This guide will give you an overview of the Tour du Mont Blanc Stage 2 variant that includes the challenging Col du Fours.
After a long official first day on Stage 1 of the Tour du Mont Blanc, we would now head over two mountain passes on our way to Ville des Glacier. Here's how it went!
Activity Profile
- 8.90 miles
- 3,394-foot ascent
- 2,989-foot descent
Tour du Mont Blanc Stage 2: The Goal
Today we’d be heading up and over two mountain cols: Col du Bonhomme and Col des Fours.
A col is also sometimes called a saddle or mountain pass, and refers to the lowest point between two mountains. Despite being the “lowest” point in the ridge line between the two mountains, the cols today were no joke, and we had some serious elevation gain to tackle.
Hiking to Col du Bonhomme
From the bivouac campground from the night before, we began a long uphill walk up a gravel 4x4 road.
We passed Refuge de la Balme and considered stopping for coffee, but ended up pushing on.
We soon entered an area (the first of many we’d see) with patous (livestock guardian dogs) on patrol, living their best life in the mountains. Be cautious when you see these dogs and don’t try to approach their livestock.
Here are some more tips on encountering les patous on trail.
Next we began the brutal climb up to Col du Bonhomme. This was rocky and much more difficult terrain than the col we passed over on our first day.
I was on the struggle bus through this section. For sure.
We finally reached the Col du Bonhomme (but not the end of the elevation gain), and it was a perfect spot to stop for a very scenic sandwich.
Here's what you need to know about getting food and drink on the TMB.
After lunch, we continued our trek up.
The section between the Col and the Refuge Croix du Bonhomme was the most technically challenging part of the trail this day and included multiple rock scrambles.
We’d intended to go to Refuge Croix du Bonhomme for a beer, but the ascent up Col du Bonhomme took so long that we decided just to keep going.
The Col des Fours Variant of Tour du Mont Blanc Stage 2
We opted to do another variant instead of taking the main trail, so we turned left towards Col des Fours. This section brought us to one of the highest elevation points on the trail. (My Garmin said we got to 8,701 feet that day.)
This section was much quieter than the Col du Bonhomme portion of the trail, which was nice, and the views were stunning. I don’t think my photos capture just how beautiful this view was.
While this variant shortens the route a bit, it also adds difficulty. You should only do this trail variant in clear weather. The steep downhill over loose shale felt a bit treacherous (to me), and this was a clear sunny day.
I froze up a little at the top, and another hiker reminded me to lengthen my trekking poles. Gear recommendations here.
My husband gave me a refresher on walking on steep loose rock:
- Step solidly on one foot, and use your knee in a bit of a squat as you move.
- Whatever you do, don’t shuffle your feet.
- While going slow might seem the best move, a steady "one foot at a time" pace will keep you more sturdy on the ground.
Anyway. This section made me incredibly nervous, but little by little we made it down off the scary part.
As we continued down the mountain, I absolutely could not stop singing “The Sound of Music.” I mean, come on. The views were out of this world, and made up for the intimidating descent.
The remaining portion of trail featured multiple stream crossings, and some sections were a little muddy, even after multiple dry sunny days.
One of our lessons learned on the TMB is that sun protection is a must.
We ended Stage 2 at Ville des Glacier, where we took a bus to our campground in Les Chapieux.
Once at camp, we devoured some of the most amazing pizza I’ve ever eaten in my life, and then went to bed to rest up for another (even bigger) day on Stage 3.
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