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My friend and I intend to do part of the Tour de Mont Blanc this summer. While we are aware of the refuges and huts, we would prefer to stay in bivouacs for the night (at least one night, but probably two).

Our plan is to hike for 3 days. Evidently, we are not considering carrying 6kg of water for these three days. Our main idea was to bring purifying pills (efervescent) and drink water from creeks, streams and ponds. We are considering hiking both below and above the tree line.

I have been reading online and spoke with a friend who successfully hiked for two days only with the pills. But, since I am inexperienced on long (more than 2 days) hikes, I do not know if this is the standard approach or if we are making a serious mistake.

The part of the trail in question is between Les Contamines and Courmayeur passing through Les Chapieux, but I would like to keep the question as general as possible, as I intend to do more long hikes in the future.

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2 Answers2

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I hike in that very area some years ago. We would typically get water from the refuges.

Specifically:

  • Le refuge de la Balme
  • Le refuge de la croix du Bonhomme
  • Le refuge des Mottets
  • Il refugio Elisabetta

You'll find clean water there, and they are not that far apart (about half a day between each, I'd say).

The rest of the time, if you don't have enough water, pills are fine, although you'll lack minerals as most streams are straight from a glacier. But a few days on purified water this way shouldn't be a concern at all.

Also make sure you are aware of the bivouac rules both in France and Italy. I don't know what the rules are now, but some years ago, in Italy it was forbidden to Bivouac below 2500m, unless at the campsite of a refuge, while it was allowed in France.

njzk2
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Probably your best solution is to take a small camping stove and boil water you get from a creek. The huts are basically doing the same when they sell you tea water.

In my experience, most bivoucs require you to bring your own stove anyways, so this method hardly adds any weight (maybe some extra gas). It is way cheaper than buying a water filter and it does not require you to put chemicals into water that is likely drinkable anyways. And as a bonus you get a warm tea when the sun sets in the evening ;)

For many bivouacs you should be able to find out whether there is a creek nearby.

Manziel
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