Tour de Mont Blanc, Day 2: Refuge de Nant Borrant to Refuge des Mottets

Distance: 14km, 1500m elevation gain
Time: 9 hours
Cost: 55 euros (room and board at Refuge des Mottets)

Our second day on the Tour de Mont Blanc was shorter, but man, was it a all buster! We hiked up 3 passes - Col du Bonhomme, Col de la Croix, and Col des Fours - climbed 1500m and descended 700m! The passes were covered in snow (unusual for this time of year) but the temperature still manged to climb to a balmy 30+ degrees under a hot sun. We both got nasty sunburns.

Des Mottets where we're ending our night is isolated but very comfortable and well-serviced. For dinner they served us veggie soup, tomato salad, cheese, beef stew with rice and aubergines and creme caramel for dessert.