TRAIL: TOUR DU MONT BLANC – DAY 10

DAY TEN – July 12

Today was the day for epic vistas, the legendary ladders, an incredible mountain-top aqua blue lake, ibex sightings, and a mad dash to Plan Praz to catch the last cable car back to Chamonix.

It’s hard to pick a favourite day on the trail but Day 10 is definitely in the top 3. Today was all kinds of epic. The kind of epic that comes to mind when you think of the Tour du Mont Blanc. It was the kind of day on the trail that exceeds all your expectations. The kind that makes you believe that if you can conquer those terrifying, cliff-hugging mountain-side ladders, you can do anything.

The day started out an an easy enough forest trail that gradually ascended above the tree line. All along the views of Mont Blanc kept us company, peaking through the trees and appearing on the horizon.

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We anticipated that today was going to be challenging and a long hike. We opted to go up to Lac Blanc because the guide books all say it’s a must see. That did add a little extra distance to the day but it was worth it.
But first – the ladders.

If you’ve ever googled “Tour du Mont Blanc” inevitably pictures of people climbing up ladders up rock walls come up in your search. But, perhaps you’re like me and you didn’t let the fear that instantly took over your body at seeing those photos stop you from booking the trek. Denial can be a lovely thing.
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This is the trail as it approaches the first section of ladders. Amazing, right?! Wowza, just so stunning, I can only say wowza.

Let me just say that the ladders in pictures you see online do not in any way capture what it’s actually like to climb up the real thing. The metal ladder are sturdy and well secured but they’ve been worn down by countless hikers over the years. It’s only the sweat in the palm of your (my) hands that help grip them so effectively as you hold on for dear life.

A picture can not show you what if feels to look down at your feet when you’re half way up only to see the ground disappear beneath them.

You might recall I had a mild panic attack crossing the suspension bridge on the very first day of the hike. By now, you’d think I’d have somehow managed to be braver, bolder, less of a scared chicken. You would be wrong.

Tip: When going up the ladders ensure your backpack is secure, with the waistband tight, and balanced on your back. You don’t want it to twist while you’re going up a ladder which can throw off your whole balance.

But there was no turning back because going down the ladders would be even scarier for me (see post re Day 9 about hiking counter clockwise). So it was onwards – we had a lake to get to!
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There were a few more ladders and ladder-type stairs still to go, like this section, which is really only wide enough for one person, thankfully the people coming down waited patiently for us to get to the top.

As all the guide books suggest, Lac Blanc is worth the extra time in the day’s hike. Arriving at the refuge is an amazing reward after conquering the ladders.
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Lac Blanc is quite possibly one of the world’s most beautiful mountain lakes. Top ten for sure.

We grabbed a bowl of soup, a piece of berry tart and some hot chocolates. Best soup of the whole trip! And the view wasn’t so bad either.

​It was a little chilly by the lake, probably because it’s at 2,352 meters above sea level. It was mid-July, in the midst of a heatwave and there’s still snow. Some parts of the lake were still covered in ice!

​I kind of wished we had decided to stay overnight there. I would have liked more time to just explore around the lake. But alas, the cable car at Plan Praz awaits!
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One hop, skip and a few (unstable) stones away from the refuge at Lac Blanc, we had an ibex sighting. I wonder if seeing ibex for the locals is like what seeing Canada geese are to Canadians. They are just part of the landscape. In any case, we hikers thought it was kind of cool to see. And the ibex don’t seem to care about hikers at all.

On the descent from Lac Blanc we began a very rocky section of the trail followed by a poorly marked section of the trail.
First the rocky part. This kind of trail is easily my least favourite kind of trail. The loose rocks make for unstable footing and slows down my pace a bit. You can barely see me among the rocks here:

Our destination was the Plan Praz cable car. This isn’t the usual next stop on the hike but the Refuge La Flegere, which is where most people would spend the night wasn’t opened for the season (renovation and cable car replacement). This meant that all hikers had to make alternative plans. We opted to go back to Chamonix for the night. Then the next day we would go back up the cable car and finish the hike.

​All I remember of this next section of the trail was getting lost and trying to find the right trail. It looked like the trail was being rerouted with new trail sections added except the sign posts hadn’t been updated yet. There’s a point where the official trail meets the Lac Blanc variant trail around the La Flegere ski hill that makes for a criss-cross section of trails.

We weren’t the only ones who found this section confusing. To make matters even more confusing is that there is a place called Les Praz, which is not near Plan Praz where the cable car is. There’s nothing that unites hikers than that moment when you realize that everyone is lost!

We were under a bit of a time crunch because the last cable car down to Chamonix is at 4:45pm and that meant we had less than 2 hours to get there and the guide book says it takes 2 hours to get there. Using our wits and sense of direction along with the map we had, we somehow managed to find the right trail.

Tip: The good news is that this section should be fully back to normal by summer 2020 for anyone planning on doing the hike.

I felt like I was running the ultra TMB marathon in that last two hours. It felt like a true endurance test!

I was also running through scenarios in my head about how we would get down the mountain if we didn’t make it in time. Hitch hiking seemed like the best bet at that point assuming there is a road. Wondering, how much it would cost for a helicopter…

I didn’t take any pictures that whole stretch – no time to stop! –  until I saw the cable car station. What a sense of relief to know that we wouldn’t be stranded on the top of the mountain.  And when it came into view I saw that we weren’t the only last minute hikers in a mad dash to get to the cable car.

Back in Chamonix! First things first:

Post well-deserved beer(s) and fries, we checked into our hotel where we had stored a small bag of clothes. Clean clothes! Nice shower. So lovely.

Would you believe we went back for pizza at Pizzeria des Moulins for dinner? And did we each eat an entire pizza? Of course we did!
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Next: Day 11 & 12

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