This past October AWR’s Tilden Daniels traveled to Chamonix, France. Located beneath the Mont Blanc, western Europe’s highest peak at 15,781 feet, the Chamonix valley is a must-see destination for anyone who loves the mountains. Here is the second of two trip reports. (Read the first trip report).
Hiking through the Larch forests above Chamonix
On October 7, 2010 I woke up to blue-bird skies and a crisp fall morning. After an early breakfast I started hiking from Chamonix’s downtown. The previous night I had taken care of a few essential details to ensure a great day of hiking – I had reserved a bunk space in a hiker’s lodge in Argentière and stocked up on local meats and cheeses for picnics.
Larch needles in the fall
After purchasing a half-baguette in a bakery I walked past the Mont Envers train station and began hiking up toward the Mer de Glace (literally “ice sea”), one of the area’s largest glaciers. While you can take the train up to the Mont Envers and the Mer de Glace you can also hike for about an hour and a half through the magnificent larch forests. The larch tree, a conifer that sheds its needles in the fall, is particularly beautiful in the spring or in the fall. By October they turn golden yellow before losing their needles, and in the spring, especially in May, the new needles are bright green and the branches have a few red flowers. (The larch was made famous in comedy in Episode 3 of Monty Python’s “Flying Circus”: “How to Recognize Different Types of Tress From Quite a Long Way Away” !)
Larch in the spring
Mont Envers hotel and the Dru in the background
As I got near the Mont Envers the massif’s famous granite spires started coming into view. The Aiguille Verte (Green Needle) rises above the east side of the glacier and, while you can’t see the summit, the Drus spire dominates the landscape. The Mont Envers hotel was closed for the season but a handful of tourists had taken the train for the spectacular views. Fortunately on the way up I had appreciated the solitude of the mountains and seen only two other hikers.
Looking down on the Mer de Glace
From the Mont Envers you can continue down a path and then a series of ladders to the glacier. Just past the train station a marker notes that the trail lies along a point where the glacier reached in the 1830s – a point over 300 feet above the actual glacier! I hiked down the trail and then down the ladders to the moraine along the edge of the glacier. The only other people were guided groups equipped with ice axes, crampons and ropes. Since I was alone I stopped along the edge of the ice for lunch before heading back up to Mont Envers and hiking back down to the Chamonix valley.
Looking up at the Aiguille Verte and the Dru at sunset
The rest of my hike headed east in the Chamonix valley to the town of Argentière. The gentle trail, known as le petit balcon nord (lower northern balcony), follows the south side (north face) of the valley beneath the slopes of the Aiguille Verte and passes through the picturesque small town of Le Lavancher. Upon arrival in Argentière I found the hiker’s lodge, Le Belvédère, where a bed in a shared room costs 16.50€ per night (private rooms start at 46€ per night). Le Belvédère is an excellent option for budget trekkers and skiers and offers a communal kitchen and common eating area. I walked around town enjoying the beautiful sunset illuminating the Mont Blanc and the Aiguille Verte. I soon found a charming local restaurant, Le Carnotzet, that specializes in wine and regional cheese dishes including fondue, raclette and tartiflette. A “carnotzet” (pronounced “car-note-zay”) is a regional word from neighboring Switzerland for a wine cellar or tasting room.
The next morning the weather was just as clear as the previous day. My plan was to hike back to Chamonix along the north side (south facing side) of the valley on the trail known as the Tour du Mont Blanc.
Aiguillette d'Argentière
I first hiked up from Argentière in the larch and pine forests to the Chéserys slabs, a popular rock climbing area. By 9 AM I was above tree line where I would remain for the next 4 or 5 hours. The first point of interest, besides the amazing views over the Aiguille du Tour, the Aiguille Verte and the Mont Blanc, is the Aiguillette d’Argentière (Little Needle of Argentière). Several single-pitch rock climbing routes run to its summit including a route by Gaston Rébuffat, the well-known mountain guide.
And I continued up and up on trails and ladders to the Chéserys Lakes with breathtaking views to the north over the Aiguilles Rouges and to the south over the Mont Blanc Massif. The air was crisp but warm, the colors were autumnal, and the sky was blue. I stopped by the Chalet du Lac Blanc at 2359 meters (7340 feet) and then hiked down the trail to Chamonix. For this part of the hike I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
– Tilden Daniels
Pictures from Chéserys on the Tour du Mont Blanc:
The Mer de Glace
The Chéserys Lakes with the Argentière and Le Tour glaciers in the background
The Chalet du Lac Blanc
The Mont Blanc (summer 2008)