cheese at the Fromagerie at Ville de Glaciers on the far side of the valley. However, we thoroughly enjoyed getting into the alpine and moving very fast though steep terrain. Solitude, apart from the marmots, was welcome after the conga line up the valley earlier that day.

That evening at Refuge de Motetts we shared a room with a lovely Finnish couple, Ohto and Emma. Later at dinner we sat next to Tom and Sara who were a hoot to share a meal with. We all agreed that the food was the best we'd had yet and (for once) was well-spiced. The weather started to deteriorate as the evening wore on and, without any cell signal, rumors about the incoming inclement storm started to swirl around the lodge. As rain poured, we fell asleep with Morgan's optimism in conflict with Evan's assurance that the next day would be miserable.