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Thursday 8th August Distance: 29.7m(618km), 982m (3222ft) ascent, 720m (2362ft) descent We made it alive and I think joy is flowing out of my ears, despite our 8km warm up…

Wednesday 7th August Distance: 25km(588km), 900m (2953ft) ascent, 1220m (4003ft) descent Brogan’s consistent singing of “One Day More” from Les Mis, combined with a colossal bruschetta at lunch powered me through…

Tuesday 6th August Distance: 29km(563km), 1065m (3494ft) ascent, 1525m (5003ft) descent It comes to no surprise that our guide book’s representation of the route’s ascent and descent was drastically wrong…

Monday 5th AugustDistance: 27km(534km), 1080m (3543ft) ascent, 1675m (4595ft) descent Today was like walking in a volcano and after having eaten asparagus quiche for lunch (tres exotic!), we left town and started…

Sunday 4th August Distance: 31km(507km), 1795m (5889ft) ascent, 1460m (4790ft) descent Overall the most accurate description of the day would have to be long and rather windy. At one point the wind…

Saturday 3rd August Today was a rest day, but it may surprise many of you to discover that Brogan has joined us for the remaining 5 days of adventure! The party has most…

Friday 2nd August Distance: 26km(476km), 1265m (4150ft) ascent, 1535m (5036ft) descent The day was relatively mild and passing a regular sheep-filled field, one would think you would be safe from…

Thursday 1st August Distance: 21km(450km), 1240m (4070ft) ascent, 1035m (3395ft) descent Today we passed some aged war barracks and descended a grassy slope into Bouseiyas – a joyous occasion. Arriving at…

Wednesday 31st July Distance: 27km(429km), 1170m (3840ft) ascent, 1395m (4575ft) descent Father set the alarm for six o’clock. After it went off multiple times and when we did eventually get…

Tuesday 30th July Distance: 16km(402km), 1100m (3610ft) ascent, 865m (2840ft) descent The ascent to the Col was not friendly (a zigzagging, scree-covered, sheer slope) and upon reaching the top it…

Monday 29th July Distance: 25km(386km), 1305m (4280ft) ascent, 1410m (4625ft) descent Our start was delayed slightly by a minor thunderstorm and as we waved au revoir to Alistair (who escaped…

Sunday 28th July Distance: 22km(361km), 1425m (4675 ft) ascent, 860m (2820ft) After another sweltering day and multiple ailments one would have thought we could go no further, but Mother whipped out…

Saturday 27th July Distance: 25km(339km), 1350m (4429ft) ascent, 1650m (5413ft) descent I’m not sure how they managed it but the parents somehow convinced our friend, Alistair, to come walking with us…

Friday 26th July Distance: 18km(314km), 525m (1722ft) ascent, 712m (2335ft) descent Nothing much to report.…

Thursday 25th July Distance: 18km(296km), 1000m (3280ft) ascent, 800m (2624ft) descent Today we crossed into Italy and had another encounter with a maniac mountain biker. As per usual, Mother was convinced…

Wednesday 24th July Rest day. Washed lots of clothes and seem to have lost the vast majority of the socks. Again, mysterious……

Tuesday 23rd July Distance: 18km (278km), 850m (2788ft) ascent, 550m (1804ft) descent  Half way day! Hallelujah. Today the signs lied again, this time to a whole other level. Naturally we…

Monday 22nd July 25km (260km) – 430m (1410ft) ascent – 960m (3149ft) descent  Nothing particularly exciting to report. We were forced to walk along a tediously flat woodland path for…

Sunday 21st July 25km (235km) – 1350m (4460ft) ascent – 1460m (4790ft) descent We started today by marching up to Col de l’Iseran, a very high road which the vast…

Saturday 20th July 19km (210km ) – 873m (2870ft) ascent – 1220m (4005ft) descent Nice walk; went through Tignes, climbed up to 2652m (8701ft) at Col du Palet, saw some…

Friday 19th July Distance: 18km (191km ) – 1585m (5200ft) ascent – 205m (675ft) Nothing too interesting occurred; climbed another Ben Nevis, walked into Vanoise National Park, now staying in a…

Thursday 18th July 29km (173km) – 1075m ascent – 2120m descent I’m going to be honest, dinner last night was pretty grim – a slice of pork accompanied by a…

Wednesday 17th July Distance: 18km (144km) – 1235m ascent – 825m descent Earlier, Mother had notified us that at some point during the day we would have walk across a ridge.…

Tuesday 16th July 25km (126km) – 1350m ascent – 895m descent Today began with a steep uphill and it was sweltering. Combined with an extensive population of horse flies attacking…

Monday 15th July Rested, cheese fondue for dinner.…

Sunday 14 July 21km (101km) – 1000m ascent – 1990m descent We left the refuge to go deep into the vegetation, only to hike all the way back up and…

Saturday 13 July 24km ( 88km) – 1800m ascent – 505m descent. Today was definitely better than yesterday, lots of ascent but only a smidgeon of descent; descent makes you…

Friday 12 July 25km (64km) – 670m ascent – 1940m descent In the 8 man bunk, we were on the top bunk and had carefully placed some head torches on…

Thursday 11 July21km (39km) – 1495 ascent – 545 descent So I have a strip of burnt-to-a-crisp neck and multiple mosquito bites on my behind, but besides this, today was…

Wednesday 10 July 18km – 1870m ascent – 1225m descent There is only one way to describe today, uphill. I exaggerate not! I’m sure on many occasions I was an…

Tuesday 9th July 2013 Today is the day. Flying out to Geneva in approximately 2 hours and then tomorrow we are officially beginning. Basically, this was destined to be a…