Tour du Mont Blanc (Mont Blanc Circuit)
July 4 - July 20, 2014
Part One - Advance stay in Chamonix, France
Jeff and Pat took an 11 day hiking trip with Mountain Travel Sobek
to do the Mont Blanc Circuit. The trip involved 10 straight days
of hiking around the Mont Blanc Massif through France, Italy, and
Switzerland, and we did about 100 miles of hiking. In advance
of the start of the guided hiking tour, we spent 3 nights and 3 1/2
days in Chamonix, France where the tour started.
Page One - Arrival in Chamonix, France
View from balcony of our room at Les Aiglons Hotel in Chamonix
on July 5. Part of the Mont Blanc Massif.
A main street in Chamonix that is full of restaurants,
mountaineering/skiing shops, and souvenir stores. A building
in the background in the center of the photo has a wall depicting very famous
mountain climbers.
Pat standing next to one of the depictions of famous climbers.
Two kids playing on the statue of
Horace-Benedict de Saussure. He studied the geology and physics
of the Alps. His
work did a lot to clear up the topography of the snowy portions
of the Alps and to attract the attention of tourists to places like Chamonix.
In 1760 he first visited Chamonix, and offered a reward to the first to reach
the
summit of
Mont Blanc.
Arve River in Chamonix. Part of Mont Blanc Massif
in clouds above the town.
St Michel Church in Chamonix
A young child on a bike without pedals in Chamonix
The first ascent of Mont Blanc was August 8, 1786 by the 2 men
represented in this statue, Dr Michel Gabriel Paccard & Jacques
Balmat. The ascent radically changed the then small village of
Chamonix and drew more attention to the highest peak in the Alps.
Now Chamonix is a world-wide known center for mountaineering
and skiing.
Street scene in Chamonix. Note North Face store
on the right, one of very many very expensive outdoor stores in town.
Arve River in Chamonix
The first night in Chamonix we ate at an outdoor restaurant
near our hotel and tried the local beer.
Jeff at the outdoor restaurant. Few were there yet, because we
were eating around 7 pm, early by European standards.
Young girl walking in Chamonix
Zoomed in view of summit of Mont Blanc in clouds, as seen while we were eating dinner.
Part of the Mont Blanc Massif, Dome du Gouter (14,121 ft.), the third
highest of the 7 summits above 4000 meters (13,123 ft.) that make up the Massif.
The pointed mountain on the right is Aiguille du Gouter, 12,673 feet.
Aiguille du Gouter in clouds. It is covered with ice
and snow on one side and unstable rocks on the other.
Close-up of the Bossons Glacier
Mont Blanc summit is on the left behind trees. The two bumps near the
middle of the photo are known as Les Bosses (the Bumps). On the right is Dome du Gouter.
As viewed from Chamonix,
Mont Blanc looks very modest, as Dome du Gouter
dominates the view, at the elevation of 14,121 feet. The glacier is called Bossons.
Mont Blanc, further away, is 4810 meters high, or 15,782 feet.
View from our balcony.
Changing light on the mountains as sun is starting to set
in Chamonix on July 5
Close-up of Aiguille du Gouter
Les Bosses (The Bumps) with Bossons Glacier in foreground
Another photo of Les Bosses
Dome du Gouter and Bossons Glacier near sunset
Link to Page Two - Aiguille du Midi
Pat's Home Page