Day 10: Argentière to La Flégére (July 28)
12.4 km, 1,155.9 m ascent, 541.4 m descent
One drawback of doing the “comfy” mix of accommodations is that nice hotels are in towns, which tend to be located in convenient valleys some distance from the trail. The TMB proper is up above Argentière – WAY above it.
The previous year, we were feeling tired at this point, and we were also out of money, which we would need for our night in a refuge. We couldn’t find an ATM in Argentière, and there certainly wouldn’t be one at the evening accommodations. So we walked through the valley, heading south in the direction of Chamonix. It was a beautiful walk, and it certainly made for an easier day, with the added advantage of sorting our finances, but this year we wanted to do the real thing.
We climbed up, up, up to reach the trail. The trail heading south in these parts gets surprisingly technical. There are a number of ladders that must be ascended to proceed. I’d been nervous about them, but they proved to be no big deal. Even old people go up and down the things – it’s best to watch out for their bouncing trekking poles.
We stopped at Lac Blanc, a beautiful alpine lake on the high ridge. Here, we suddenly encountered hordes of tourists who had come up to spend the day in the fresh mountain air, enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery. Chamonix is a major tourist center, and with ski lifts running year-round, it’s possible for almost anyone to visit the higher locations.
We ate lunch at the relais on the shore of the lake. I had to stand in a long line to use the toilet.
After lunch, we descended toward La Flégére, one of the old classic mountain huts high above Chamonix. A great crowd of other tourists was walking the same route, which remained surprisingly difficult. This part of the trail has sections made of large boulders more or less placed flat; I always find the footing on these things uncertain, though European hikers blast across them.
At La Flégére, we were given the same bunks we’d occupied the year before.We had a couple of roommates, but everyone seemed to sleep reasonable well that night. This building is very old. It has electricity, but you can’t count on finding an outlet available for charging devices. The bathroom is a shared facility at the end of the hall.
We met a French dad who’d come up to spend a night in the mountains with his two middle-school aged children (the mom was spending the night in town). We chatted with them until almost 11.
