[jrgaston]

Interesting article, and it brings back a lot of memories.

I've done three alpine hikes: the Tour du Mont Blanc, the Haute Route, and the Dolomites. The Dolomites were my favorite, for both the scenery (though all are spectacular) and for the quality of the mountain inns where we stayed each night. We spent one night at Rifugio Cinque Torri, which is not far from those rock towers in the story.

I took a lot of photos while hiking and while carrying the camera equipment was a bother, I am so glad I did as I can re-visit the trip, photo by photo.

All three hikes are highly recommended.

[liendolucas]

Is Tour du Mont Blanc difficult? Do you need special equipment to climb or just a good pair of hiking shoes will suffice?

[gearhart]

The terrain isn’t difficult - straightforward hiking with no special gear required - but you can make it as easy or hard as you like by varying the number of days you do it over. Famously the UTMB is a race that does roughly the same route in one push over two days, which is definitely difficult!

[jrgaston]

The trail I followed for the TMB was not difficult, though difficulty depends on the trail you choose plus how much you want to cover in a day. I had good hiking boots, poles, rain gear, and a not-too-big pack with water, food, and clothing. I did not camp.