Tour du Mont Blanc Day Eleven – Tré Le Champ to Refuge la Flégère

Stepping onto the wooden balcony that adjoins our room at 6am all is silent in the valley. The cool, still morning air fills my nostrils with the scent of pines and wood smoke. Dew glistens on the grass in the small camping field next to the refuge and people in the tents are stirring. I stand for a while in the stillness, looking up at Mont Blanc and reflecting on our walk so far. We have seen the mountain we are walking around from different aspects, from different countries and in different weather. It has been the central hub and ever present reminder of the reason for our journey, our very own ‘Tour du Mont Blanc‘. Today is our penultimate day and it promises to be a good one.

Breakfast in the hobbit house that is Auberge le Boêrne is in two shifts so everyone can fit into the small dining room. The refuge is certainly unique. Dark and maze like, full of small corners, packed in bunks and old wooden furniture and fittings worn smooth by the hands of thousands. I’m sure it isn’t to everyone’s taste but it’s undeniably quirky and full of character.

Today is short on mileage but big on ascent and is one of the most challenging stages on the whole tour. We are taking a variant that leads us up the famous (infamous) passage délicate, a series of metal ladders and platforms bolted to sheer rock faces that enable safe-ish and rapid ascent up the vertical slabs of the Aiguilles Rouges. Leaving the pretty village of Tré le Champ, Aiguille Verte and Aiguille Dru are prominent on the skyline, rising up above the forested slopes.

We cross a road and the trail starts to head upwards through the forest. For the next two days the TMB joins the Grand Balcon Sud, a balcony path that runs at mid height the length of the Chamonix valley providing spectacular views across to Mont Blanc. We haven’t gone far when we see a man way off the path in the undergrowth with a big wicker basket. Curiosity gets the better of Steve and he shouts down to him. After some translation by a fellow hiker we find out he’s picking blueberries. And now we know, we see blueberries, everywhere. Steve is a natural forager, willing to try anything and everything and proceeds to eat blueberries by the handful. I’m no Ray Mears but I figure you can’t go wrong with blueberries and they do provide a nice early morning boost to our energy levels as we climb upwards.

The day is dry and there are plenty of clouds to break up the sunshine. The higher we get the better the views become and then I see the perfect picture, Mont Blanc framed through a gap in the trees. After spending an age taking too many pictures we finally get moving again and shortly after I see my first wildlife on the trail. Having missed the sighting of the Marmot way back in Ville des Galciers we now see several Ibex clinging to the rock face above our heads and a long way below us, a group of Chamois on a rock. 

    Heartened to have at last seen some of the wildlife that live in this region we carry on upwards and arrive at Aiguillette d’Argentière, a fifty metre high pointed rock pinnacle which has many climbing routes up it.

A little further on the first of the ladder sections begins so I pack my poles away, place my hands on the first rungs and start climbing ladders. It’s not easy work especially with 9kg on your back but we slowly make our way up a series of ladders, broken up by some traversing paths in between and platforms to assist over the more problematic rock steps.

It’s certainly exhilarating and I’ve never experienced anything like it before. Technically, so long as you are not afraid of heights or having some empty space under your feet it isn’t difficult, so long as you don’t let go of the ladder. Climbing up ladders for a few hundred feet is pretty tiring though, especially on the arms.

The first of the ladder sections ends at a large cairn with magnificent views over to the Mont Blanc massif and I couldn’t resist getting Steve to take a posey picture of me looking out over the valley.

The incline eases a little as we walk up to the Lac de Chéserys, a group of mountain lakes nestled in a small flat area surrounded by higher ground. It’s a drop down to the biggest of the lakes and we stop for a breather and something to eat before tackling the final ladder section and climb up to Lac Blanc.

The second ladder section is not as long as the first and includes some interesting wooden ‘steps’ that have been attached to the smooth rock to aid progress and avoid slips.

Climbing over a final rock bluff before the refuge I’m greeted with the sight of large numbers of people congregating around Lac Blanc and Refuge Lac Blanc, it’s like Oxford Circus at seven thousand feet.

Lac Blanc and it’s refuge is a popular day hike with people getting the cable car up to La Flégère and then walking up to the lake, hence the hoards. Like yesterday the wind is strong and chilling, unlike yesterday the inside of the refuge is shut for some reason so we have to sit outside on the wooden terrace. Fortunately we find a corner seat which is out of the wind and get ourselves coffee and cake. I am wondering what the playing cards are for that came with our bill and find out when I go to use the loo, two euros to use the loo unless you have a card which means you’ve bought something in the cafe.

I head off to take some pictures and when I get back, Luca and Will, Kyle and Jo and also Jay have arrived. We hang around and it’s good to catch up with our little band of travellers, probably for the last time. I’ve got on well with Luca these last three days. An extremely confident and self assured young man with an encyclopedic knowledge of political facts and history. I’ve enjoyed talking to him about the state of the world and as we walk around the lake I take a picture of us saying I’m with “The future President of the United States” And I wouldn’t be surprised if I was.

From Lac Blanc it’s downhill all the way to the cable car station at La Flégère. The path, well used by day trippers is worn and unpleasant but that is compensated somewhat by spectacular views across the valley. Arriving at La Flégère we say goodbye to our fellow travellers as they are carrying on, some down to Chamonix some further along the trail but Steve and I are heading to Refuge de la Flégère, which enjoys a commanding position overlooking the Chamonix valley.

 

After dinner I step out to get some fresh air before bed and watch the skies as dark clouds start to move in, covering the mountain tops and drifting up the valley. The weather is looking ominous for tomorrow.

Route Map, Walk Stats, Geolocated Pictures and 3D Flyover Video Below.

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