We had a quick breakfast with our British friends at the auberge this morning. We also had the pleasure of meeting a dad and 15 year old son from Holland. They were just beginning their trek but only going for a few days. The son was a glider pilot and working to become a Belgian junior Air Force cadet! Very impressive.
We packed up for our final walk and sadly said goodbye to friends we have shared this adventure with for several days. We headed out into the heavy fog and mist to find our way up the Le Flegere. This route had been weighing on me for several days as there are steep mountainside ladders, cables, and rungs that need to be negotiated. Since the terrain was wet, I was anxious, but ready for the challenge.
It rained of and on and was very foggy as we walked on a steep, beautiful path amongst the forest. We wound our way up 2100 ft using stone steps, steep paths, and timber steps. This path had many benches to rest on, if needed, and to view the expanse of Mont Blanc from the opposite side from early in our journey. Unfortunately because of the fog we couldn't see more than 30 yards in any direction.
Once we reached the junction for Le Flegere and Lac Blanc, we ran into our Israeli friends. We had planned to climb another 1000 ft to see the lake and marvel in the famed views of the glacier, but the fog had thickened and we wouldn't be able to see anything.
Our Israeli friends who had gotten lost in the fog and wandered around for four hours told their story of being disoriented in the fog, not being able to see the signs and basically going around in a circle. One of the men, Joven, and his wife were near the top of le flegere when we found them. Joven said, "we have been walking for four hours of 'sheet' " he meant shit! Too funny. So needless to say we didn't go to the lake. Sadly this meant our journey would be over! We would take the gondola down to Chamonix and be done. But wait! There's more! There was one last path the continues higher up the mountain and eventually works its was down to Les Houches where we began. We weren't planning to go all the way back to Les Houches because Chamonix was where we were staying, so we climbed an additional two hours through pouring rain, steep slippery moraine (avalanche) fields and fantastic high mountain ski runs to Plan Praz. Here we could take the gondola down to Chamonix and walk to our hotel.
Our Israeli friends who had gotten lost in the fog and wandered around for four hours told their story of being disoriented in the fog, not being able to see the signs and basically going around in a circle. One of the men, Joven, and his wife were near the top of le flegere when we found them. Joven said, "we have been walking for four hours of 'sheet' " he meant shit! Too funny. So needless to say we didn't go to the lake. Sadly this meant our journey would be over! We would take the gondola down to Chamonix and be done. But wait! There's more! There was one last path the continues higher up the mountain and eventually works its was down to Les Houches where we began. We weren't planning to go all the way back to Les Houches because Chamonix was where we were staying, so we climbed an additional two hours through pouring rain, steep slippery moraine (avalanche) fields and fantastic high mountain ski runs to Plan Praz. Here we could take the gondola down to Chamonix and walk to our hotel.
As we sat in the gondola riding down into the valley, we were reminiscing about our 10 day adventure and how quickly it ended. We both agreed that this was a trip of a lifetime. The perfect vacation. Beautiful scenery, incredible physical challenges, great people from all over the world, and wonderful food. The only thing that would have made it the ultimate trip would have been sharing this with our girls! Next time! And yes! There will be a next time!
The sun came out just as we came into Chamonix! Must have known we were celebrating!
The sun came out just as we came into Chamonix! Must have known we were celebrating!
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