Here’s where the risks of writing a photo based blog occur.
As we leave Bonhomme and happily get 3k up the first path ( enough ascent to make me not want to do it again ) I realise I’ve left my phone in charge behind the bar. There were no charge points in the dorm – and as we know well enough – change habits and unexpected consequences occur.
Gosh Darn it ! … I said but spelt differently.
I have a 10 second review with Sebastian. At this altitude and our strenuous timetable the group can’t wait . He insists the group stays together – understandable. In any case I doubt I’d be able to trace his route effectively later – I’d do it but I’d take ages .
Everything’s backed up to icloud and Google drive – memories are safe – so bye phone 
We March on – I’m saying to the group – take pics ! – send them to Thom ! Ooooh and what’s more that gave me a fairly solid reason not to blog live from the trail – should have given that as an excuse ( still not that good 
) earlier.
Photos after this are a real mix – Thoms phone ( me & him ) , Group contributions , Lukes phone.
Here’s the group – mysterious shadow band.
And todays early Fam photo taken by Kakai -nice.
As we lose all the 900 Metres of early ascent and drop into a valley – our next encounters are charming in the sparse alpine meadows.
I think these early pics sum us up admirably- I too have early visitors to my selfies but I’m 50/50 – that’s fairly accurate
A chilly early start – on the trail with Maria – best friend of Kakai and another inspirational person to know.
There’s something of a fandom about nature that hits you when you’re on an adventure like this – a simple picture of Man & Mule en route is both dwarded and enhanced by the lower Mont Blanc escarpment .
We drop down to the hamlet of “Ville de Glacier” – to get some cheese for lunch that Sebastian has been raving about ….
Turns out this tiny – one bucket operation – has admirers across France( it IS a very large bucket mind ) 
and a waiting list for each seasons batch . It depends in the snow to melt so the goats can feed on the new Alpine meadows . He says it costs 100’s of Euros for 250gram in Paris .
We have Team update from Sebastian at the farm –
Our destination today is Refuge Elizabetha (6-8hrs, 960m/3150ft ascent)
Sebastian describes our descent through luscious pastures, where there may be opportunities to buy Beaufort cheese from the shepherds. We will later pass through the City of the Glaciers (La Ville des Glaciers) – which is where we are now – a magnificent place where the green of the pasture is covered-up by the ice. There will be a steady , relentless ascent to reach the Seigne passage (2516m) where the ruins of a customs hut remind us that we are crossing into Italy. Here there is a first glimpse of the Mont Blanc massif from the southern perspective, and descending to the Vallon de la Lée Blanche, there are good views of the fabulous limestone and snow pyramid of the Grand Combin and the Estelette and Lée Blanche glaciers. In the afternoon we will enter a rocky landscape in stark contrast to the lush pastures of this morning ……..keep an eye out as we enter the Mineral Kingdom! Overnight Refuge with shower.
15km, 960m/3150ft ascent, 998m/3274ft descent
Lunch was fab – the cheese amazingggg .
It fuels us to cross over our highest pass so far – the Col du Seigne Passage – it’s a point of celebration as without the slightest sign of bureaucracy or passport we enter ITALY 
!
Apparently the food , wine and rest stop standards get better from now on . Who knows ?
The weather starts to close in , it’s late afternoon now as I see this timeless picture in front of me ….
We head for Dinner and see this welcome sight ….
Rifugio Elisabetta
“If you know – you know “ ……. you can book a bunk room for 4 – costs a tad more – same applies to most places. I’ll do it next time. Our usual shelf is fun but you need to be Houdini to get out without waking others .
Us in this ……
?Or this ……
There’s not a lot of photos after this at dinner- but the balcony , like so many if these high , isolated places is fab.
The preoccupation with Showers grows and is totally understandable 
. Here you got 35 liters then OFF . If you mistook it for a timed shower you get caught fully soaped and NO water . Not mentioning any names but the loudest scream of “NO F…… G WAY” we heard on the Tour so far had a distinct Aussie accent . 
Anyway as we end todays blog introducing another of our band … Lara from Aus’ 
– just saying . 
Until tomorrow.
Xxxxxxx