Zach Hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc and Chaunce Got Married! (BPR #327)
Backpacker Radio
Zach Davis
4.7 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 13 October 2025
⏱️ 205 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by LMNT, we are joined by me. Because I hiked Tour du Mont Blanc. We go through all the nitty gritty details of my trip, including how I decided on going with a self-guided tour (aka staying in hotels instead of camping), the differences across the French, Italian, and Swiss portions of the trail, the best towns, the landscape highlights, the crowds, the food, how my knees asked for a divorce from my body, and everything else.
But wait, there’s more. Chaunce is fresh off her wedding and honeymoon, she gives us the full scoop of her month of nuptials and romance.
We wrap the show maturely by covering how many poops in a day is too many poops, my business pitch for selling farts online, the triple crown of wedding traditions, I share some new gear that I got to test on TMB, and listeners share their top TMB tips- including how I did it all wrong.
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Gossamer Gear: Use code "LT520" for 20% off LT5 Trekking Poles at gossamergear.com.
Ombraz: Send a DM on Instagram or to [email protected] for $30 off at ombraz.com.
[divider]
Interview with Zach!
Time stamps & Questions
00:04:55 - Apply to blog for the Trek, apply to be a Trail Correspondent, and listen to our episodes ad-free on Patreon!
00:13:05 - Introducing Zach
00:13:45 - Trail difficulty
00:16:40 - Tour du Mont Blanc Fast Facts
00:17:40 - What prep work did you have to do for the hike?
00:20:00 - More discussion about the self-guided hike option
00:22:30 - How much does the self-guided hike option cost?
00:26:30 - How did you pack and what bag did you bring?
00:30:50 - What was in your pack?
00:33:20 - Did you carry food in your pack?
00:35:00 - Discussion about the navigation app issue
00:39:30 - Discussion about daily pace and difficulty
00:42:30 - Discussion about crowding on the trail
00:47:20 - Journeying to the trail
00:51:00 - Day 1
00:57:20 - What makes this mountain range different from others?
01:01:00 - Day 2
01:08:40 - Day 3
01:22:50 - Day 4
01:36:10 - Day 5
01:51:30 - What wildlife did you see?
02:01:40 - Were you ready to be done by the last day?
02:02:50 - What were the top 3 towns to zero in?
02:05:30 - Zach got recognized!
02:07:30 - Would you have done the trail in a different direction?
02:12:00 - Closing thoughts
02:14:30 - Would you have trained differently?
02:15:15 - Wedding recap
02:26:30 - Honeymoon recap
Segments
QOTD: How many poops in a day is too many?
Triple Crown of wedding traditions
One-Minute Gear Reviews
Listener Voicemail
Mail Bag
5 Star Review
[divider]
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In today's episode of Backpacker Radio, |
| 0:02.3 | presented by the trek, brought to you by Element. |
| 0:04.0 | We are joined by me because I hiked Tour de Mont Blanc. |
| 0:08.2 | We go through all the nitty-gritty details of my trip, |
| 0:10.7 | including how I decided to go with a self-guided tour, |
| 0:14.0 | aka staying in hotels instead of camping, |
| 0:16.8 | the differences across the French, Italian, and Swiss portions of the trail, |
| 0:20.8 | the best towns, the landscape highlights, the French, Italian, and Swiss portions of the trail, the best towns, |
| 0:21.9 | the landscape highlights, the crowds, food, how my knees asked for a divorce for my body, |
| 0:27.7 | and everything else. But wait, there's more. Chonce is fresh off her wedding and honeymoon. |
| 0:32.9 | She gives us the full scoop of her month of nuptials and romance. We wrap the show by maturely covering how many poops in a day is too many poops in a day. |
| 0:43.2 | My business pitch for selling farts online, the triple crown of wedding traditions. |
| 0:47.6 | I share some new gear that I got to test on TMB, and listeners share their top tips for hiking the TMB, including how I did it all wrong. |
| 0:56.7 | But first, if you've listened to this podcast for any period of time, I've sounded like a broken record about the importance of supplementing with electrolytes while backpacking. |
| 1:06.9 | During my first through hike, drink, I landed in the hospital with a condition called hyponetremia, |
| 1:11.5 | a fancy term for low blood sodium levels. Symptoms included intense headaches, dizziness, |
| 1:17.8 | and generally feeling like a bag of Richards. This happened as a result of heavy sweating, |
| 1:22.4 | over-consuming water, and under-consuming electrolytes. A couple of saline IVs and a hefty medical bill later, and my energy was magically restored. |
| 1:31.3 | In other words, electrolytes and backpacking go together like peanut butter and jelly, |
| 1:35.4 | which is why I'm thrilled to introduce today's sponsor, Element. |
| 1:39.2 | Element is a science-backed zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix designed to support active hydration and a healthy lifestyle. |
| 1:46.8 | Element has enough sodium, potassium, and magnesium to help you feel and perform your best on trail and beyond. |
... |
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