'BIVOUAC AREA'
day 4 of 11
Sunday, Sept. 13

The route of the TMB is fixed (simply "a round trip") but during the trek you can opt for so-called "variants"; you then do not walk the standard route but choose to include a summit or in this case a "Refuge" (sleeping place).

(The standard route is the dotted line starting from Refuge des Mottets (in the center at the bottom of the map).
The point where the two routes (the one I took and the standard one) intersect is where I took the first scenic photo the next day (on day 5).)

This mountain hut (Robert Blanc) is truly nestled in the heart of the mountains in an incredibly beautiful location. The route that follows is also ridiculously beautiful, but it does involve some climbing and scrambling (see also the next day’s route) and a river crossing. If I had to choose just one of the different routes (precisely because of those extra challenges), this is the one you shouldn’t miss!

Written earlier that you cannot share the feeling in a video but I make an attempt in the first video below: from the valley towards the first view of Robert Blanc.

River Crossing (secured by cables, that is)

In the first image of the video below you can see, on the left, the (zigzag) path for the next day with the climbing and scrambling section to the right of that but more on that tomorrow!

To Day 5