Tour du Mont Blanc: Days 11 & 12

Day 11 (7 Aug): Les Praz to Chamonix (4 miles, 2,200 feet ascent, 400 feet descent)

Our final day on the trail. Has it really been 11 days? I’ve fully recovered from my hernia op and settled back into that comfortable rhythm of hiking all day and sleeping soundly at night.

We take the cable car up to Refuge la Flegere, stepping out into crisp Alpine air with breathtaking views across the valley to the Mont Blanc massif, keen eyes picking out the tiny cross on the summit of the Aiguille du Midi, a 12,600-foot mountain we hope to explore tomorrow.

A balcony path should take us to the Le Planpraz ski lift area.

Unfortunately, we must separate again, as Jude is uncomfortable with a narrow bend in the path between a rock face on one side and a steep drop on the other. She and Hayley will descend into Chamonix while Rhys and I continue up.

Colourful tandem paragliders carry passengers down to the valley floor. That’s something else I’d love to try.

The trail ladders need a little maintenance.

A young couple perform a series of moves for their TikTok video. The lad looks rather embarrassed, cajoled into forming various heart-shaped poses. For some reason, they then abandon the switchback path, attempting to clamber up the rocky slope and sending stones back down onto the path and us. We both chuckle when the lad finally makes it to the top, only for his water bottle to fall out of his pocket and roll back down the slope. We don’t pick it up. Justice is served.

The final section is a wide stony path that twists and turns up to the viewpoint at Le Brévent, which we visited on Day 1. Time for a pose before opting for an easy descent, riding two cable cars down to Chamonix.

We join Jude and Hayley at the lovely Hotel L’Oustalet, where Cal, our eldest son, joins us in the garden for drinks. He has spent the past two weeks climbing in the Alps, sleeping in his converted van. After a fine meal, we retire to our beds, as “Smoke on the Water” drifts through the open windows from the nearby Rock Legends outdoor concert. I want to go back out and catch the end of the gig, but I’m tired, and this bed is very comfortable. I fall asleep to a medley of classic rock songs.

Day 12 (8 Aug): Aiguille du Midi

I’m up at 6 am to make sure we can buy tickets for the very popular cable car to the Aiguille du Midi. On such a fine day, the queue is already lengthy, mainly climbers with ropes, ascending before the heat of the day increases the risk of avalanches and collapsing snow bridges. I’ll take a safer route.

Returning to the hotel with tickets and fresh pastries from the nearby bakery, we enjoy breakfast before walking to the cable car station. The journey up takes 20 minutes, including a change at a midway station.

The summit station is like something from a science fiction novel, with tunnels hewn into the rock, ringed by external walkways and viewing platforms. Climbing a short flight of steps, my legs feel like lead, the effect of altitude at 12,600 feet, the highest I’ve ever been.

A cave exit for properly equipped climbers provides access onto the glacier, where tiny figures make their way along a ridge.

Cal has explored this ridge and several others on the Mont Blanc massif, and no, I did not take this photo.

It’s possible to summit Mont Blanc from here, evidenced by the queasy sight of climbers following a path between menacing crevasses. They must be crazy to start a climb now as the ice warms.¹

A helicopter rises above the ridge, circles the glacier, and swoops down the valley, offering visitors another way to experience the peaks. The views are unworldly. Oh, to be an alpinist. In another life perhaps.

Climbers scramble across terrifying ridges to join the viewing platforms and scale the cliffs below.

One climber makes a striking silhouette, taking a photo of Mont Blanc. The final summit ascent almost looks straightforward from here, with tracks to the right side of the ridge. Cal said he could get me up there without any technical climbing, if I were fit enough at altitude.

We skip the glass-bottomed infinity cage as the queue is an hour.

Standing at the rails of another balcony platform, I’m so exhilarated that I pull Jude and Hayley in for a group hug. I feel like I did when I stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon. We should never lose that childlike feeling of wonder and awe.

After a couple of hours, we descend, briefly stopping at the mid station to track down a marmot seen from the cable car.

https://youtu.be/d0Rqf3eBMZw?si=Cqw976uazhYqKEjP

Having descended from the gods to earth with ordinary mortals, it’s time to prepare for the journey home. What a fantastic two weeks, walking through a magnificent landscape in glorious weather. That’s number eight of my 100 Hikes of a Lifetime completed. I’m running out of time.

Next we have a family holiday with friends on Dartmoor, and then I’ll aim to finish the Thames Path before resuming my coastal journey in October, spending five days on the exciting island of Rum. Rehabilitation complete, I’m raring to go.

1. The route was officially closed a couple of weeks later. ↩︎