France 2017 – 1: Below Mont Blanc

After a arriving late in Paris due to an inflight emergency that had our plane turn around shortly after leaving the mainland we got our rental car and headed straight for the Alps. We made it to our hotel in Sallanches about an hour before sunset. So we set out immediately for a little evening walk and were rewarded by some great views of the last sun rays on Mont Blanc.

The next day we headed to Chamonix, found some accommodation and went for a hike. Our first choice, taking a tram up a ways and then hike to Glacier d’Argentière, was not available due to some trail work. So we had to come up with an alternative. Unfortunately this delayed us and we ended up finishing our hike in the dark. We took the tram from La Flégère to L’Index and then hiked over to Lac Blanc, a beautiful glacier fed lake. There is a hut at the lake that offers food, drink, and accommodation to hikers.

As we were leaving the hut we saw our first Alpine ibex. Being used to spotting the very shy bighorn sheep here in the South West we were very excited, thinking how lucky we were. Later we found out that these animals are not rare or shy down there at all and we saw many more.

Since we were too late for the last tram down we had to hike all the way back to the valley floor. Naturally we had not brought enough head lamps for everybody and had to make do with just 2 lamps for 4 people on the last mile or so. Back in civilization we rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner.

Below are some pictures from this hike and our time in Chamonix valley.

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