Argentière, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
My first day on the trail started out cloudy as forecast,
but at least the rain had ended. I didn’t plan to go very far on my first day
out, so the late start wasn’t a problem. I looked around Chamonix in the days
before for a good Haute Route map, but failed to find one. I trust I’m OK,
though. A couple of websites I checked out that cover the Haute Route say it’s
well marked and all you need is the Cicerone Guide book. That’s all I have, but
mine is dated 2001 so a few things may have changed.
I followed the recommended route which was mostly on trails northeast
through the Chamonix Valley to Argentiere, overall pretty easy since the
elevation gain over the 9 kilometers is only 200 meters, a true walk in the woods.
The clouds started to break around noon and I found myself continuously
swiveling my head around for the occasional glimpses of Mont Blanc behind me. I’m
still not sure if I saw the actual peak at any point or if the stupendously high-looking
glacier covered parts I saw were only subpeaks. Having left my fully packed
daypack in storage at the hostel in Chamonix, my pack felt relatively light to
me even though I’m probably still carrying way more than I should be,
definitely lighter feeling than on the Camino last year when I had a sleeping
bag and it was also not feasible to leave anything unneeded behind.
I arrived in Argentiere around 1:30 in the afternoon. Come
on now, it’s just not respectable to stop hiking that early, especially when
you’ve covered less than six relatively flat miles. I decided to stop for lunch
and push on to the next village with a CAF (Center Alpine Francais) refuge. From Argentiere the trail involved a steep
climb through pine forests with an elevation gain of about another 250 meters
to La Tour, the highest village in the Chamonix Valley and last one before the
Swiss border. Although part of the alpine hut system, this one is in a village
reachable by road so not at all isolated. With my membership discount, my bunk,
dinner, and breakfast cost me a total of 39 Euros, nothing to complain about
and maybe my last reasonably priced night for a while because expensive
Switzerland lies ahead.
deb
2018-09-27
Such incredible beauty, in town, even, or out. Such nice villages as well.